Detainee release in Kabul

Another detainee release took place over the weekend in Kabul, much like prior releases, under the Peace Commission's "amnesty" program, even though most were "not guilty" and never convicted of anything. One wonders what these detainees think about the American presence in Afghanistan after having their lives so interrupted, for months and years. The compensation, $200, even in the Afghan context, seems small. More releases are due in the coming months under the program, which is said to include 199 men in total. From the New York Times:

On Saturday, American forces freed 57 Afghan detainees from the detention facility at Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, as part of a continuing government reconciliation program with suspected insurgents.

[...]

The detainees, with closely shaved heads, were handed over to Afghan authorities who gave them silk turbans and 10,000 afghanis, or about $200, for their journey home. "You are released and I congratulate you," Sebaghatullah Mojadeddi, president the Peace Commission, told them in a speech in Kabul.

"Certainly most of you were not guilty," he told them. "The problems were caused because of personal enmity and people giving false reports to have you imprisoned," he said, recognizing the complaints of many previous detainees that personal rivalries and old enmities are behind much of the information supplied to the American forces.

The government had asked American forces to stop raiding houses without first consulting the local authorities and to conduct all operations with the Afghan police and army personnel, Mr. Mojadeddi said. "They have promised to do so, so I hope they will fulfill their promises," he said of the American military.