US report blames Taliban for civilian deaths

[bemildred]

Source: AP

KABUL (AP) — The U.S. coalition blamed Taliban militants Saturday for causing what Afghan officials say are dozens of civilian deaths during a prolonged battle that included American airstrikes. The U.S. said an unspecified number of civilians died but did not take responsibility for any deaths.

Afghanistan's Interior Ministry declined to endorse the U.S. report, saying its own investigation would be completed soon.

Afghan officials have estimated up to 147 people died in the battle in the western province of Farah on Monday, but a U.S. spokeswoman called that number exaggerated. The U.S. report did not offer an estimate of the number killed in the battle.

The preliminary report said Taliban fighters herded Afghan villagers into houses to use as human shields while they fired on coalition forces in two villages in Farah. The report said that U.S. forces had responded to a call for help from Afghan forces and that militants attacked the troops from several locations.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvWEqwq3CrRvaQCmt21MfoYhjZJQD982TB400

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Stop me before they make me bomb them again!

[EFerrari]

1. What's particularly disturbing about these deaths is that the women and children

had been housed well away from the fighting precisely so that this wouldn't happen.

These reports turn my stomach.

[laststeamtrain]

2. Damn it! If everybody in the world would just do what we tell them to do...

...everything would be alright.

Now go to your room & read your bible or we'll kill you.

[Traveling_Home]

3. Taliban will shoot women who go outside without their husband's permission,

but I find it unthinkable that they would use women and children as shields. </s>

[bemildred]

9. Not likely I agree.

And killing the women and children to save them seems counter-productive in any case. The fundies are not nice, but killing their women and children is not an improvement. If we were to feed and educate and take care of those children for a few years, they would kick the fundies ass for us. But they still probably would not be obedient.

[YankmeCrankme]

10. It's not a matter of the Taliban using women or children as shields

It's about the US not caring enough about the women and children to kill them anyway to get at the Taliban using indiscriminate bombs and missiles. We don't have to kill the "human shields", the Taliban aren't going anywhere. How about we wait til they are not near the women and children. What are they going to do, remain in the house forever?

[jody]

4. IMO the truly sad thing is we can't trust any report coming from our government. n/t

[Honeycombe8]

12. Or anyone. War is hell. nt

[DLnyc]

5. Air strikes are the wrong way to fight a guerilla war.

Whether people were being used as 'shields' or not, if the US planes didn't bomb, the people would not have been killed.

Bombing doesn't win a war like this, in fact it loses a war like this. Bombing helps no one, except for some frustrated yahoos in the Air Force.

Obama needs to shut down the Air Force spin machine, accept responsibility, and call off the air strikes.

[pinniped]

6. More BS.

Even if the US did take responsibility, which they do 0.001% of the time, what the fuck would change?

Absolutely nothing.

The U.S. said an unspecified number of civilians died but did not take responsibility for any deaths.

[Alamuti Lotus]

7. certain people here want to believe that the talibs staged a fake airstrike on the place,

just to make the brave crusaders look bad. There are allegedly depths to the depravity to be found in denial, but I would say that they are yet to be found.

[ohio2007]

8. ignorance is bliss

From what I heard on an NPR radio compilation and a few other articles earlier this week,nobody wants to look prior to a curious few interesting steps leading up to civilian tragedy.

Did not the Taliban behead two (or three ) people in that very same village on spy charges earlier in the week ? This link may not be the same incident but a rash of be headings continue to be served
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3857754
That bit of news wasn't needed since dots are not to be connected and not part of a breaking news story. It's just considered "a shame" that nothing can easily be done about it......

Also under the radar was the story of Afghan soldiers taking heavy gunfire from certain houses when they entered that very same village to investigate the be headings. "It's a shame the under trained,ill equipped Afghans can't even police their own countrymen without extra muscle to use as a crutch".
But
the Afghan soldiers did return to the village with NATO/US ground support. They also came under heavy gunfire from the same houses in that very same village.
wtf
"NATO troops can't even handle a few cave dwellers holed up in a couple of huts ready to die for practicing their law abiding ways of life.....and law abiding ways of death"
:sarcasm:

What does make big news isn't the cause for the beheading investigation but rather,
the spin effect of freedom fighters setting up human shields to gain a few political pointless points in the media. MSM loves "Bleed/Lead" parts reported out of areas they really can't reach themselves.
When an air strike is dialed up, the truth is told.


http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jm-kkRl28MJ1J1e7kx5IcgSu1HYw

The original unconnected dot story leading up to an Afghan/NATO response is ignored as the the knee jerk reaction effect story is what gets people buying papers in the west and gets the highest web hits.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3863298&mesg_id=3863298

jmo

[EFerrari]

13. Wrong. The women and children were taken well away from the fighting.

Go read the ICRC's report. They were on the ground and they confirmed this.

Human shields, my granny. You also posted to a video showing Palestinians' using "human shields" that turned out to be mothers attending a peaceful demonstration with their children.

[MasonJar]

11. Of course the Taliban used civilians as human shields. They are

sub human. Apologies to all subhumans.

[YankmeCrankme]

14. Not subhuman, they're all too human

The effort to dehumanize whole groups of people to make it easier to kill or subjugate them is all too human, also. Throughout history, humans have done despicable things to other people, especially innocent women and children. The Taliban are no different hiding among women and children then the US is for dropping a bomb on the building containing women and children. Neither care about their safety or well being.

Why do they do that, anyway? Because they know that the US will, indeed, drop a bomb on them and they win points in the political struggle in the mind of the civilians that the US doesn't really care about them. It would serve our purpose so much more if we didn't kill the women and children showing we actually put their safety above the need to kill Taliban. But, this whole affair hasn't anything to do with the best interests of the civilian population. Never was, really.