When an American soldier killed 16 civilians in Kandahar in March, condemnation was swift and it came from all sides of the war.

The US Government was quick to apologize, with US President Barack Obama stating, "The United States takes this as seriously as if it was our own citizens and our own children who were murdered." NATO immediately announced it was investigating the incident.

President Karzai, whose regime is financed in great part by US resources, slammed the US, saying to reporters a few days after the incident: "This has been going on for too long. You have heard me before. It is by all means the end of the rope here." Karzai, surrounded by media, paid visits to the victims' families and wore black for two days. He publicly participated in conspiracy theorizing that the soldier didn't really act alone, and the killings may have been planned and intentional, conspiracies that have otherwise been propagated by the likes of the Russian Government-owned RT.com and RAWA.org, and which helped add fuel to the flames in an already highly volatile situation.

The Taliban, for their part, immediately used the occasion to spurn out anti-American propaganda. They called US forces...More >>