
(AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
On Friday, a German ground commander called in a U.S. airstrike on two stolen fuel tankers in northern Afghanistan. Dozens of civilians had gathered around the tankers and Afghan officials say 70 or more were killed by the American bombs.
Official investigations have ramped-up to determine which of the two NATO allies — German or the U.S. — made the tragic error that led to the misguided strike, but the real consequences won't wait for those findings. Nor can the real work to try and make amends to the Afghan people.
CBS News consultant Jere Van Dyk says it really doesn't make any difference whom, exactly, is to blame for the airstrike. In the minds of most Afghans, "they are all infidels, they're all outsiders and they're all suspect."
"What the United States has to do, regardless of who fired the weapons, is to show that they're sorry, that they care," said Van Dyk, "because every time you kill anybody on the ground - every cousin, every brother, every uncle, every father is now fodder for the Taliban."
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