Aiding the Insurgency

Doubtless.

Although it is unclear exactly who was really aiding the insurgency. Since it wasn't the innocents killed, one can only assume it was the American soldiers. Killing innocents has that effect on people. It makes them want to fight you more.

Exactly what you want if you want endless war.

You see, the Warlords have another source of income in Afghanistan. We previously knew about the opium- we're not burning the fields because we want the high regard of the locals.

Or their new bosses, perhaps. There are clearly things that we could do to pacify even the narco-state of Afghanistan. Since these do not involve new weapons systems or private contracts, and do involve elimination of the poppy (and now, cannabis) as a source of rural income, they will not be done. The endless war must not end.

Journalists have never been held in high regard by our warlords, not those like the hapless Reuters journalists, nor those who would puncture their ballooning lies.

How much easier will Oceania's struggle against Eurasia/ Eastasia be when there's no one to tell exactly who is murdered or why.