US air strikes kill 140 civilians in Afghanistan, including 93 children

Discussion in 'World Events' started by DiamondHearts, May 15, 2009.

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  1. DiamondHearts Registered Senior Member

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    KABUL, May 13 (Reuters) - Ninety-three children and 25 adult women are among a list of 140 names of Afghans who villagers say were killed in a battle and U.S. air strikes last week, causing a crisis between Washington and its Afghan allies.

    The list, obtained by Reuters, bears the endorsement of seven senior provincial and central government officials, including an Afghan two-star general who headed a task force dispatched by the government to investigate the incident.

    Titled "list of the martyrs of the bombardment of Bala Boluk district of Farah Province", it includes the name, age and father's name of each alleged victim.

    The youngest was listed as 8-day-old baby Sayed Musa, son of Sayed Adam. Fifty-three victims were girls under the age of 18, and 40 were boys. Only 22 were men 18 or older.

    The U.S. military continues to dispute the toll and a military spokesman said some of the names could be fake.

    The dispute over the number of dead has worsened tension between Washington and Kabul, despite apologies President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made during a visit to Washington by President Hamid Karzai last week.

    ...

    The U.S. military blames the Taliban for causing the deaths deliberately by herding civilians into houses it knew would be targeted by U.S. troops sent to rescue Afghan police and soldiers from an ambush. It also says the Taliban may have killed some of the villagers with grenades.

    "Don't forget about who is responsible for this whole thing. This was a deliberate plan to create human sacrifices and then blame us," Julian said.

    Karzai told CNN last week that Washington needs to rely on other tactics besides air strikes when it is facing Taliban fighters in villages where civilians might be present.

    "The air strikes are not acceptable," Karzai said. "Terrorism is not in Afghan villages, not in Afghan homes. And you cannot defeat terrorists by air strikes."

    But White House National Security Advisor James Jones said on Sunday that U.S. forces need air power to protect themselves: "We can't fight with one hand tied behind our back."


    http://lite.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL473231.htm

    This event highlights a major failure of US military forces in waging its war in Afghanistan. The death toll from air strikes and predator drone missile attacks are more than 100 civilians a month in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The situation is so serious that the puppet government set up by the US of which Karzai is the head, has officially protested the event. The Pakistani government itself has petitioned the US to stop violation of its territory, but these pleas have gone unheeded. As the situation escalates and the civilian population is faced with massacres form US forces, the Afghani resistance will gain further support and the government of Pakistan will be forced to take a tougher stance against US attacks on its civilians. The basic lesson, predator missile attacks and air strikes are not effective and are isolating the US in the region, for both the governments and populace. So much for winning hearts and minds.
     
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  3. otheadp Banned Banned

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    This sucks.
     
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  5. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    collateral damages. Did they hit a school?
     
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  7. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    These are consequences of the actions of your freedom fighters. If they didn't want civilians to die, they should stop fighting and hiding amongst those they claim to fight for.
     
  8. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Exactly. Live apart from families, stop fighting or move into open ground where they can be easily targeted. I agree. Otherwise, the US will be forced to bomb schools and weddings and villages to stop the Taliban from protesting the puppet government the Americans have installed in their lands.
     
  9. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    agreed!! :bravo: They need to stop using children as a shield.
     
  10. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Correct. Hence I cannot understand why Americans who support these miliatry actions are surprised when they are considered complicit in their actions.
     
  11. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    complicent in the Talibans actions??
     
  12. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    In the actions of their troops. After all, they all "Support their troops"
     
  13. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    yes, and our troops aren't hiding in schools.
     
  14. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    No they are on foreign lands, in other peoples homes, forcing them to accept governments they don't want

    So if there were terorrists in their own schools, Americans would support bombing the schools to kill terrorists who use children as human shields, even if 93 children died.
     
  15. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    I think there are a lot of women who would disagree.

    and no, we wouldn't support bombing a school. But the SWAT teams would move in and there might be civilians killed.
     
  16. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Or maybe we should give up and let entire villages get slaughtered by the Taliban? No one would be left to tell the tale, so the world will be happy.
     
  17. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    yeah I've seen the involvement of RAWA in the US policy on Afghanistan.
    And if 93 children died, what would be American response?
     
  18. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    The Taliban started it by helping attack us and harboring terrorists, fuck them if they don't want it, they will die.
     
  19. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    Outrage. And the next time a terrorist walked into a school the staff/students would stop him.
    Kinda like the next time someone tries to hijack a plane, he's not gonna get far. And if that doesn't happen, the military will shoot them out of the sky, kids on board or not.
     
  20. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    So if kids were getting bombed in schools everytime a terrorist was there, Americans would feel "outrage". And if the US shot down planes with children on board, that would also be the presumably acceptable option. Interesting.
     
  21. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    well, we've seen how many hundreds of people can be killed with a plane.

    oh, and I don't speak for every American. Its just my opinion
     
  22. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Nah, it is interesting, reminded me of a poem I read a long time ago

    I was playing golf one day
    When the Germans landed;
    All our men had run away,

    All our ships were stranded.
    And the thought of England's shame
    Almost put me off my game

    I'm not surprised at the callousness btw, its pretty prevalent in violent societies.
     
  23. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    The Taliban probably encouraged this to happen. You can see how it helps their media war, so why wouldn't they?

    A little perspective:
    1988-2001: Afghanistan civil war casualties: 400,000
     
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