tagged w/ Civilian Casualties
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Marines and Afghan units converged Sunday on a dangerous western quarter of the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, with NATO forces facing "determined resistance" as their assault on the southern town entered its second week.
The Marjah operation is a major test of a new NATO strategy that stresses protecting civilians over routing insurgents as quickly as possible. It's also the first major ground operation since President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 reinforcements to Afghanistan.
In a setback to that strategy, the Dutch prime minister said Sunday that his country's 1,600 troops would probably leave Afghanistan this year. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende spoke a day after his government collapsed when a coalition partner insisted the Dutch troops leave in August as planned.
Fighter jets, drones and attack helicopters flew over Marjah, as Marine and Afghan companies moved on a 2-square-mile (5.2-sq. kilometer) area of the town where more than 40 insurgents have apparently holed up.
"They are squeezed," said Lt. Col. Brian Christmas, commander of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. "It looks like they want to stay and fight but they can always drop their weapons and slip away. That's the nature of this war."
Insurgents are putting up a "determined resistance" in various parts of Marjah, though the overall offensive is "on track," NATO said Sunday, eight days after thousands of Afghan and international forces launched their largest joint operation since the Taliban regime's ouster in 2001.
Late last week, Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, head of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, said he believed it would take at least 30 days to complete securing the Nad Ali district and Marjah in Helmand province, a hub for a lucrative opium trade that profits militants.
cont.Marines and Afghan units converged Sunday on a dangerous western quarter of the... more
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The big problem here is that the U.S. forces can't tell the difference between the Taliban and civilians. So what this amounts to is a warning of imminent destruction.
"Leaflets are being dropped over Marjah, containing the message 'Don't shelter the Taliban in your homes, don't allow the Taliban in your areas, the troops are coming to help you. We will bring peace. Live in peace and comfort'," said provincial spokesman Daud Ahmadi.
Peace and comfort. Yeah right.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/rssfeed/afghanistan/Afghans-flee-before-assault/Article1-506832.aspxThe big problem here is that the U.S. forces can't tell the difference between... more
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A Shiite militant group in Iraq has posted an Internet video showing an American it says it abducted and who appears to be a contractor reported missing by the U.S. military. What’s more, the kidnappers are demanding justice for the people killed by the mercenary company Blackwater as part of their ransom.A Shiite militant group in Iraq has posted an Internet video showing an American it... more
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An Afghan human rights watchdog has found that children are the biggest victims of the war there, with more than 1,050 people under 18 years old killed last year alone.An Afghan human rights watchdog has found that children are the biggest victims of the... more
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Criminal charges in the US have been dismissed against Blackwater security guards who opened fire on unarmed Iraqi civilians in 2007. Iraqis reacted with disbelief, anger and bitter resignation to the news.Criminal charges in the US have been dismissed against Blackwater security guards who... more
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After intensive pressure from the Obama administration, Pakistan launched a military offensive against Taliban militants in their country’s North West Frontier Province. As a result of Pakistan’s military campaign, hundreds of thousands of people remain homeless.After intensive pressure from the Obama administration, Pakistan launched a military... more
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Corruption and incompetence in Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government — particularly at the local level — have forced a growing number of people to seek the services of the Taliban. NATO says the Taliban run shadow governments in 33 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, are only too willing to help settle local disputes.Corruption and incompetence in Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government... more
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As the U.S. and its allies try to overcome logistical hurdles and rush some 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan in 2010, intelligence officials are warning that the Taliban-led insurgency is expanding and that "time is running out" for the U.S.-led coalition to prove that its strategy can succeed.As the U.S. and its allies try to overcome logistical hurdles and rush some 40,000... more
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This week, troops led by the United States were accused of dragging innocent children. The allegations of civilian deaths led to protests in Kabul and Jalalabad, with children as young as 10 chanting “Death to America” and demanding that foreign forces should leave Afghanistan at once. Protesters in Kabul chanted "Obama! Obama! Take your soldiers out of Afghanistan!" They wore blue headbands with the words: "Stop killing us!" In Jalalabad, protesters chanting “Death to Obama” set a US flag and an effigy of Obama on fire.This week, troops led by the United States were accused of dragging innocent children.... more
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~y2010m1d5-Karzai-interview-US-and-NATO-forces-must-stop-killing-Afghans--video#
For President Karzai, it's a no brainer. What he sees as the biggest threat to his country is the growing civilian death toll brought about by foreign troops on the ground. This is feeding to create an insurgency that will be impossible to secure or abate. He spoke to al-Jazeera today, and expressed his wish, saying that his country needs to regain its sovereignty.~y2010m1d5-Karzai-interview-US-and-NATO-forces-must-stop-killing-Afghans--video#... more
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UNICEF says that eight years after the U.S.-led invasion in Afghanistan, the country is now the most dangerous place in the world for a child to be born.UNICEF says that eight years after the U.S.-led invasion in Afghanistan, the country... more
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In a damning indictment of how Canada handled prisoners early in its mission in Afghanistan, a government whistleblower says all captives that Canadian soldiers transferred to local authorities ended up being tortured – even though many were likely innocent.In a damning indictment of how Canada handled prisoners early in its mission in... more
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The New York Times reports that top executives at Blackwater Worldwide authorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials that were intended to silence their criticism and buy their support after Blackwater security guards fatally shot 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007.The New York Times reports that top executives at Blackwater Worldwide authorized... more
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The DVD of this indepth documentary on the war in Afghanistan is now available, and at the link you can watch it or the trailers for free. Free. Which is more than we can say for the people of Afghanistan. Obama announced a missile shield coming down, but yet, both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue. It's time to move to the next step.The DVD of this indepth documentary on the war in Afghanistan is now available, and at... more
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At least 70 people have been killed in northern Afghanistan after a Nato aerial raid on two hijacked petrol lorries.
The assault was carried out in Kunduz province, with some witnesses putting the number of dead and injured as high as 130.
Nato has admitted that Friday's attack had possibly killed civilians.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Nato secretary-general, said: "Certainly, a number of Taliban were killed and there is a possibility of civilian casualties as well."
James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent near Kunduz city, said: "I've been to the village nearest to where the bombing took place. A very sad scene there. Watching the bodies being brought outside the mosque in the village, people preying. Real shock and anger at what had happened."
Bays said that members of the Taliban had hijacked the fuel tankers, travelling from Tajikistan, but that they had become mired in mud.
Moin Marastial, who represents Kunduz province in the Afghan parliament, told Al Jazeera: "More than 100 people had been killed, according to local sources.
One villager outside the hospital said: "My brother was burnt when the aircraft bombed the fuel tankers. I don't know whether he is dead or alive."
Our correspondent said: "If these reports are confirmed, this will be a definite blow to General [Stanley] McChrystal, the US and Nato army commander in Afghanistan, who has urged US forces to avoid civilian causalities where at all possible."At least 70 people have been killed in northern Afghanistan after a Nato aerial raid... more
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In sworn statements filed with a Virginia court last night, a former Marine and a former Blackwater employee claim that the company’s founder and former CEO, Erik Prince, “may have murdered or facilitated the murder” of people who were aiding a federal investigation into a Baghdad massacre that left 17 dead, according to Nation reporter Jeremy Scahill.
“The former employee also alleges that Prince ‘views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe,’ and that Prince’s companies ‘encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life,” the magazine reported.
Both individuals’ names were withheld by the court.In sworn statements filed with a Virginia court last night, a former Marine and a... more
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The truth is that American military escalation will not liberate the women of Afghanistan. Instead, the hardships of war take a disproportionate toll on women and their families.
Watch the video and learn more @ http://rethinkafghanistan.The truth is that American military escalation will not liberate the women of... more
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As the US military launches operation “Strike of the Sword” in Afghanistan, sending 4,000 newly arrived Marines and 650 Afghan forces into the Helmland River valley, we must consider how this major offensive will impact Afghan civilians forced to flee this war torn region.
Read the full article:
http://rethinkafghanistan.com/blog/?p=570As the US military launches operation “Strike of the Sword” in... more
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Since 2001, the US Air Force has dropped nearly 31 million pounds (14,049 metric tons) of bombs on Afghanistan. The UN estimates that US airstrikes alone accounted for 64 percent of the 828 Afghan civilians killed last year. Those numbers practically scream the need to abandon conventional warfare tactics in Afghanistan and dramatically shift US foreign policy to incorporate a more humanitarian approach. Instead, we're seeing the horrific images from IDP camps: refugees who have lost loved ones; parents so desperate they would rather sell their children than watch them starve; children scarred both physically and psychologically. These are the survivors, forced to endure the bleak aftermath of airstrikes as the US escalates this war.
The front page story in the LA Times today examines the US military's seemingly impossible task of reducing the number of civilian casualties in airstrikes like the one that killed up to 140 people in Farah province on May 4. The civilians casualties from that attack, we know from a preliminary investigative report, died because a series of military errors. Had the Afghan forces being trained by the US military not ignored warnings about entering a Farah village, they wouldn't have been ambushed by insurgents, prompting the Marines to call for a strike. And had the pilot of an aircraft not lost site of his target, or had those commanders rethought the need to send in a B-1 bomber strike at a point when those Afghan forces weren't under direct attack, the high number of civilian casualties could have been avoided. Yet as our highly skilled military revisits protocols for conducting air strikes to minimize mistakes like these in the future, these casualties are the inevitable consequences of conventional warfare.
We've heard Gen. McChrystal tell Congress that reducing civilian casualties is "essential to our credibility." We've heard Adm. Mullen claim we need to do "absolutely everything to make sure civilian casualties are eliminated, if possible, or certainly minimized in every situation." But such rhetoric is appallingly disingenuous while Congress simultaneously approves $106 billion in wartime spending with relatively little in the way of economic aid, or when we learn that over a month after the Farah attacks, US commanders have not specified how exactly they plan to reduce the civilian casualties of this war.
Instead of thinking of alternatives to a dangerously flawed military strategy, US commanders are trying to control the narrative about civilian casualties.
end of excerptSince 2001, the US Air Force has dropped nearly 31 million pounds (14,049 metric tons)... more
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