In 30 days, 150+ civilians killed in Af-Pak conflict [View All]

In 30 days, 150+ civilians killed in Af-Pak conflict



KANDAHAR -- The death of a Pakistani laborer Sunday tops off what could be the bloodiest 30 days in terms of civilian casualties in recent memory.

The attack came 12 hours after multiple suicide bombings and explosions in the city, which have left at least 27 dead and dozens of others wounded. The Pakistani nationals were hit as their vehicle drove over a bomb on a road close to Pakistan's consulate in Kandahar city.

More than 150 civilians, fully one third of them children, have died instantly or from wounds sustained in the past month by a military campaign spanning two countries. Four times as many were wounded and disfigured.

Yet outrage levels at Democratic Underground remained startlingly low when it was revealed that the 150+ civilians in question were killed by the Taliban.

Jingoistic posters were quick to pile on when NATO bombs or Afghan forces killed civilians, decrying all forms of war and declaring how awful the ISAF is. Yet three times as many civilians are killed deliberately by the Taliban right now, and nary a peep. Legitimate anti-war arguments are drowned out by the insincere anti-US ranting.

All war is bad. All deaths are lamentable. These are obvious truths that are not held to heart by many here. Leap to defend your record if you can.

14 civilians killed. No outrage. Zero replies. 8 civilians killed. No outrage. Zero replies. 12 civilians killed. No outrage (although an interesting discussion on Sharia Law). 6 civilians killed. No outrage. Two replies.

Five. Five more. 11. 53. 30.

Crickets. And these are only those that one might think DUers might be interested in. There are hundreds of smaller stories every single day, every single month. It is terrible right now. It was worse in the 1990s. And it may get better if the Taliban don't return to power. If they do, however, it absolutely will not.

The unnamed Pakistani laborer, who in passing garners nary a whisper? Turns out he has a name, and I know people in his home town.

I make noise today, for him. If you want to call that "war mongering," so be it. If my noise makes you uncomfortable, that's rather the idea.

"The power of sound has always been greater than the power of sense." —Joseph Conrad