Sickening

Apparently, ever since the Brits left Afghanistan in the incapable hands of the Bush junta, things have been going from bad to worse. Today's >WaPo reports that:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 18 -- U.S.-led coalition forces killed seven children in an airstrike against a suspected al-Qaeda hideout in Afghanistan on Sunday, adding to a civilian death toll that has become an increasing source of tension between the coalition and the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
. . .

Coalition troops had "surveillance on the compound all day and saw no indications there were children inside the building," Belcher said. "This is another example of al-Qaeda using the protective status of a mosque, as well as innocent civilians, to shield themselves . . . We are saddened by the innocent lives that were lost as a result of militants' cowardice."

"If we knew that there were children inside the building, there was no way that that airstrike would have occurred," said Sgt. 1st Class Dean Welch, another coalition spokesman.

Winning hearts and minds. Is there anything this junta can't fuck up?