U.S.: Hundreds of Civilian Deaths in Iraq Were Preventable

[ze_dscherman]

Cluster Munitions, ‘Decapitation’ Attacks Condemned


(New York, December 12, 2003) – Hundreds of civilian deaths in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq could have been prevented by abandoning two misguided military tactics, Human Rights Watch said in a comprehensive new http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/usa1203/">report
released today.

The use of cluster munitions in populated areas caused more civilian casualties than any other factor in the coalition´s conduct of major military operations in March and April, Human Rights Watch said. U.S. and British forces used almost 13,000 cluster munitions, containing nearly 2 million submunitions, that killed or wounded more than 1,000 civilians.

Meanwhile, 50 strikes on top Iraqi leaders failed to kill any of the intended targets, but instead killed dozens of civilians, the Human Rights Watch report revealed. The U.S. “decapitation” strategy relied on intercepts of senior Iraqi leaders´ satellite phone calls along with corroborating intelligence that proved inadequate. As a result, the U.S. military could only locate targets within a 100-meter radius – clearly inadequate precision in civilian neighborhoods.


More: http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/12/us-iraq-press.htm

[grok]

1. We should leave both Iraq and Afghanistan.NOW

It's not worth one American soldier's life so 50,000,000 should have one chance in hell at freedom. They are not our people. They should do it themselves. Not our problem. we have enough problems with our starving people at home. Besides, we don't know better, they do.

And we are definitely killing more than we are saving. Who are we to say?

Grok

[Say_What]

7. "Bush's Afghan Massacre" --Convoy of Death

CNN had on something about Mazar-e-Sharif and slightly mentioned this last weekend. Rather than tell the truth--these so called *reporters* were yuking it up about the *COOL* stuff the Special Opts creeps could do. I personally think they put together something quick to counter the documentary described below, which is now on link tv. They are repeating it this weekend Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death

<clips>

Did American soldiers commit war crimes during the invasion of Afghanistan?

According to eyewitnesses, U.S. Special Forces supervised--some say orchestrated--the systematic murder of more than 3,000 captured Taliban soldiers in November 2001. That charge is the centerpiece of a documentary film, "Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death," expected to be released in the United States within the next few weeks.

"There has been a cover-up by the Pentagon," says Scottish director Jamie Doran, a former producer for the BBC. "They're hiding behind a wall of secrecy, hoping this story will go away--but it won't." Indeed, "Massacre" has already been shown on German television and to several European parliaments. The United Nations has promised an investigation. But thanks to a virtual media blackout, few Americans are aware that, on the eve of another war, their nation's reputation as a bastion of human rights is rapidly dissipating.

American Involvement in Genocide?

The allegations stem from the uprising at Qala-i-Jhangi fortress, a dramatic event that marked the last major confrontation between U.S.-backed forces of the Northern Alliance and the Taliban government. Several hundred prisoners, including "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh, revolted against their guards and seized a weapons cache. Responding to Special Forces soldiers working with the Northern Alliance, U.S. jets used bombs to kill most of the rebels, but not before CIA interrogator Johnny "Mike" Spann and an unknown number of Northern Alliance soldiers were shot to death.

Eighty-six Talibs, including Lindh, survived the Qala-i-Jhangi revolt. Meanwhile, 8,000 more soldiers surrendered at Kunduz, the last Taliban redoubt in northern Afghanistan. Commanders loyal to General Abdul Rashid Dostum, an Uzbek warlord who later became Hamid Karzai's deputy defense minister, had painstakingly negotiated the surrender of the Taliban from Kunduz and Qala-i-Jhangi.

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/afghan/2003/0204mass.htm

[Cooley Hurd]

2. Hundreds??? I keep hearing THOUSANDS!!!

HRW - are they to be trusted? Other non-US human rights organizations have tallied the numbers of civilian casualties in the 5000+ range. Just wondering... is Human Rights Watch a division of Brown & Root? :shrug:

[MostlyBlackCat2]

3. shoud read:

Hundreds of civilian deaths in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq could have been prevented by ...the american people demanding that their government function as a democracy; by the american people who responded to the truth and not their televisions and took to the streets demanding that their government go after the real perpetrators of sept 11...etc.

sigh.

i'm going to crawl back under my desk now.

[Ernesto]

4. As long as you have children committing suicide

by pulling concrete walls down on themselves (according to the pentagon this week), civilian casualties will continue.

[Drifter]

5. Hundreds of American Soldier Deaths in Iraq were Preventable...

if we had a competent leader.

Cheers
Drifter

[Say_What]

6. US Exports $20 million of Shackles, Electro-Shock Technology

Lots of these types of reports popping up lately, not that this is anything new for 'muriKa. Nor did it start with Bush--it's just now much more out in the open and the current junta doesn't give a flying f*ck.

<clips>

(Washington, DC) – A new Amnesty International report charges that in 2002, the Bush Administration violated the spirit of its own export policy and approved the sale of equipment implicated in torture to Yemen, Jordan, Morocco and Thailand, despite the countries' documented use of such weapons to punish, mistreat and inflict torture on prisoners. The US is also alleged to have handed suspects in the 'war on terror' to the same countries.

The total value of US exports of electro-shock weapons was $14.7 million in 2002 and exports of restraints totaled $4.4 million in the same period. The Commerce and State Departments approved these sales, permitting 45 countries to purchase electro-shock technology, including 19 that had been cited for the use of such weapons to inflict torture since 1990.

The report – The Pain Merchants – also reveals that the US approved the 2002 export to Saudi Arabia of nine tons of Smith & Wesson leg-irons. Former prisoners in Saudi Arabia have stated that their restraints were stamped with the name of Smith & Wesson. In a 2000 Amnesty International report, Phil Lomax, a UK national who was held for 17 days in 1999, recounted how shackles used in Malaz prison in Riyadh, were made in the US: "When we were taken out of the cell we were shackled and handcuffed. The shackles were very painful. They were made of steel... like a handcuff ring. The handcuffs were made in the USA."

"Although torture is endemic in Saudi Arabia, Smith and Wesson had no qualms about exporting approximately 10,000 leg-irons to Riyadh, and apparently sharing this lack of concern, the Bush Administration approved the sale," said Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA (AIUSA). "For decades, human rights groups and the US State Department have documented Saudi Arabia's cruel use of leg-irons and shackles to inflict torture and force confessions. With this shameful shipment, we can expect the torture of religious minorities and peaceful protestors to continue for years to come."

http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/usa/document.do?id=F7CE0B13E65E100085256DF00050B882

[Ernesto]

8. Wow that's great!

Think about all those swell new manufacturing jobs that our smart president has created!