EU ministers chide Nato over Afghan attack

STOCKHOLM, Sept 5 - EU ministers criticised Nato on Saturday for an air strike in Afghanistan that local officials said killed scores of people, many of them civilians.

The attack took place a day before EU foreign ministers met in Stockholm to discuss ways to boost Western efforts to stabilise Afghanistan and stem an Islamist insurgency.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the EU presidency, said the EU was open to raising its €1bn aid commitment but wanted Afghanistan to address allegations of fraud in its August 20 presidential election.

Several ministers were sharply critical of Friday’s air strike in Kunduz province, fearing it could undermine the Western effort in the country.

Asked what the EU could do to improve the Afghan situation, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told reporters:

“It is difficult to say, but mainly to work with the Afghan people and not to bomb them, not only to bomb them.”

Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn called the air strike an “unacceptable catastrophe” while EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Fererro-Waldner said it was “a great tragedy” that should be investigated.

<SNIP>http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cdb711c6-9a37-11de-9c09-00144feabdc0.html

You don't "win" a war of aggression, you END it.