Civilian Deaths Up Tensions In Afghanistan

5 Children Killed In Military Actions, Furthering Anti-U.S. Tension

(AP)  Foreign and Afghan forces killed five children in two separate incidents Monday, further inflaming tensions in the country over the killings of civilians by troops from the U.S. and other countries.

NATO said it accidentally killed three children in an artillery strike in eastern Afghanistan. It said NATO forces fired the rounds after insurgents attacked its patrol in Gayan district of Paktika province and one of the rounds hit a house, killing three children and injuring seven civilians.

In a separate incident, foreign and Afghan forces killed a man and his two children and during a raid near Kabul, police and witnesses said. Angry men gathered at the victims' house in the Utkheil area east of the capital, where the three bodies were displayed inside a mud-walled compound. The man's wife was wounded in the operation, said Yahya Khan, a cousin.

In another sign of the sensitivity over civilian deaths, NATO issued an unusual statement warning that the Taliban planned to make a false claim about the killings of civilians in the south.

The latest deaths deepened strains between the Afghan government -- under pressure from an increasingly irate public - and foreign forces in the country who are accused of killing dozens of civilians only in the past few weeks.

Afghan officials accuse foreign forces of killing up to 90 civilians during an Aug. 22 operation in the country's west. The U.S. denies the accusation, saying its troops and Afghan commandos killed 25 militants and five civilians in the operation.

The raid in the eastern outskirts of Kabul was conducted by U.S. troops backed by Afghan intelligence agents, said police officer Qubaidullah, who like many Afghans goes by one name. He said the raid killed a man and two of his children and wounded his wife.

The raid left the house with broken windows and bullet holes in the walls. Three other men, all the victims' cousins, were detained during the operation but later released, Khan said.

U.S. coalition spokesman 1st Lt. Nathan Perry said no American troops took part in the operation. NATO-led forces said they had no information about the raid and could not confirm their troops participated either.

Separately, NATO said it was anticipating a Taliban claim of further civilian casualties in the south. In a statement late Sunday, NATO said it had received information from "a reliable source" that insurgents planned to falsely claim international military forces killed up to 70 civilians in Sangin district in southern Helmand province.

The military alliance also said its forces had helped more than 20 wounded civilians who approached two of its bases in Helmand province.

NATO said the civilians were wounded in two separate incidents involving insurgents.

"Insurgents ransacked three compounds and killed three women and an unspecified number of children," in Helmand's Sarevan Qaleh village, NATO said in a statement, quoting one of those wounded. "He then reported that the insurgents had shot him in both kneecaps before fleeing," it said.

The claims could not be independently verified and have not been reported by Afghan authorities.

NATO said it condemns the "use of the plight of innocent civilians for propaganda gain by insurgents."

The warning of a possible civilian casualty claim came hours after the separate U.S.-led coalition command said its troops killed more than 220 insurgents in a week of fighting in the same province. The coalition did not say where the militants were killed.

It was unclear whether the two reports were related.

The issue of civilian deaths is a particularly sensitive topic in Afghanistan following the Aug. 22 bombing of the village of Azizabad in Herat province by the U.S.-led coalition. An Afghan government commission said 90 civilians were killed, a finding backed by a preliminary U.N. report.

The U.S. military has said 25 militants and five civilians were killed, and that it is investigating the incident.

The U.S. has long said insurgents use false civilian death claims as a propaganda tool to undermine support for international forces and the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Claims of civilian deaths can be tricky. Relatives of Afghan victims are given condolence payments by the government and the international military forces, providing an incentive to make false claims.

But Karzai has castigated Western military commanders over civilian deaths resulting from their raids. The Taliban and other insurgents use the deaths as leverage to turn Afghans away from the government, he says.

The top NATO spokesman in Afghanistan, Brig. Gen. Richard Blanchette, said Saturday that the U.S.-led coalition, Afghan government and United Nations would jointly investigate the Aug. 22 raid.

[petro49l]

Bin Laden reaps profit by selling illicit heroin to Junkies all over the world. He boasts of his receipts and investments. Osama buys the favor of Politicians in Islamabad and Washington DC. He said, "Poppies are a good business. Dealing the potent drug will make Al Qada very wealthy. We have the latest technology and good soil for growing a crop". Osama''s isomizers produce tar heroin at an incredible rate. His investments (through the Internet) have made him fabulously rich.

[vechible]

'' .. i threw the keys to my non-sponge bus to my six year old, and he drove it with deliberation into a crowd of pedestrians just to giggle at the sight of all the blood like he saw in a cartoon, then i threw him the keys to my nuclear rocket and he left it almost absolutely to it''s own devices and followed it around like some hallowed baby, praying all sleepless night and sleepless day it did nothing to hurt itself or someone else .. ''

'' .. if kids and elderly take over all the pages and stations audio and or video, i''ll throw myself off a broadcast tower and never come back .. ''

[petro49l]

Bin Laden said he needs more exotic poppies for his technical isomizers synthesizing the plant into tar heroin. His narcotics sales are through the roof. He prefers that the Coalition kill-off the common Afghanis living in the region. Osama wants every acre for his poppy farms. Bin Laden said, "Al Qada will deal so much heroin that the Coca Farmers in South America will lose most of their business in America".

[thepathology]

Article Criticism #1:

- Article states: "In another sign of the sensitivity over civilian deaths, NATO issued an unusual statement warning that the Taliban planned to make a false claim about the killings of civilians in the south."

Perhaps NATO took this "unusual" step because they''re in an increasingly desperate situation, and want to prevent at all costs a repeat of the furor over the U.S. massacre of 90 civilians (including 60 children) in Azizabad last week?

There''s a nice Orwellian euphemism -- "sensitivity". Really interesting word choice. NATO''s outright, categorical, preemptive rejection of the possibility of civilian casualties is "sensitivity". Apparently, Associated Press reporters want us to believe -- after the U.S. & NATO have already killed at least 500 Afghan civilians in 2008 alone, based on only mainstream news reports -- that when the same forces preemptively & categorically dismisses any claims of civilian casualties, and labels them "Taliban propaganda", the dismissal of wrongdoing can be labeled "sensitivity".... Rather than "sensitivity", how about, say, smug, callous deceit? Can we just be honest and call it a preemptive propaganda campaign?

[thepathology]

Article Criticism #2:

- Article states: "NATO said it was anticipating a Taliban claim of further civilian casualties in the south... NATO said it had received information from "a reliable source" that insurgents planned to falsely claim international military forces killed up to 70 civilians in Sangin district in southern Helmand province."

Well, the best way for NATO to miraculously "anticipate" a future "claim" of civilian casualties would be **if NATO actually DID in fact kill civilians**, and therefore knows such claims are forthcoming (and thus they want to undermine the reports and accusations before they are even published). And of course, for good measure, NATO labels it a "Taliban" claim, just to make sure the Corporate Media is officially on notice -- if they dare publish any information that shows civilians were killed, it means they''re "helping the terrorists".

[thepathology]

Article Criticism #3:

- Article states: "The military alliance also said its forces had helped more than 20 wounded civilians who approached two of its bases in Helmand province."

So... does that mean NATO is essentially admitting they injured at least 20 civilians? They vaguely refer to the civilians being wounded during "incidents involving insurgents." Well, if NATO bombed the "suspected insurgents" and killed/wounded civilians in the process, that would be an "incident involving insurgents" too. And if 20 wounded people came forward, then most likely many more were injured, since clearly not all injured people are going to subsequently approach their attackers for help afterwards.

[thepathology]

Article Criticism #4:

- Article states: "NATO said it condemns the ''use of the plight of innocent civilians for propaganda gain by insurgents''."

However, NATO wholeheartedly approves the "use of the plight of innocent civilians" for their own propaganda gain.

Notice that just **two sentences before** the article quotes NATO solemnly "condemning" the use of civilians for propaganda, the article quotes NATO''s own statement, which itself explicitly "uses the plight of innocent civilians for propaganda" by relaying an alleged atrocity story committed by the "enemy":
"Insurgents ransacked three compounds and killed three women and an unspecified number of children," in Helmand''s Sarevan Qaleh village, NATO said in a statement, quoting one of those wounded. "He then reported that the insurgents had shot him in both kneecaps before fleeing," it said.

Immediately after relaying this accusation of civilians being ruthlessly attacked by NATO''s enemies, the article quotes NATO as "condemning" the use of the same civilians for propaganda gain by their enemies. Apparently the writers couldn''t perceive the contradiction between NATO''s "condemnation" of propaganda and NATO''s use of propaganda.

[thepathology]

Article Criticism #5:

- Article states: "The U.S. has long said insurgents use false civilian death claims as a propaganda tool to undermine support for international forces and the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai."

And "some analysts say" that the U.S. and its Corporate Media allies have long used propaganda -- including misleading language, baseless innuendo, false framing of issues, biased selection of sources (notice: this article constantly cites multiple repeated statements made by NATO, and the U.S. coalition spokesman), censorship by omission, and military control over the region in order to suppress negative information.

[jgg000]

Would you like to take that back now? Or are you too much of a coward, or too embarassed?
Would you also like to debate the actual issue now, or are you too stupid?

Posted by hower4

No, I have no intention of taking anything back. I''ll gladly debate any issue that involves America and Americans, but it would be a waste of time to do so with someone who this election does not affect.
You''re a smart guy, surely you know where you live.

[jgg000]

hower4, what country are you from?
--------------------------
Posted by jgg000 at 11:46 AM : Sep 01, 2008

P.S. Sorry, I was being a little evasive. The real answer is that it''''s hard to say. I have lived in 7 different countries - USA, UK, Turkey, Israel, Iran, Japan and Australia and travelled to may more. Why do you ask?

Posted by hower4

actually, I''ve lived in several countries myself, although I''m a native American having grown up in NYC and currently reside in Los Angeles. Given your experience, you no doubt realize what America offers compared to other countries you have lived. Where do you live now?

[shazam117]

correction;According to few Afghanistani citizens interviewed by cbs on 60 minutes sometime ago said this quite clearly that americans are 100 times worse than the russians in bombing villages and hitting civilian target ....shame on you yellow belly cowards can''''t kill talibans so you dumb a-ss end up killing innocent afghan....you are not the beacon of liberty and freedom ,but instead a beacon of war criminals with monsterous thirst for human blood ....one day nature will make you pay in full ten times over mark my words worse than mosasaurs america....


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by shazam117 at 11:54 AM

[jgg000]

hower4, what country are you from?
--------------------------
Posted by jgg000 at 11:46 AM : Sep 01, 2008

I could tell you any country I feel like. What difference does it make? Either I speak the truth or I don''''t. I''''m only interested in that.

Posted by hower4

well, you don''t speak the truth and are obviously too much of a coward, or too embarassed, to mention what country you are from.

[hotpaulie]

hower4 - don''t blame me for s h i t !!! I hate bush and cheney...they should be tried and hung as war criminals. Not all americans are retarded... but if McCain gets elected than this country deserves what it gets.

[shazam117]

According to few Afghanistani citizens interviewed by cbs on 60 minutes sometime ago said this quite clearly that americans are 100 times worse than the russians in bombing villages and hitting civilian target ....shame on you yellow belly cowards can''t kill talibans so you dumb a-ss end up killing innocent afghan....you are not the beacon of liberty and freedom ,but instead a beacon of war criminals with monsterous thirst for human blood ....one day nature will make pay you in full ten times over mark my words worse than mosasaurs america....

[jgg000]

hower4, what country are you from?

[hotpaulie]

Hey Republicans all together now...1...2...3... 9/11!!!
9/11!!!
9/11!!!
For some reason it doesn''t have the same ring it use to.

[nextgenman]

Is there ANYTHING Republicans don''t fail at?!

[vechible]

'' .. i can steal all the market share and lunch money from their babys and grandbabys and ol''folk and grand ol''folk if i want to and then give it to them if i want to, besides: if i hadn''t they never would have had any .. too i can pack all their babys and grandbabys and ol''folk and grand sick ol''folk and force them into schoolhouses if i want to, then play multi trillion dollar nuclear biological chemical stealth ray pow of dare camp shock and awe if i want to, besides: if i hadn''t, it would have been them in the school houses .. it''s not they''re getting baked on the front pages, and it''s not their babys and grandbabys and ol''folk and grand ol''folk are getting baked in the schoolhouse wars .. it''s just regular life, all night each and ever night forever .. we used to pump trillions into first aid on the trail and get well soon and feed the world .. now we war first strike on the trail and get sick soon and tax the world upon us all, and we''ll all live happily ever after, or else .. ''

[petro49l]

George W. Bush is a schizophrenic idiot. He does not care about Afghanis killed by the Coalition. They are nothing more than peasants to him. Bush does nothing to stem the flow of tar heroin from Waziristan. He views it as a good profit from a drug sale.

[petro49l]

Bin Laden invites the Coalition to kill-off Taliban. They populate the region and reduce the amount of land for poppies. Al Qada''s isomizers must run at full capacity producing tar heroin. Osama said that profits are gained by dealing narcotics at a high price to Addicts. The drug must be potent. Junkies throughout the world pay Al Qada for a fix.