The 16 victims, many of whom were children, were shot while in bed and defenseless. The people of Afghanistan are calling for justice and the immediate removal of all U.S. forces... as it stands, current U.S. policy is to have the complete removal of all troops by 2014.
President Obama has vowed swift justice against the perpetrator of these actions, but for the image of the United States in this embattled country, it may not be enough as Afghan President Karzai stated "This is an assassination, an intentional killing of innocent civilians and cannot be forgiven." Another Afghan citizen said, "The so-called American peace keepers have once again quenched their thirst with the blood of innocent Afghan civilians..."
U.S. officials are still trying to recover earlier hits to America's image which included U.S. Marine desecrating the remains of Afghan soldiers and the unintentional burning of the Quran; and are trying to stress that this tragedy is not the work of the United States, but the actions of one deranged man.