Yesterday Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai told the United Nations the killing of innocent Afghans by foreign troops “can seriously undermine the legitimacy of fighting terrorism and the credibility of the Afghan people’s partnership with the international community.”

Last month, more than 90 civilians, including 60 children, were killed when U.S. warplanes bombed an extended-family gathering after flawed intelligence targeted the group as jihadists.

In an unusual move, last week U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed “personal regret” for recent U.S. airstrikes that killed Afghan civilians, and pledged more accurate targeting in future. Gates also said that, “While no military has ever done more to prevent civilian casualties, it is clear that we have to work even harder.”

According to a Human Rights Watch report, civilian deaths in Afghanistan from U.S. and NATO airstrikes nearly tripled from 2006 to 2007. The report also condemns the Taliban’s use of “human shields” in violation of the laws of war.

Marc Garlasco is a senior military expert for Human Rights Watch. Their new report is “Troops in Contact”: Airstrikes and Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan.

Previously, Garlasco served seven years as a senior analyst for The Pentagon. He was Chief of High Value Targeting during the Iraq War.

After the U.S. toppled the Taliban 7 years ago, one observer remarked that the U.S. was attempting to do peacekeeping from 20,000 feet. I asked Marc Garlasco if that was still essentially true…