David Petraeus Ventures Too Close To Monster Country

The surest indicator that you are dealing with an inhuman monster is when the subject starts arguing that random victims arranged their own deaths in order to cast disrepute on the subject's cause. Slobodan Milosevic argued in this manner - heck, every real tyrant in history argues in this manner eventually. Yet the argument is always false: to my knowledge, such an event has never occurred in human history, and probably never will. So, no matter what the cause, or when in human history, such an argument is the surest and most reliable sign that the subject really is a monster.

It is most-unfortunate that David Petraeus is either joining this disreputable crowd, or got close enough that reasonable people can disagree regarding what he said. It can only add fuel to the fire, so to speak. When it comes to matters of life-and-death, diplomatic skill is important:

Afghan officials say the strike killed nearly 50 women and children, in addition to 16 insurgents. The International Security Assistance Force said its weapons system video showed that 36 insurgents carrying weapons were killed.

According to the Washington Post, Petraeus addressed the issue during a meeting with Afghan officials Sunday at the presidential palace. The newspaper cited unnamed Afghan officials in the meeting as saying Petraeus said parents may have purposely burned their children to make it seem like they were victims of the U.S. air strikes.

Petraeus said no such thing, according to a statement from the top ISAF spokesman in Afghanistan, Rear Adm. Greg Smith.

"At a Sunday NSC (National Security Council) meeting, General Petraeus never said children's hands and feet were purposely burned by their families in order to create a civilian casualty event. Rather, he said the injuries to the children appeared inconsistent with the types of munitions used," Smith said in a statement.

He said Petraeus did say in the meeting that he had an idea how the children were burned. "The burns to their hands and feet may have been the result of discipline sometimes handed out to Afghan children. Regrettably this is customary among some Afghan fathers as a way of dealing with children who misbehave."

"There are periodic reports of children being disciplined in a manner that would produce such burns," the statement added.