Even if the president were not to makean outright apologyfor the allied bombings, he could hardly not mention them in this city so preoccupied with its wartime history.
There was also no sign on Tuesday of an accord on another issue at the conference -- African demands that former slave states make a formal apologyfor some 400 years of human trafficking up to the early 19th century, during which some 12 million people where shipped in chains to the Americas.
And the President believed that it was in the best interests of their safety to make it clear that anapology was appropriate, and that the American people and the American military in particular does have respect for the religious views and the religious practices of the Afghan people.