A SAD DAY FOR AFGHANISTAN AND A BAD DAY FOR TRUTH

August 27, 2012

What a horrible day for Afghanistan:

• Ten Afghan soldiers killed at their checkpoint by Taliban insurgents
• Two American soldiers murdered by Afghan service personnel after a dispute
• Two women and 15 men slaughtered in unclear circumstances

The last tragedy is were truth also suffered. The first reports claimed that the 17 people were beaten and beheaded for having dared to attend a mixed-gender party with music and dancing. That innocent people should be executed for attempting to enjoy themselves in harmless ways would make most people's blood boil; and perhaps that is exactly what the initial reports meant to do. Gradually, however, it emerged that there were no decapitations at all and that the deaths may have resulted from a local feud. Still tragic, but a very different story nonetheless.

What exactly happened is not yet clear, nor why it was reported the way it was. For all we know, the misunderstanding may have been genuine and it may have nothing to do with truth being the first casualty of war. But this is highly unlikely when the two stories are so opposing, with the only constant being the number of people killed. So the obvious conclusion is that the press is being fed anti-Taliban propaganda or generating it. Fabrication of this sort would not only be unethical, it would also be counter-productive, in as much as it would undermine the already established truth. Should we start doubting that the Taliban harboured Bin Laden? Or that they blew-up the Buddhas of Bamiyan?

Some of the Taliban have committed and still are committing atrocities. Inventing stories just gives them more room to hide.