Something tells me this won't help our image

The President of Afghanistan is publicly blaming security guards working for American forces for the slaying of Matiullah Qati, police chief of the Kandahar province. A U.S. military spokesperson assured the international press that the men involved in the incident were not working on the behalf of the United States. Thanks for clearing that up guys. I’m sure that will prevent any hot-headed American-bashing.

Many details remained unclear in the first few hours after the shootout. According to two Kandahar government officials, a group of Afghan guards, who the officials said were believed to work for American Special Operations forces, arrived at the local prosecutor’s office to demand the release of a prisoner whose identity remains uncertain. The prosecutor refused to hand over the man and phoned the police chief, Matiullah Qati, for assistance. Mr. Qati rushed to the office, and a firefight subsequently broke out. In the gunfight, the Afghan security guards killed Mr. Qati and another senior provincial police official, Abdul Khaliq, the local officials said. An American military official said there were reports that the men who surrounded the prosecutor’s office to demand the prisoner were actually members of the Afghan Special Forces. He also said that more than 40 arrests had already been made in connection with the battle, but there was no official confirmation of either detail. Two witnesses said they also saw American troops at the scene, but this was not confirmed by Afghan or American officials. The head of the Kandahar Provincial Council, Ahmed Wali Karzai, said the Afghan forces involved in the firefight were not part of the Afghan police or army. It was not immediately clear why the Afghan gunmen who surrounded the prosecutor’s office wanted the prisoner released, what provoked the shooting, or who shot first. People near the scene of the shooting sprinted down a street and sought refuge inside shops. “Nothing is safe in this country!”one man screamed as he ducked into an electronics store. “Anything can happen.” [Source: nytimes.com].

Karzai once said of his image in the mid-east and abroad “if I am called a puppet because we are grateful to America, then let that be my nickname." Clearly you do not know the first thing about being a puppet. I’m no big city war expert or geopolitical analyst *arches back, pulling on suspenders*, but it seems to me like a puppet wouldn’t publicly blame the master for a brutal killing at a time when said master is trying to convey an image as harbinger of justice. We’re trying to convince these people that we’re not imperialistic demons sent from hell to conquer their society and turn them all into materialistic heathens. Looks like someone needs to tighten the strings.
Jokes aside though, this genuinely scares me. The Washington Post reports that we’ll have around 55,000 troops (as well as 32,000 non-US NATO forces) in Afghanistan by mid-summer and I sincerely doubt shit like this bodes well for their safety.