“Is “punish the village” a euphemism for the calculated murder of innocent civilans? We are in Afghanistan with the approval and permission of the current Afghan government. How do you think they would react to the wiping out of one of their villages by us in response to a criminal act by a few residents against the UN?”
You’re right to question. But the current Afghan government is there in Afghanistan with our approval and permission. We’ve set it up and supported it in order for things to be stable enough so that we can leave. Has that happened? We are now there longer than the Russians.
Destroying an entire village in retribution for these murders by a few is not the way to win the support of the Afghan government or the people. It matters not whether the government serves at our approval or not.