Afghans Growing Irate Over Casualties

"There are at least three different versions of what happened, and all of them seem to have elements of untruth," said Babrak Shinwari, a member of parliament from the Shinwar District, where both the Marine shootings and the village raid occurred. "It is very difficult to learn the reality, so people believe the worst."

The Ghanikhel story includes tribal disputes and the poisonous influence of opium poppy cultivation. It also reflects the consequences of a cultural blunder by foreign troops relating to Afghan sensitivity about women's honor, and the unseen hand of Taliban forces swiftly capitalizing on public emotion.

One puzzle is who the occupants of the mud compound were. They described themselves to a journalist as simple field hands and said they were doing nothing more harmful than harvesting opium poppies when the attack came. They said they were refugees from Kapisa province, north of Kabul.

"Does this look like a bomb factory to you?" demanded Sana Gul, 30, one of the survivors, showing a reporter through the farm compound that was strung with laundry and strewn with dirty sleeping cushions. "They said they found 120 kilos of explosives, but we can't even afford 120 kilos of wheat."

Government officials, however, said that the group might be linked to a Taliban commander in Kapisa and that the insurgents were becoming increasingly active in poppy-growing areas of Nangahar. This is partly because insurgents have come under intense military pressure in their home-base areas of southern Afghanistan.

As recently as a year ago, Nangahar had no major signs of insurgency and a record for eradicating poppy crops while production soared in other provinces. Now, the road through the district is lined with emerald poppy fields, and U.S. military forces have been increasingly encountering insurgent activities.

It is not clear, however, whether U.S. forces have been involving Afghan civilian authorities or security forces in their planning. Nangahar's governor said he was warned of the Ghanikhel raid, but he was away at the time and many residents doubt his claim. Most raids in residential areas are supposed to include Afghan soldiers to act as a buffer, but survivors said the only Afghans they saw were interpreters.

The presence of Afghan forces in U.S. and NATO military operations has been a key demand of Karzai's. In addition to smoothing civilian relations, it can also help foreign troops obtain accurate local information. On the other hand, Afghan security forces can also tip off friends and allies, which may be why some raids are conducted without them.

"The Americans think differently than we do. They see a 9/11 terrorist in every house; they want to rush in and handcuff people," Shinwari said. "If they let the Afghan forces go in first, they can prevent a lot of problems."

The issue is especially sensitive for officials from NATO countries, who fear that their wide welcome by the Afghan citizenry may be sabotaged by the spate of civilian deaths. Many Afghans cannot distinguish among foreign flags and uniforms; one agitated shopkeeper near Ghanikhel ranted last week about the brutalities committed by "British" troops. After the airstrike in Helmand this week, local Afghan officials said it had been carried out by "NATO forces," although NATO officials said they had no troops in the area.

Daan Everts, the senior civilian NATO representative in Kabul, said he believed most Afghans still support foreign troops and, if anything, are fearful they will leave too soon. But he also said the lack of Afghan involvement and slow explanations by the U.S. military are hurting the broader image of foreign forces. The apology for the March 4 shootings came a full two months after the incident.

"We are not helping our own cause as friendly forces by such incidents," Everts said. "When information is not shared that could silence critics, it is to our own detriment. And it is much better to have an Afghan knocking at the door than heavily armed foreign soldiers knocking it down. It may be less effective, but it's more acceptable and therefore better in the long run."

In Ghanikhel, an effort by the U.S. forces to make amends backfired badly. When the troops realized they had shot a 3-year-old girl in the arm, they decided to take her to Bagram air base for treatment. They also told a woman in the compound, through interpreters, that she should accompany them to comfort the girl.

The woman, Shirin Begum, 30, told a journalist she was frightened but treated well while in American military hands. But for local Afghan tribes, it is deeply dishonorable for women to have contact or travel with unrelated men. Soon after the raid, rumors spread that Begum had been kidnapped and raped by U.S. soldiers, infuriating a mob that carried the victims' bodies through a nearby market town, shouting, "Death to Bush!"

"This is a terrible shame for us, and this incident had a very bad impact on the people," said Abdul Mateen, 35, a teacher and shoemaker. "We do not want the Taliban and al-Qaeda here, and the Americans have the right and duty to search houses. But they must allow the local authorities to be involved, or the people will rise up against them as they rose against the Russians."

Staff writer Thomas E. Ricks in Washington contributed to this report.