In early June, General Stanley A. McChrystal, the new commander of US and allied troops in Afghanistan, declared that the effectiveness of U.S. and allied troops must be measured by “the number of Afghans shielded from violence” rather than the number of insurgents killed.

Rather than winning the “hearts and minds” of the people, the high number of civilian deaths is increasingly alienating the Afghan population.

The new commander’s words could not have come soon enough after the May 4, 2009 tragedy in Bala Baluk in which public outrage over the high number of civilian casualties prompted a military investigation into the U.S. airstrike.

The May incident seemed to be the tipping point in signaling that the U.S. government desperately needs a new strategy for Afghanistan that prioritizes the protection of civilians. According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, 800 Afghan civilians were killed from January through May 2009. This is a 24% increase from the 646 civilian casualties reported during the same time frame in 2008.

The UN estimates that 55% of these deaths were caused by insurgent groups, while international and Afghan forces were responsible for 33% of the deaths. Even though international forces have attempted to minimize and record civilian deaths through tactical directives and the civilian casualty tracking cell of the International Security Assistance Force (NATO forces, which include British, German, and Canadian forces among others), the numbers show that these attempts have not yet led to a significant reduction in civilian casualties.

Rather than winning the “hearts and minds” of the people, the high number of civilian deaths is increasingly alienating the Afghan population. Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues at the U.S. State Department, observed on her recent visit to Afghanistan that Afghan civilians deeply desire “to be able to have a livelihood, to be able to care for their families, to be able to not feel threatened in terms of their well-being from the conflict that surrounds them.”

As levels of insecurity in Afghanistan escalate, many Afghan families are feeling increasingly unable to care for and protect their families. The high number of civilians killed as a result of U.S. and international forces leads not only to growing resentment toward those forces, but also contributes to the growth of insurgent groups.

Working to minimize civilian deaths in Afghanistan is not only politically smart, but imperative as people of faith who are called to “seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:14). In the description of the “new heavens and a new earth” found in Isaiah 65:17-25, peace is envisioned in part as long life, a safe place to live, and children who do not have to grow up in fear. Not surprisingly, this vision of peace would have brought comfort to its original readers, a people who found themselves in the midst of violent conflict and forced to leave their homes, just like many Afghan civilians today.

In order to bring security and peace to Afghanistan, all efforts must be made to protect the lives of civilians. We must encourage the U.S. government to actively work towards a new strategy for Afghanistan that protects and upholds the well-being of Afghan civilians.