Women and Children Killed in Airstrike

Viv · #1 (**permalink**) 07-14-2008, 04:24 AM

I'm not sure how reliable a source this is as I have not viewed the webpage before. But the activity ties in with the story at the foot of the page, about a more recent action.

Now I know news reports can be inaccurate, but have they missed the target here...and if so, does anyone care?

I note the item about the loss of US soldiers has been posted on the site already. These people have allegedly lost a much more significant number and they may be civilians...:

Quote:

Official investigations have found that US-led air strikes a week ago killed 64 people, most of them women and children, the heads of separate investigation teams said Friday. The US-led coalition has denied killing civilians in the strikes on July 4 and July 6 in remote, mountainous areas near the border with Pakistan but said it was looking into the allegations. It says only militants were killed. President Hamid Karzai appointed high-level teams to investigate the claims, which have attracted criticism from the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Afghan parliament.
The team that looked into Sunday's strike in the remote Deh Bala district of Nangarhar told AFP they were shown the bloodied clothes of women and children killed in the strike that hit a wedding party and turned left buildings into rubble. "We found that 47 civilians, mostly women and children, were killed in the air strikes and another nine were wounded," said the head of the mission, Burhanullah Shinwari. "They were all civilians and had no links with Taliban or Al-Qaeda," said Shinwari, who is also the deputy speaker of Afghanistan's senate. Around 10 people were missing and believed to be still under rubble, he said. Another member of the delegation, Mohammad Asif Shinwari, said there were only three men among the dead and the rest were women and children. Local officials said earlier the strikes had hit a party of mainly women and children escorting a bride to her groom. The bride was among the dead, they said.
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Comm...etnam_999.html

and the other item:

Quote:

Nine US soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, in one of the biggest losses of life in a single incident since operations there began in 2001.

The troops died when insurgents attacked a military outpost in the north-eastern province of Kunar, close to the border with Pakistan.

The fighting came as international and Afghan forces battled militants on several fronts.

One soldier from the US-led coalition was killed by a bomb in Helmand.

On Sunday, US forces said 40 insurgents had been killed in Helmand province in 24 hours...

...Nato says the rebels suffered heavy casualties. It did not name the attackers but there has been a sharp increase in Taleban attacks in the country, and in that region in particular.

The BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul says Afghanistan's north-eastern border with Pakistan is a well-known trouble spot.

The fighting is close to where US forces were accused of killing 47 civilians in an air strike in Nangarhar province a week ago.

The US military said they were militants...
BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | US suffers heavy Afghan losses

AmericanDreamer · #2 (**permalink**) 07-14-2008, 06:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Viv

I'm not sure how reliable a source this is as I have not viewed the webpage before. But the activity ties in with the story at the foot of the page, about a more recent action.

Now I know news reports can be inaccurate, but have they missed the target here...and if so, does anyone care?

I note the item about the loss of US soldiers has been posted on the site already. These people have allegedly lost a much more significant number and they may be civilians...:

Viv, the link is nonexistant. I guess the source does not seem reliable. Here is an alternate link: US-led strikes kills 64 Afghan civilians
If it is in fact accurate, then it's what is referred to as the casualties of war. Then again, the insurgents are dressed like everyone else, so the dead could very well be the enemy. One may never know.

If you read closely the article never confirms that anyone actually saw the dead bodies.

"...they were shown the bloodied clothes of women and children killed in the strike that hit a wedding party and turned left buildings into rubble. "We found that 47 civilians, mostly women and children, were killed in the air strikes and another nine were wounded," said the head of the mission, Burhanullah Shinwari. "They were all civilians and had no links with Taliban or Al-Qaeda," said Shinwari, who is also the deputy speaker of Afghanistan's senate. "

How can they determine who was the good guy or the bad guy? They were referring to the "bloodied clothes" and that is how they determined the body count. Could very well be propaganda. Like they say "War is hell".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Viv

and the other item:

As you said, the story has already been posted. http://www.politicalwrinkles.com/war...an-battle.html

It's a tragedy when we lose the troops that are protecting our freedoms.

Viv · #3 (**permalink**) 07-14-2008, 06:29 AM

There is no edit button here??

Or where is hidden? Ahhh it is time-linked?

The link works ok in my other forum, I posted it incorrectly here, I think. I will post again and hope it works

:

Commentary: Afghanistan, another Vietnam?

What hit me about that article was the comment that of those killed, only 3 were men.

I support the troops, IMO they are doing a professional job under extreme circumstances. Policy is not theirs to make and they are following the orders of the representatives we voted into power...no blame is laid at their door.

But in cases like this, there should be accountability. It is "casualties of war", but when it happens we should step up to the mark and apologise to the families of the dead.

It has to be carefully done, because an admission like that risks all kinds of claims emerging from the woodwork, but I think people need to still care when such tragedies happen. And dealing honestly with a situation like this endows more credibility to the armed forces, IMO, not less...

AmericanDreamer · #4 (**permalink**) 07-14-2008, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Viv

There is no edit button here??

Or where is hidden? Ahhh it is time-linked?

The link works ok in my other forum, I posted it incorrectly here, I think. I will post again and hope it works

:

Commentary: Afghanistan, another Vietnam?

What hit me about that article was the comment that of those killed, only 3 were men.

I support the troops, IMO they are doing a professional job under extreme circumstances. Policy is not theirs to make and they are following the orders of the representatives we voted into power...no blame is laid at their door.

But in cases like this, there should be accountability. It is "casualties of war", but when it happens we should step up to the mark and apologise to the families of the dead.

It has to be carefully done, because an admission like that risks all kinds of claims emerging from the woodwork, but I think people need to still care when such tragedies happen. And dealing honestly with a situation like this endows more credibility to the armed forces, IMO, not less...

Does the fact that the body count is based on "the bloodied clothes of women and children" rather than the actual bodies they say were killed? The article states this, and does not mention anywhere that the actual dead bodies were verified. This makes me wonder if this particular instance is propaganda.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode