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| Afghanistan |
| War Crime in Afghanistan |
| 2007-06-18 |
| And despite the screaming, the crime is NOT by the US. To use children as a shield is a war crime, but to HIDE those children so that they will be killed in retaliatory fire is far worse. KABUL, Afghanistan - Seven children were killed in a U.S.-led coalition airstrike targeting suspected al-Qaida militants in eastern Afghanistan, a coalition statement said Monday. The strike came hours after the deadliest insurgent attack since the Taliban fell in 2001. In an operation backed by Afghan troops, jets on Sunday targeted a compound that also contained a mosque and a madrassa, or Islamic school, in the Zarghun Shah district of Paktika province. Early reports indicated seven children at the madrassa and "several militants" were killed, and two militants detained, the statement said. Coalition troops had "surveillance on the compound all day and saw no indications there were children inside the building," said Maj. Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman. He accused the militants of not letting the children leave the compound that was targeted. "If we knew that there were children inside the building, there was no way that that airstrike would have occurred," said Sgt. 1st Class Dean Welch, another coalition spokesman. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said it has sent a team with the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission to investigate the incident. Afghan officials have recently said that civilian deaths are the main concern of Afghans, and President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly called for foreign troops to do more to prevent civilian casualties. |
| Posted by:Glenmore |
| #7 Their should be exceptions in the law around cases where possible human shields were used. |
| Posted by: Criling Fillmore7165 2007-06-18 18:46 |
| #6 Children at the Madrassa Sounds like something from abu Steven King |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-06-18 18:43 |
| #5 Unfortunate but probably necessary these days to kill them before they become real boomers. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2007-06-18 14:37 |
| #4 seven children at the madrassa and "several militants" In other words: several "militants" mature and larva. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-06-18 12:01 |
| #3 Point taken. Though I think we are long done with trying to convince our traitors to learn what actually constitutes a war crime (non-uniformed combatants, firing from "religious" structures, hiding behind women and children, targeting civilians, etc. etc.). We should instead take to tarring and feathering them. And that goes double for the Supreme Court having continually sanctioned the "rights" of those in violation of these treaties. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-06-18 09:45 |
| #2 Brave Lions of Islam™ |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-06-18 09:29 |
| #1 Its Karzai and the Afghan legislature who need to unambiguously state the fact that the Taliban are the ones committing the war crimes. Karzai has said this kind of thing in closed meetings (e.g., Davos) but not in the open. Without that, the tranzis, jihadi sympathizers, Bush haters, etc. will be taking this one and running hard with it. |
| Posted by: mhw 2007-06-18 08:49 |