Sunday, June 14, 2009

Afghanistan War Briefs (and More)

"4 US soldiers die in attacks in Afghanistan" by Associated Press | June 2, 2009

KABUL - Two roadside bombs that struck back-to-back and only miles apart hit two US military vehicles yesterday in Afghanistan, killing four American soldiers, US and Afghan officials said.

US military officials have predicted a 50 percent spike in IED attacks in Afghanistan this year as militants step up attacks and thousands of more troops pour into the country....

Expect more limbless and lifeless bodies returning from Obama's abomination, 'murkns!

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"US actions in Afghanistan criticized" by Associated Press | June 4, 2009

WASHINGTON - American troops made substantial errors and did not strictly follow rules for avoiding casualties during an air assault on Taliban fighters in May, a US defense official said, underscoring a central quandary for President Obama's Afghan counterinsurgency campaign.

This after the ATROCIOUS EXCUSES and OUTLANDISH LIES they told at the time?

The defense official said yesterday that a military investigation faulted some of the actions of American troops in air strikes May 4 that killed dozens of Afghan civilians in Farah Province.

"Errors were made"

Oh, THAT is the UNDERSTATEMENT of the YEAR!!!

He should have said CRIMES were COMMITTED!!!

Though the probe looked into the events in early May, commanders for well over a year have focused considerable attention on the problem. It looms as large as ever as the Obama administration streams 21,000 troops into Afghanistan to try to regain momentum in the faltering war....

What bull crap! Yeah, right, the U.S. has been worried about civilian casualties -- as they RAIN BOMBS and MISSILES DOWN on the PLACE!!!!!

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Related: The Farah Fatalities

What is a Dead Afghan Baby Worth?

Farah Fallout

Notice how the MSM coverage on Obama's War has almost disappeared since the slaughter of the women and children?


Here is something you will NEVER FIND in the Boston Globe:

"
Afghan villagers slain as they took cover

by

Tears streaming down her face, the Afghan woman sat in a corner of a room with no roof and broken windows, mourning 19 of her closest and dearest relatives. “They were parts of my heart,” she said.

I pray Fatima gathers her's (and mine) for judgment.

Six weeks after American warplanes bombed her village in Farah province, on Afghanistan’s remote western border, mistakenly killing dozens of innocent women and children, the terror of the moment when the bombs fell and the ground erupted, turning one mud-walled house after another into rubble, still lives in her mind.

“I lost them all at a glance. Why am I still alive?” the 62-year-old woman asked.

The dead men, women and children, many of them her relatives, now lie in graves. The survivors still wonder why their families were wiped out by American airmen with whom they had no quarrel.

The Americans have paid families $2,000 compensation for each of those killed and $1,000 for each person injured. But the bombing in Farah on May 4, which caused the single highest civilian death toll of any incident this year, remains a significant political issue.

That's an INSULT because AFGHAN LIVES are PRICELESS!!!!!!!

It has weakened Afghans’ support for their government, for the presence of international forces and for the war against the Taliban. It has also raised tensions with President Hamid Karzai, who condemns foreign forces for the rise in civilian casualties, partly to bolster his own support in advance of August’s presidential elections.

A United Nations investigation has found that 828 civilians were killed by Afghan or American-led forces last year, most in airstrikes. Reducing civilian casualties will be a critical task for Stanley McChrystal, the US general who takes command of international forces in Afghanistan tomorrow.

There is concern that 21,000 extra American troops will increase civilian casualties as fighting increases. Violence is already at its highest level since the Americans toppled the Taliban at the end of 2001. The Americans have investigated the Farah bombing but their preliminary findings provided no real answers beyond admitting that a bomber’s crew had violated procedures.

In such cases there has always been a large discrepancy between estimates of the fatalities by Americans and those made by the UN and other agencies. The Americans rarely admit to making mistakes. In Farah, Afghan officials said that as many as 140 civilians died, but the US military put the civilian toll at no more than 30, along with about 65 insurgents. Other international investigators believe that as many 85 civilians died.

Last year the Americans killed 90 civilians in a bombing raid on Azizabad. An investigation by Dispatches, to be broadcast on Channel 4 tomorrow, will show that the Americans carried out the raid on the basis of faulty intelligence provided by an Afghan to settle a score with a rival. He is now on death row. But the American military has still not admitted the truth.

And they probably never will.

The Farah airstrikes were more straightforward but no less disastrous. They happened during a day of heavy fighting between Taliban insurgents and Afghan forces supported by American marines. During the fighting several 500lb bombs were dropped.

A lull ensued and villagers say many Taliban fighters withdrew. Many civilians fled, too, but some were still crammed into one compound. At 8pm a B1 bomber dropped a 2,000lb bomb on the compound, which American commanders suspected of sheltering Taliban but which contained mostly civilians.

The bomber had to make an elongated approach, which meant the target should have been reassessed first. “Either their intelligence was so bad and they believed there were no civilians there, or they made a calculation that killing some civilians allowed them to get rid of Taliban fighters, too,” said Rachel Reid, a Human Rights Watch researcher.

The US air force confirmed that its jets hit a “compound in which enemy personnel had gathered after the fight”.

Haji Issa Khan, a tribal elder, denied American reports that the Taliban were shooting from the roofs. “The Taliban were getting into their cars,” he said. The Americans could see the Taliban cars but they didn’t attack them.”

Instead, they hit the compounds. Scores of old men, women and children had sheltered inside. The result turned a meaningless victory in an obscure part of the country into a spectacular own goal and a human tragedy.

“We told the Americans all these problems are of their own making. They are helping the government but they are helping the Taliban as well with their mistakes,” Khan added.

“Coalition forces are treating the Afghan people like prisoners,” said Zarin Zarin, an MP....

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Related:
Afghanistan: Northern Supply Lines Under Attack

Didn't see anything about THAT in your Zionist propaganda sheet, didja?

Well, back to the Zionist War Briefs:


"Grenade kills 2, injures more than 50 in Afghanistan" by Associated Press | June 10, 2009

ASADABAD, Afghanistan - A Russian-made grenade exploded in a crowd milling around a US military vehicle crash in a busy town center in northeastern Afghanistan, killing two Afghans and wounding more than 50 people, including three US troops, officials said yesterday.

Related: Afghan Official: US Soldier Threw Grenade Into Crowd of Civilians

The US military and Afghanistan's Interior Ministry blamed the attack in the province of Kunar on insurgents and said officials had photographic evidence a Russian-made grenade left over from decades of war was used.

Pfffft! Yeah, that proves everything!

Nevertheless, many wounded Afghans angrily accused the Americans of using a grenade. While the allegation appears to have been discredited, it shows the difficult environment US forces face in trying to win over conservative Afghan tribes that live near the Pakistan border.

Discredited? BY WHOM?

The LYING U.S. MILITARY or ITS MOUTHPIECE MSM?

A US Army vehicle carrying American troops who help train Afghan soldiers crashed into a median in Kunar's capital of Asadabad, witnesses said. One shopkeeper, Rohilla, who has a store near the crash, said five or six soldiers got out of their vehicles and tried to pull the truck out of the median with another vehicle.

"Many people gathered around, then there was a blast," said Rohilla, who like many Afghans goes by one name. "It is not clear if the Americans or somebody else threw the grenade."

Actually, IT IS, lying, distorting, omitting MSM!!!

Other witnesses blamed US forces. The Interior Ministry blamed insurgents.

Did they?

Sigh!


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And today's Globe fart poot?


"40 are running for presidency

KABUL - President Hamid Karzai and 40 other candidates will appear on the ballot for president this August. His strongest challengers in the Aug. 20 vote include former finance minister Ashraf Ghani and former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. Two women are among the 41 candidates (AP)."

Politics and elections?

Who cares?!!