Do Americans believe the apology to Afghanistan?

Listen to Dave Ross Commentary: Now what?

It doesn’t get much worse. A rogue American soldier walks off a base in Afghanistan, massacres the Afghan villagers he was supposed to protect, and sets the bodies on fire.

And the accused soldier is not some confused kid, but a 38-year-old staff sergeant from Joint Base Lewis-McChord who had served three tours in Iraq.

So far, the response has been that we are really, really sorry, and we’re outraged, and we’ll investigate; this does not represent the American military, and certainly this is not what America is about.

The only problem with that line is that the Afghans don’t believe it, and I think Americans are starting not to believe it.

American soldiers have done many wonderful things in Afghanistan that have gone unreported. But if the good stuff was working, Afghanistan would be a stable democracy by now. Instead, the Taliban is stronger than ever.

We keep telling the Afghans “we’re here to help, but we’re not perfect.” The bombing of the wedding party in 2008, the kill team that murdered that family for sport in 2010, the Marines urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters, the Koran burnings, and now THIS, all terrible mistakes. We’re not perfect.

But honestly, if roles were reversed and some benevolent occupying force told us that, would we believe it? Or would we arm ourselves and attack? I think we all know what we’d do; we’d kick the British the hell out.

In Afghanistan, the locals want the soldier tried in a Sharia court, or turned over to them. The president won’t do that, but there had better be one intense investigation. Not for the Afghans, that’s a lost cause, but for Americans who are beginning to wonder what’s happened to us.

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