A military investigation lead by Brig. Gen. Raymond Thomas concludes that the U.S. made major errors in a May 4 Afghanistan airstrike. Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker of the New York Times report:

[I]n “several cases,” the official said, General Thomas determined either that the airstrikes had not been the appropriate response to the threat because of the potential risk to civilians, or that American forces had failed to follow their own tactical rules in conducting the bombing runs.

The Afghan government concluded that about 140 civilians had been killed in the attacks. An earlier American military inquiry said last month that 20 to 30 civilians had been killed. That inquiry also concluded that 60 to 65 Taliban militants had been killed in the fight. American military officials say their two investigations show that Taliban fighters had deliberately fired on American forces and aircraft from compounds and other places where they knew Afghan civilians had sought shelter, in order to draw an American response that would kill civilians, including women and children.

This is not the first time that the U.S. military has scoffed at Afghan government civilian death estimates only to later admit that, in fact, those estimates were closer than the American military’s preliminary death toll. Stanley McChrystal, whom the Senate will likely soon confirm as top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, told the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday that he would measure American success not by the number of enemy fighters killed but Afghanistan civilians protected. Does that mean McChrystal will put a stop to the Army’s new policy of trumpeting the body counts of dead insurgents?-MB

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