NEW SUICIDE ATTACK - AT 7:33 P.M. ET:  There's been a new suicide attack in Afghanistan, and the circumstances are unusual:

KABUL (AP) -- A suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest at a military base in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing eight American civilians, U.S. officials said. The explosion occurred at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost province near the Afghan border with Pakistan.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly confirmed that eight Americans died in the attack.

''We mourn the loss of life in this attack, and are withholding further details pending notification of next of kin,'' he said.

COMMENT:  Horrible, of course.  But was this simply a suicide attack, or an act of terrorism directed at civilians?  We don't hear of many American civilian casualties in Afghanistan.  If civilians are now being targeted, especially those involved in reconstruction, we could have an expanded security problem that might involve tying down troops or housing our people in ever-more-isolated locations.

December 30, 2009