Our longest ever war has had a couple of bad days in the last week…….it seems that we have nset about killing a bunch of civilians on two occasions in less than 5 days….

First on 19 Sept……..

US forces carried out their latest disastrous air strike in Afghanistan. A US drone attacked and killed at least 30 civilians, and wounded 40 others in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province.

The victims of the attack were farm workers who were participating in the harvest of pine nuts in a village’s forest, and a number of children who were also there to take part in the harvest.

What adds insult to injury, however, was that the village elders had foreseen this as an issue, and specifically sent letters around to officials two weeks ago. The letters, dated September 7, were meant to assure that the gathering on the outskirts of the forest was nothing to do with militants, and was merely hired laborers for the harvest. They were assured this was not a problem.

So about 200 workers gathered around a camp on the edge of the forest, lit bonfires, and talked about the security situation at their respective villages of origin. Then the US drone arrived and started attacking the camp, sending survivors fleeing into the forest.

US officials downplayed the fact that there was a letter informing everyone what this camp was. The official statement was that the existence of the letter would be considered in the investigation.

(antiwar.com)

Second attack was on 23 Sept the second attack……

For the second time in a week, a US military operation in Afghanistan has ended with a large number of civilians dead, and US officials offering very dubious arguments as to why it wasn’t their fault.

The Sunday night attack saw US and Afghan commandos raid a house in Helmand Province, and ultimately launch airstrikes. The attack killed at least 40 civilians, including a number of children.

Instead of the Taliban building they thought they were raiding, it turns out the airstrike pounded an ongoing wedding reception. The Afghan government has already admitted to what happened, saying they are “saddened” by the deaths and want to take extra caution in the future.

Because the US is on one of those kicks where they don’t take responsibility for anything, the US statement confirmed the airstrike but denied killing civilians. They claimed the attack targeted al-Qaeda, and suggested any civilians “died from al-Qaeda weapons,” and not from the US dropping bombs on them.

(antiwar.com)

I realize that collateral damage involving civilians is a common occurrence in war but this is pushing the limits of acceptability.

“Lego Ergo Scribo”