by Chris Bodenner
Crowley provides some historical perspective:
I know I've already made my point, but I remain fascinated by Soviet savagery in Afghanistan, and America's wholly different moral and strategic approach there. Today, there's an (understandable) outcry whenever a U.S. airstrike targeting Taliban fighters also kills a handful of civilians–as when an early August raid left four civilians dead near Kandahar, stirring local outrage and wide media coverage. Now, consider this 1984 NYT account of Soviet tactics in northern Afghanistan:
Several hundred civilians have reportedly been killed in Afghanistan in a sweep by Soviet troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships through a valley north of the capital. […] Soviet troops bayoneted large numbers of women and children, shot young Afghan males and burned a number of homes before withdrawing at dawn. Tanks, armored personnel carriers and helicopter gunships were then said to have bombarded the village. […] Istalif was the scene of heavy bombings by Soviet forces last November and December when an estimated 500 people were killed.
Michael Cohen and Yglesias push back on the comparison.
The Dish 