U.S. says new evidence of civilian deaths in raid

Source: Reuters

The U.S. military said it has new evidence of civilian deaths in a coalition air strike in western Afghanistan last month, and is sending an officer to review the findings
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The U.S. military had earlier disputed an Afghan government allegation that more than 90 people, many of them women and children, died in the Aug. 22 raid in western Herat's Shindand district, a figure backed by the United Nations

But late on Sunday, the military issued a statement saying it was seeking a review of its original finding that five to seven civilians had died in the operation.

"In light of emerging evidence pertaining to civilian casualties in the Aug. 22 counter-insurgency operation in the Shindand District, Herat province, I feel it is prudent to request that US Central Command send a general officer to review the US investigation and its findings with respect to this new evidence," General David McKiernan, senior US officer in Afghanistan said.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP100031.htm

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Harrowing video film backs Afghan villagers' claims of carnage caused by US troops
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4699077.ece

:eyes:

But I thought our bombs only killed terrorists and freedumb-haters.

The Taliban now has an air force! And they're probably gearing up to bomb America! PH34R!!!

What? It's not 2004 anymore? Jeez, I'm getting so old, I remember when indiscriminate bombing of civilians was a war crime. It's a good thing Americans are incapable of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

America could keep assuring itself it's #1 Bestest Nation Ever if the rest of the world would just stop letting the damn facts out!

"The US military said that its findings were corroborated by an independent journalist embedded with the US force. He was named as the Fox News correspondent Oliver North, who came to prominence in the 1980s Iran-Contra affair, when he was an army colonel."

Whoops. Ollie caught lying? Say it isn't so.

And, don't they mean "rehabilitated felon, Oliver North"?

should be in jail. I can't believe he is imbeded with the troops. He should be prosecuted if he lied about these attacks and he should be barred from any reporting.

KABUL, Afghanistan - The bodies of several children lay dead in two videos that show the aftermath of a U.S.-led operation the Afghan government and U.N. say killed 90 civilians.

The video obtained Monday, apparently taken by a cell phone, is grainy and details such as a precise body count are difficult to make out. A second video shows gruesome detail of children severely disfigured.

The two videos, both obtained by The Associated Press, give weight to Afghan and U.N. findings that scores of civilians, including 60 children and 15 women, died in the Aug. 22 raid in the village of Azizabad.

A U.S. investigation found that only seven civilians died. But the U.S. on Sunday said it would reopen the investigation because of emerging new evidence.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080908/ap_on_re_as/afghan_civilian_deaths;_ylt=Ak46rwNdxP2NEH3Y0sd4S19vaA8F

Source: AFP


WASHINGTON (AFP) -
16 minutes ago

The Pentagon said Monday that newly obtained imagery prompted a review of a US investigation into an air strike in Afghanistan that found that only five to seven civilians were killed, not 90 as the Afghan government found.


General David McKiernan, the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement Sunday that he had asked the US Central Command to appoint a general to review the investigation in response to "emerging evidence."

"There is some evidence to suggest that the evidence the United States military used in the conduct of its investigation may not have been complete," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said on Monday.

Whitman said the evidence was "imagery," but would give no details. A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul said it was cellphone imagery taken by a villager.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080908/pl_afp/afghanistanusunrestcivilianspentagon_080908155112;_ylt=AtjKfLI7vHyF1x7azY6cMpD9xg8F

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080908/ap_on_re_as/afghan_civilian_deaths

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Related: Video shows dead Afghan children after US raid-- AP

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3948549&mesg_id=3948549