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bemildred

(90,061 posts)
Tue Oct 6, 2015, 05:48 PM Oct 2015

The US Massacre in Kunduz Exposes the Bankruptcy of Obama’s National-Security Policy

Air power inflicts horrific human-rights violations and has been thoroughly discredited as a means of fighting insurgencies.

The aerial destruction that rained down on a hospital complex run by Doctors Without Borders in Kunduz, a provincial capital in northeast Afghanistan, on October 3 puts an exclamation point on the story of America’s 14 years of warfare in that Central Asian country. At least 22 people were killed, among them doctors, other medical personnel, and patients, including three children, and dozens were wounded in the attack.

Beyond the obvious, immediate implications of this massacre—which serves as a reminder that for all of those 14 years, the United States has engaged in a brutal, mismanaged and ill-conceived war—more broadly the ruins of the Kunduz hospital are a symbol of America’s unfortunate reliance on air power, including drone strikes and bombers, to combat a host of insurgent groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, and elsewhere in Africa.

After the events in Kunduz, Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym, MSF, issued a series of scathing statements, demanding an investigation of the incident by an impartial international body “under the clear presumption that a war crime has been committed.” Christopher Stokes, MSF’s director general, said that the group is “disgusted” by the statements of Afghan government officials who justified the attack by claiming that Taliban fighters were present.

http://www.thenation.com/article/the-us-massacre-in-kunduz-exposes-the-bankruptcy-of-obamas-national-security-policy/

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The US Massacre in Kunduz Exposes the Bankruptcy of Obama’s National-Security Policy (Original Post) bemildred Oct 2015 OP
Afghanistan is an evil situation, in that there is no moral choice available geek tragedy Oct 2015 #1
Who can we thank? nt bemildred Oct 2015 #2
everyone, including ourselves. nt geek tragedy Oct 2015 #5
Yep. "We have met the enemy, and he is us." nt bemildred Oct 2015 #7
Afghanistan: US Inquiry Must Go Past Admitting Mistakes bemildred Oct 2015 #3
lose lose DustyJoe Oct 2015 #4
Afghanistan is a difficult problem. cheapdate Oct 2015 #6
 

geek tragedy

(68,868 posts)
1. Afghanistan is an evil situation, in that there is no moral choice available
Tue Oct 6, 2015, 06:00 PM
Oct 2015

walking away is immoral, staying is immoral, etc etc

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
3. Afghanistan: US Inquiry Must Go Past Admitting Mistakes
Tue Oct 6, 2015, 06:02 PM
Oct 2015

(Washington, DC) – The United States military’s statement that US forces “mistakenly struck” a Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders, MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan needs to be followed up by a credible, independent, and transparent investigation that provides genuine accountability, Human Rights Watch said today. The US should establish an independent panel outside the military chain of command with the aim of establishing the facts and assessing possible culpability for the strike that killed at least 22 medical staff and patients and wounded dozens more.

“There’s no question deadly mistakes were made in the bombing of the MSF hospital,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Now it’s the responsibility of the US government to take prompt and transparent action to fully compensate the victims of the attack, ensure full accountability for what occurred, and adopt measures to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

At a Senate hearing on October 6, 2015, Gen. John Campbell, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, testified that “the decision to carry out a deadly air strike that hit a hospital in the Afghan provincial capital of Kunduz was made within the US chain of command.” He also stated that he “had confidence the three investigations into the incident – conducted by NATO, the Department of Defense, and Afghanistan’s government – would bring the facts to light.”

However, contradictory statements since the October 3 airstrike raise concerns about the credibility of these investigations, Human Rights Watch said. The NATO-led coalition initially characterized the destruction to the hospital as “collateral damage” after a US airstrike was carried out “against insurgents who were directly firing upon US service members advising and assisting Afghan Security Forces” in the vicinity of the hospital. On October 5, Campbell stated that “Afghan forces advised that they were taking fire from enemy positions and asked for air support from US forces,” appearing to shift responsibility for the airstrike to the Afghan forces.

http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/10/06/afghanistan-us-inquiry-must-go-past-admitting-mistakes

DustyJoe

(849 posts)
4. lose lose
Tue Oct 6, 2015, 06:08 PM
Oct 2015

Time to pull out is long past, this 'concept' of lets leave a few thousand target US forces there and air support on demand is showing no result or promise.

We are kicking our soldiers out of the Army for protecting children from rape by afghan authorities and providing close air support for afghan forces without question to their targeting.

Just pull out like the russians did, we don't have an end game goal and do nothing but leave our military under control of morons.

cheapdate

(3,811 posts)
6. Afghanistan is a difficult problem.
Tue Oct 6, 2015, 06:10 PM
Oct 2015

Some people believe the United States should pack up and leave Afghanistan -- let them sort it out for themselves. The most likely result would be the Taliban taking control of most or all of the country. Others believe the United States has an obligation and an interest in supporting the Afghan government.

I belong in the former group. The Afghan people are responsible for their own future. It can't be imposed on them from the outside. A government imposed from the outside will never be legitimate. If the forces of oppressive, strict, fundamentalism prevail, then so be it.

I disagree with most of Obama's (and Hillary's) foreign policy outlook. I agree with the president on the Iran nuclear agreement and with rapprochement with Cuba.

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