MR. KOJO NNAMDIFrom WAMU 88.5 at American University in Washington, welcome to "The Kojo Nnamdi Show," connecting your neighborhood with the world. Later in the broadcast, Khalil Gibran Muhammad is director of the Schomburg Center. He joins us to talk about making history accessible.

MR. KOJO NNAMDIBut, first, an American sergeant walked off his base in southern -- in a southern Afghan village early Sunday and went door to door in two nearby villages, opening fire on civilians and killing at least 16 people, including nine children, this latest episode coming on the heels of two recent incidents involving American soldiers in Afghanistan. Last month, copies of the Quran were accidentally burned with trash, and, earlier, a video surfaced showing American Marines urinating on dead militants. The Taliban is vowing to avenge every death.

MR. KOJO NNAMDIAnd reports here describe Americans in Afghanistan feeling under siege, including diplomats, development workers and soldiers. Yet, by focusing on Afghan anger over these incidents, Americans may be missing the human side of this tragedy and an opportunity to understand the Afghan point of view. Joining us in studio is Ahmad Shuja. He is an Afghan political commentator. He writes the "Afghanistan Analysis" blog. He's also a contributor to the "UN Dispatch" blog. Ahmad Shuja, thank you so much for joining us.

MR. AHMAD SHUJAThanks for having me, Kojo.

NNAMDIYou can join the conversation by calling us at 800-433-8850. Does this series of recent incidents involving American soldiers in Afghanistan change your view of our presence there? 800-433-8850. You can send email to kojo@wamu.org, send us a tweet, @kojoshow, or simply go to our website, kojoshow.org. Join the conversation there. Ahmad, you're looking at both the Western media and at what's being reported in Afghanistan. And there's a lot of discussion about the reaction of Afghans over this incident and others. What strikes you about how this is being covered?

SHUJARight. And that's a very good question. Thanks for asking that, Kojo. We've seen over several incidents now, including the alleged -- you know, the Marine urination video that surfaced and then the Quran-burning incident that surfaced and some other incidents, such as the kill team, the infamous kill team that actually killed Afghan civilians "for sport." It was -- this was a report in the Western media.

SHUJAAnd there's always -- after these incidents come to the fore, hit the news, there's always this fear, I think. You know, the U.S. soldiers and ISAF approaches -- you know, approach these incidents from an angle of fear because then you're afraid of Afghan anger, of the backlash of these incidents. But we've seen consistently that, with the exception of the Quran-burning incident, we've never actually had any backlash from the Afghans. We've never had an Afghan civilian in a fit of rage take up, you know, arms and then go and attack, you know, American bases and/or civilians.

SHUJASo in that sense, Afghans have shown tremendous patience and in the face of repeated similar incidents, unfortunately -- unfortunate incidents. And so when you focus from the angle of fear and when you focus on the backlash on the anger of Afghans, you risk losing the human element of this tragedy, which is the tremendous sense of hurt, of grief and of pain that is actually felt by the families of these people, the villagers and the Afghan community at large.

SHUJAAnd, I think, as long as the U.S. soldiers who are there to protect these civilians are afraid of these civilians and fear their anger, I think we're not going to be able to connect with them on a human level and not fully understand their emotions. And I think that is cause for greater concern because that has a greater long-term implication.

NNAMDIAnother point that the American military keeps emphasizing is that this shooting rampage involved one individual. What's the issue with emphasizing that?

SHUJARight. They have been emphasizing that it's one individual and that this individual is not a Special Forces soldier. But the Afghans do not look into the nuances of who did it and what. To them, it was perpetrated by the Americans who came in and faced no resistance, no hostility from the Afghans and the villagers and the nine kids who were actually killed in this incident. So they see it that way.

SHUJAAnd they also don't see it as an isolated incident done by one individual. They see it, you know, in a string of incidents involving American soldiers, ISAF soldiers and Afghan civilians. And so they see it in a more historical context and don't see it as an isolated incident, not -- right.

NNAMDIIn case you're just joining us, we're talking with Ahmad Shuja. He is an Afghan political commentator. He writes the "Afghanistan Analysis" blog. He's also a contributor to the "UN Dispatch" blog. We're talking about the reports over the last couple of days about a U.S. soldier going into two villages in Afghanistan and killing 16 people, including nine children. We're taking your questions at 800-433-8850.

NNAMDIWhat do you think the U.S. should express to the Afghan people after this latest tragedy? 800-433-8850. You can also send email to kojo@wamu.org. The people of Afghanistan -- you mentioned the fear that they feel, even as we are focusing on their anger, but they also remember things like the U.S. soldiers who took positions outside their base and killed people, the so-called notorious kill team.

SHUJARight. And that's why it's important to actually understand that, from the Afghan perspective, the incident today is not one isolated incident. It is one in a series of similar incidents that have cost civilian lives. And these are people who were not hostile to the Americans. These are the people that these soldiers were sent in to protect. And so, I think, overall, these unfortunate incidents have created a PR nightmare that the U.S. -- that the -- in a way, you're never going to be able to, you know, repair the damage that it's done.

SHUJAIt's always going to be the loss of these children, the, you know, innocent Afghan civilians. And so when you focus on the fear aspect from the Afghan backlash, you're approaching it from a very wrong perspective.

NNAMDIA PR nightmare for the U.S. could mean, in a way, a PR bonanza for the Taliban. What kind of fodder is all of this for the Taliban?

SHUJAPrecisely. And this actually feeds in very nicely with the Taliban narrative. They've been saying for years that the Afghans -- and they've been using words like savages. They've been saying that the Americans are savages. They've come to your country. They've occupied your country. And they're also killing innocent civilians. And so for them, it is a PR bonanza, as you said. And they have been attempting to actually incite and foment unrest and violence in these villages immediately after the incident happened and reports with the media.

SHUJAAnd there have been other reports that elders in these villages have vowed not to, you know, turn violent because it's a time for them to heal, to grieve, and to come together and not to go violent.

NNAMDIBut there is, in a way, another side to the Taliban because, on the one hand, the Taliban have vowed to avenge every death, on the other, the Taliban is also in negotiations on the future governing of Afghanistan. Is there a unified leadership for the Taliban? Can you explain this apparent division, so to speak...

SHUJAThat's another...

NNAMDI...or just a division of responsibility?

SHUJARight. That's another very good question. The Taliban -- actually, there's -- or there are fears among the Taliban themselves and the international community at large because what you have is the battlefield commanders who are doing the fighting, this small to medium level of commanders and fighters who are more radical, who are less docile to the idea of negotiated settlement, and especially negotiations with the United States.

SHUJABut then you have the negotiation efforts actually being led by the Taliban leadership, some of whom which is based in Quetta, the city in Pakistan, and that the leadership has been attempting to reach out to their battlefield commanders to actually reconcile them with the idea of negotiations.

SHUJABut if these incidents keep on happening, and in the past the Taliban have vowed to continue negotiations despite vowing, you know, to avenge these deaths and these incidents -- it's going to be very, very difficult for the Taliban leadership to continue the talks, at least from a PR perspective and even if there is a settlement in the future. Having that implemented on the battlefield commanders, who will have to actually cease hostilities, is going to be very difficult for them.

NNAMDIOn to the telephones. Here is Steve in Bethesda, Md. Steve, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

STEVEYeah. I'm a Middle East expert, and I've worked as a cultural adviser for the Army. I think one needs to step back to a bigger problem, which is there's an organized campaign in the United States to denigrate Islam. And to the degree that is successful, it does not help in having an atmosphere in which the soldiers really understand the culture they're in and do not see it as the enemy.

NNAMDISteve, you said you have been a cultural adviser. You say the -- how do you feel this organized campaign to discredit Islam, as you characterize it, affects people in the military who are supposed to get, from people like you, presumably, the kind of cultural sensitivity that works against that?

STEVEWell, they-- they do get that. I'm saying that, before they get in the Army -- if you Google fear incorporated, the Center for American Progress has an excellent report on this organized campaign to denigrate Islam. I think the Army is doing heroic efforts in the right direction. What I'm saying is one needs to step back, take the larger American context in which so many people see Islam vilified, and that's the context which makes it difficult.

NNAMDIOK. Steve, thank you very much for your call. Ahmad, I don't -- if you care to respond.

SHUJAI think there have been attempts by the Florida pastor Terry Jones that have actually created some public protests in Afghanistan. And I think he's pointing towards that. But I would have liked to have heard more about how those campaigns actually affect how the Army reacts to the people in -- and especially in instances like this, the Kandahar incident.

NNAMDISpeaking of the people -- and Steve, once again, thank you for your call -- the last time I spoke with Akmal Dawi about the so-called silent majority in Afghanistan -- do we know -- is there such a thing as how the average Afghan reacts to a situation like this?

SHUJAThat's a very good question. If there is such a thing -- and I think there is such a thing -- it's that the average Afghan -- but, in fact, the Afghans, by and large, the tremendous -- the vast majority of them have been tremendously patient. Because these incidents have been happening, there have been promises of investigations. There have promises of prosecutions. And the Afghans, on the ground here, nothing in the follow-up of these incidents where -- and civilians are killed and other people are killed. So the average Afghan feels hurt.

SHUJAAnd in cases like this, there's tremendous pain and grief. But there's also a sense of injustice that these things keep happening, and nothing is followed up. At least they don't hear about the follow-up of it on the ground...

NNAMDIWhat kind of position does this put President Hamid Karzai in?

SHUJAAnd it's another very good question. President Hamid Karzai is sort of between, you know, a rock and a hard place. First, they have -- he has to negotiate the strategic partnership agreement. And one of the two biggest sticking points has been, you know, putting forward for the Americans is, A, the transfer of prisoner -- prison facilities to Afghan control, and that point has been agreed to.

SHUJAAnd B was the cessation of night raids, which is precisely -- which involves American troops and Afghan troops actually barging into people's homes and trying to imprison and apprehend Taliban commanders and other insurgents. And so Hamid Karzai wants a cessation of that. And this incident -- actually, the civilians, the villagers, thought that the soldiers coming in were part of the night raids.

SHUJAAnd so they showed no -- they cooperated. They showed no resistance to the soldier. And so this actually is going to, in some ways, help Karzai -- President Karzai make a stronger case for the end of night raids. But, on the other hand, the argument is that the night raids have been very effective in capturing Taliban leaders and breaking their momentum. But it also puts the Afghan president in a very difficult spot with the Afghan public because he's been at -- you know, he's been condemning these incidents. But he's not been able to actually put at end to them, to these incidents.

SHUJAAnd the villagers have been asking him, we put you in office, and you've not been able to deliver in terms of protecting our lives and our property. So that's a difficult position.

NNAMDIWe're running out time, so I'm going to put three questions in one, so to speak. It first comes in the form of an email from J.S., "I continue to be disgusted by the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan. I compare these incidents to what happened during the U.S. invasion and occupation of the Philippines in 1899. At least today, it's not official U.S. military possible, but the similarity is indeed disturbing. There are far too many of these incidents to excuse them by saying they're isolated or that soldiers are tired."

NNAMDIJ.S. said that he posted this -- that's the comment that I just read -- at newyorktimes.com. Some Afghan eyewitnesses, and even Afghan lawmakers, insisted there was more than one person involved. The U.S. military disputes that. Some say -- some reports here say that points to a lack of trust of the U.S. on the part of Afghans. And, finally, there's this from Mose (sp?) in Springfield, Va. Mose, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

MOSEYeah, Kojo, my view about the whole thing is this: number one, these guys are well-trained. Our military are well-trained, number one in the world. For them to act this way, we should look at it on a broad -- broader perspective. One other position is that they are tired. They are exhausted. And also, most importantly, they -- well, I don't know what they're fighting for right now because, since the absence of Osama bin Laden and his entourage or his people -- we've arrested them. We've killed some of them. Some of them are in our prisons.

MOSESo we see no reason why, from the layman point of view, why we should still be there.

NNAMDIThat seems to be the bottom line for all of these questions, Ahmad Shuja, and that is that the U.S. should just not be in Afghanistan any longer.

SHUJAThat -- the U.S. is not going to be in Afghanistan any longer. They're going to substantially reduce the number of troops by the end of this year and then further reductions by the mid-2013 and then complete withdrawal of combat forces by 2014. So the U.S. is not going to be there anymore significantly longer. But to J.S.'s point, I think he is completely right.

SHUJAThere has to be a military-wide naval gazing and deeper introspection of why these incidents keep happening and what they can do to actually prevent these incidents from reoccurring in the future because reports, investigations, apologies are not going to heal. What you can do strategically for the future is to prevent these incidents from happening. And there seems to be a systemic, I think, problem where these incidents keep happening, and there's not a systemic follow-up for that.

SHUJAAnd speaking of a lack of trust, I think, this incident only happened yesterday morning, and so it's a developing story, so details are going to up in the future. But, definitely, there is a lack of trust and larger issues between the Afghans and their American mentors.

NNAMDIWho do not see this as an isolated incident. Ahmad Shuja, thank you so much for joining us.

SHUJAThanks for having me, man.

NNAMDIAhmad Shuja is an Afghan political commentator. He writes the "Afghanistan Analysis" blog. He's also a contributor to the "UN Dispatch" blog. We're going to take a short break. When we come back, we will be talking with Khalil Gibran Muhammad, the director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, about making history accessible. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.