Another war crime in Afghanistan: US massacres nine children in air strike

[Karmadillo]

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/mar2011/afgh-m04.shtml

Another war crime in Afghanistan: US massacres nine children in air strike
By Joseph Kishore
4 March 2011

On Tuesday, March 1, the US military massacred nine children in an airstrike in Afghanistan’s northeastern Kunar province. The attack, which prompted mass protests, is only the latest atrocity in the region, coming less than two weeks after another attack left as many as 65 civilians dead.

The nine children killed Tuesday were collecting firewood in the Pech Valley area of Afghanistan. They were targeted by helicopter gunships sent from a nearby base run by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). A video report from Al Jazeera shows the burial of the nine children, all under fourteen. NATO forces claimed that they were responding to rocket attacks.

This latest incident is part of a regular campaign of terror directed at the Afghan people. Countless numbers of civilians have been killed. Often there is no direct evidence of these war crimes, with most casualties simply labeled by the US military and an obedient media as “insurgents” or “Taliban.”

As video footage of the latest attack emerged, US officials, including President Barack Obama, issued statements apologizing for the incidents. Their comments merely underscored the indifference of the colonial occupiers. General David Petraeus, the ISAF commander, declared, “Regrettably, there appears to have been an error in the hand-off between identifying the location of the insurgents and the attack helicopters that carried out the subsequent operations.”

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[Buzz Clik]

1. That's awful. Three days in a row, US air strikes have killed 9 kids collecting firewood.

Or maybe it's three days in a row of reporting the same story. It's hard to keep track.

[Karmadillo]

2. Apologists are so funny sometimes.

nt

[Buzz Clik]

4. I guess. Who's apologizing for what?

I get tired of DUers who feel justified in posting the same story multiple times per day for multiple days in a row. It's clear that they don't ever read DU, they simply post their stuff and leave.

The story in the OP was important ... three days ago.

[Karmadillo]

10. Bush war crimes sure had a longer shelf life.

nt

[mdmc]

3. whats 10 million dead if its keeping out the Russians?

[Buzz Clik]

5. Good point. Of the 28 million total population in Afghanistan, 10 million are now dead.

But, we're keeping out the Russians who are so eager to return

:sarcasm: :eyes:

[frylock]

8. i hate seeing a good DK reference go to waste..

some people are just too busy defending the indefensible to get it i suppose.

[mdmc]

9. yesyes

[pinqy]

6. How is that a war crime?

Surely no one (other than Taliban) are claiming that the children were known to be innocent and were intentionally targetted? That would be a crime. Screw-ups and mistakes of this nature are not excusable, but that doesn't make them crimes.

[blindpig]

7. The constistancy of these 'mistakes' is criminal.

When you make 'mistakes' over and over that speaks more of callous disregard.