Another mistake, another bombing, another incident with no excuses, more Afghan citizens dead. Another 9 are dead, another 18 are dead, another 35; this keeps happening, and happening, and happening. Always with an excuse that Taliban were there, even as Defense Secretary Gates says that we should think about negotiating with the Taliban. How will they negotiate with us if we keep bombing their families and even the soldiers who are on our side? What an insane tactic. I can’t believe Obama wants to keep this fiasco going.
US Air Strike Kills Nine Afghan Soldiers at Checkpoint
Anti-war.com, October 22, 2008Coalition and Afghan soldiers briefly traded fire near an Afghan army checkpoint in Khost Province early this morning, before the coalition called in an air strike against the checkpoint, killing nine Afghan soldiers and wounding at least three others. A coalition statement suggested “this may be a case of mistaken identity on both sides.”
Khost Provincial Governor Arsallah Jamal said the checkpoint was well known and on a main road, adding “they knew it was there. They made a mistake.” Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry issued a statement condemning the incident “in the strongest terms.” The vowed an inquiry into the incident to ensure “the culprits are brought to justice and tried under laws in place.”
If this happened in the United States, even once, massive war and retaliation would break out worldwide for years, as it already has. The U.S. tends to overreact, probably because we can. Senator Obama gave a press conference today in Virginia, where he talked about our strength in the world and foreign policy. I found it extremely sad that he said we still have to “defeat” those who attacked us, as though that’s why we’re in Afghanistan. He uses the word “Homeland” just like George Bush too, though not as often. That type of talking worries me because it reflects an attitude that could easily perpetuate the war in Afganistan another 30 years or more.
He talked about defeating terrorist networks and the nuclear ambitions of Iran, before he said change must start with a responsible end to the war in Iraq. Ending the war in Iraq will enable us to “focus on Afghanistan” with more troops, more resources and going after bin Laden again, according to Obama. That’s not progress! That’s just more war. He wants to send 1-2 more bridages of troops to Afghanistan, and focus on fighting the Taliban, something I completely disagree with. Robert Gates recently said we should think about negotiating with the Taliban, getting them back into Afghan society. Interestingly, today CNN found that an al Qaeda website wants John McCain to win the election. I don’t kow what that indicates, but CNN also reported that Al Qaeda, according to this website, wants to “hit” George Bush one more time. I wonder if they have heard that some of us want to arrest Bush and start to try him for the war crimes of murder and his personal approval of torture. More on the story:
“It would be unprecedented for foreign military personnel here to be charged by Afghan authorities in connection with such an incident.
A U.S. military spokesman says American and Afghan officials will meet to discuss the so-called “friendly fire” accident, which occurred in the early morning hours Wednesday. Both militaries say they are sending investigators to the site of the attack.A number of civilians were killed in a western village in August by a U.S. air strike prompting strong condemnation from President Hamid Karzai and other Afghan government and military officials. . . .
READ MORE HERE. “
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