Last week's column about Australia's role in the disastrous war in Afghanistan provoked the biggest reaction I've had in long time.

There were more than 250 emails from Herald readers. Just two supported the war. The rest were angry about how we got into Afghanistan, many saying we had jumped to suck up to the United States, just as we did in Vietnam and Iraq. They believed the war was lost, and wanted Australia to get out now, before more of our troops died. It was striking that a lot began along the lines of ''I don't usually agree with your opinions, but … '' Some said they were Liberal voters, with one man explaining, deliciously, that ''I'm normally a hard right winger''. But they joined the consensus that the war is wrong and unwinnable and that it's time to go.

I'm not silly enough to claim this is any sort of scientific survey, but it suggests that opposition to Afghanistan cuts across party lines. It's not just Labor or Green voters. There is widespread community concern out there.

The latest opinion poll I've seen, done for the Lowy Institute, found that 65 per cent of Australians opposed Australian military involvement. There was 58 per cent opposition among 18- to 29-year-olds, rising to 74 per cent among those 60 and older. That was in June. With six more deaths since then, I'd guess those figures would be higher.

Many writers were angry and frustrated. Lefties blamed the war on John Howard. Quite a few invoked the offensive spectacle of ''the man of steel'' wallowing in the schmooze from George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld et al. But others were equally critical of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, with all their disingenuous blather about staying the course and seeing the mission through.

There were many moving emails from nurses and others who have cared for soldiers wounded in the war.

The Defence Department website says that 240 Australians have been hurt in Afghanistan since 2002, suffering injuries that include ''amputations, fractures, gunshot wounds, hearing loss, lacerations/contusions, concussion/traumatic brain injury, penetrating fragments, and multiple severe injuries''.

Which suggested an idea. How many of our political leaders have ever visited a hospital where wounded Afghanistan veterans are being cared for? Have any of them ever dropped by to see how things are going, to offer encouragement, or just to say thank you?

So I politely emailed some questions to the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, the Minister for Veterans Affairs, Warren Snowdon, the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, the Nationals' leader, Warren Truss, and the Greens' leader, Christine Milne.

The answers drifted in. Smith's office replied that he had met privately with ADF personnel wounded in Afghanistan, and also provided a list of multiple visits made by Snowdon. That's commendable, duty done. Truss's media minder said he had not visited treatment centres for veterans; there's none in his electorate. But he had attended soldiers' funerals.

Gillard did not reply. Granted she was on leave after the death of her father, but she does have an office crammed with advisers and flacks who might have thought the question worth answering. Perhaps they didn't. Milne failed to respond, too, although her opposition to the war is well enough known.

Abbott's spokesman replied yesterday with two terse lines noting that "Tony has spoken extensively to Afghanistan war veterans. This has included some who have been seriously wounded."

So that's all right then. But I wonder if it occurs to any of these politicians confronted by the horrors of this war that they are in no small part responsible for them.

Mike Carlton

American commanders said that joint operations on the ground will be suspended 'until further notice' in a dramatic admission that the strategy to shift responsibility for fighting the insurgents to local forces has been deeply compromised by Afghan government soldiers and policemen killing 51 NATO soldiers this year (as Muslim protests continue).

US suspends joint military operations with Afghanistan 

In Afghanistan, the US military has tried training sessions, embedded cultural advisers, recommended reading lists, and even a video game designed to school American troops in local custom.

But, 11 years into the war, NATO troops and Afghan soldiers are still beset by a dangerous lack of cultural awareness, officials say, contributing to a string of attacks by Afghan police and soldiers against their military partners.

Fifty-one coalition troops have been killed this year by their Afghan counterparts. While some insider attacks have been attributed to Taliban infiltrators, military officials say the majority stem from personal disputes and misunderstandings.

So the Afghan army is trying something new, most likely with American input: a guide to the strange ways of the American soldier. The goal is to convince Afghan troops that when their Western counterparts do something deeply insulting, it's likely a product of cultural ignorance and not worthy of revenge.

The pamphlet they've produced includes the following advice:

• "Please do not get offended if you see a NATO member blowing his/her nose in front of you."
• "When Coalition members get excited, they may show their excitement by patting one another on the back or the behind. They may even do this to you if they are proud of the job you've done. Once again, they don't mean to offend you."
• "When someone feels comfortable in your presence, they may even put their feet on their own desk while speaking with you. They are by no means trying to offend you. They simply don't know or have forgotten the Afghan custom." (Pointing the soles of one's shoes at someone is considered a grievous insult in Afghanistan.)
• The guide also warns Afghan soldiers that Western troops might wink at them or inquire about their female relatives or expose their private parts while showering — all inappropriate actions by Afghan standards.5

Hmmm. I wonder if the manual advises telling Afghan soldiers that urinating on dead Afghan bodies, cutting off fingers, and burning the Koran are all nothing more than good ol' Yankee customs, meaning no offense of course.

And does it point out that no Afghan should be insulted by being tortured in an American military prison since the same is done at home to American prisoners.

Most importantly, the Afghan people must be made to understand that bombing them, invading them, and occupying them for 11 years are all for their own good. It's called "freedom and democracy".

I almost feel sorry for the American military in Afghanistan. As I've written about the US soldiers in Iraq, they're "can-do" Americans, accustomed to getting their way, habituated to thinking of themselves as the best, expecting the world to share that sentiment, and they're frustrated as hell, unable to figure out "why they hate us", why we can't win them over, why we can't at least wipe them out. Don't they want freedom and democracy? ...

They're can-do Americans, using good ol' American know-how and Madison Avenue savvy, sales campaigns, public relations, advertising, selling the US brand, just like they do it back home; employing media experts, psychologists, even anthropologists ... and nothing helps.

And how can it if the product you're selling is toxic, inherently, from birth, if you're ruining your customers' lives, with no regard for any kind of law or morality, health or environment.

They're can-do Americans, used to playing by the rules - theirs; and they're frustrated as hell.

from the Anti-Empire Report