The Washington Post’s Karen DeYoung has a very good follow-up on last week’s U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan that killed 90 civilians — 60 of them children. DeYoung reports that there’s no protocol to investigate the airstrike, or really anything else in Afghanistan, because the U.S. literally has a two-page note that governs the role of the U.S. military in Afghanistan.

But with violence spiraling, Afghan President Hamid Karzai wants a "status of forces" agreement similar to the one State Dept. diplomats are negotiating with the Iraqis. Not surprisingly, the U.S. seems less than eager to draw up a more detailed document that might limit American power. One legit quagmire is this:  of the 33,000 U.S. troops in the country, 19,000 are controlled by Central Command and 14,000 take orders from NATO.

A uniform law for all these troops will be a colossal headache. But it also would be a justified demand by Afghanistan. -MB

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