A reason why we are fighting in Afstan

This sort of thing:

Taliban execute 26 male Afghans

As many as 26 local Afghan men were executed by the Taliban yesterday and their headless bodies put on public display around a local village, in a morbid attempt to dissuade other civilians here from assisting NATO and Afghan national security forces operating in the area, coalition sources have told CanWest News Service...

Their heads were removed and their bodies were hanged from trees in and around Bazar Talukan, a small agrarian village approximately 10 kilometres from Route Summit, a road building project in Panjwaii District that represents a front line in the coalition's ongoing battle with the Taliban.

"The bodies are still hanging there," the source said on Tuesday morning. "The Taliban is controlling area and they won't let the civilians bury the dead and put them to rest. They put letters on the bodies that said if anybody tries to bury the bodies, the Taliban will kill them, too."

The letters also stated that the Taliban would behead and hang any local civilian who tries to assist coalition forces in their attempt to liberate the area, and will kill those who assist with the distribution of humanitarian aid...

Though there may be some doubt about the scope of the murders:

Meanwhile, Taliban militants beheaded a man and fatally stabbed another, hanging his body from a tree in an apparent warning to villagers not to give government or NATO information about Taliban activities, a man who witnessed the incident told the Associated Press on Tuesday...

Government and NATO officials could not immediately confirm the killings...

The story also gives details of active Canadian participation in the NATO offensive.

And this Toronto Star report is, I think, the first Canadian story to mention the other countries taking part:

Troops from four NATO countries – Britain, Canada, the Netherlands and the United States – are taking part in the operation, along with forces of the Afghan National Army...

The story notes that NATO troops are trying to be very discriminating in their use of firepower.

Update: An excellent column by John Turley-ewart on the false combat/development dichotomy.