By now, the story is sadly familiar: NATO forces in Afghanistan launch an airstrike against people on the ground thought to be enemy combatants, only to discover after the airstrike that the Afghans, now dead, were mainly or all civilians.
Last week, it happened again: eight Afghan teenagers were killed by a US airstrike. Below are exceprts from an Associated Press report.
Each time such “accidents” occur, the US-led NATO command apologizes, saying that they “do not target civilians”. In fact, they do target civilians because their rules of engagement are not stringent enough to require them to obtain positive identification of targets before shooting at them.
What would happen if police snipers perched on rooftops in a US city shot down into a street filled with people and killed several bystanders while aiming at a criminal? They would be charged with neglect and/or malfeasance. What would happen if a homeowner shot at a mountain lion in his back yard but missed and killed a child playing in the next yard? He would be charged with manslaughter and criminal neglect.
If you set up a situation in which accidents are likely, then when they occur you cannot call them “accidents”. They are predictable incidents, resulting from criminal dereliction of duty or malfeasance. Afghan President Karzai’s anger over these repeated incidents is entirely justified.
NATO regrets air strike killed 8 Afghan civilians
Associated Press, Thursday, February 16, 2012
KABUL — The US-led military coalition said Wednesday that it regrets the killing of eight civilians in a NATO air strike this month in eastern Afghanistan.
Civilian casualties have long been a source of friction between the US-led international force and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who condemned the bombing and sent a delegation to the scene to investigate.
The coalition called in the air strike Feb. 8 in Kapisa province, after movements by eight people on the ground were assessed as a threat to Afghan police and NATO forces in the area, said Army Brig. Gen. Lewis Boone, director of public affairs for the coalition.
…
Boone told reporters in Kabul: “Despite all tactical directives being followed precisely, we now know the unfortunate result of this engagement. In the end, eight young Afghans lost their lives in this very sad event.”
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Local officials said seven victims were boys between the ages of 6 and 14 and one was a mentally ill young man around 18 to 20 years old.
U.S. Gen. John Allen, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, has met with the provincial governor to express his condolences.
Related Previous PeacePundit Posts
- History Repeats: Nine Afghan Kids Killed by Airstrike
- Don’t Call It “Collateral Damage”
- Child Casualties Are Not Acceptable
- Correspondence w/State Dept. re: U.S. Airstrike
