Gardez investigation concludes

Source: ISAF

KABUL, Afghanistan (Apr. 4) - A thorough joint investigation into the events that occurred in the Gardez district of Paktiya Province Feb. 12, has determined that international forces were responsible for the deaths of three women who were in the same compound where two men were killed by the joint Afghan-international patrol searching for a Taliban insurgent.

The two men, who were later determined not to be insurgents, were shot and killed by the joint patrol after they showed what appeared to be hostile intent by being armed. While investigators could not conclusively determine how or when the women died, due to lack of forensic evidence, they concluded that the women were accidentally killed as a result of the joint force firing at the men.

"We deeply regret the outcome of this operation, accept responsibility for our actions that night, and know that this loss will be felt forever by the families," said Brig Gen. Eric Tremblay, ISAF Spokesperson. "The force went to the compound based on reliable information in search of a Taliban insurgent and believed that the two men posed a threat to their personal safety. We now understand that the men killed were only trying to protect their families."

"We are continuing our dialogue with our Afghan security partners to improve coordination for future operations and help prevent such mistakes from happening again," said Tremblay.

Read more: http://www.isaf.nato.int/en/article/isaf-releases/gardez-investigation-concludes.html

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This was/is Jerome Starkey's story on the bound and gagged civilians, from March 13: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/afghanistan/article7060395.ece">Nato ‘covered up’ botched night raid in Afghanistan that killed five.

Edited to add: Here's the WAPO story from today as well: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/04/AR2010040402185.html

"We are continuing our dialogue with our Afghan security partners to improve coordination for future operations and help prevent such mistakes from happening again," said Tremblay.

"Our Afghan security partners?" Partners? Apparently, even the military has taken on the corporate lingo.

is the insidious efforts by the US and NATO, et al, to cover these things up. And it's not the fault of a few bad apples. It goes right to the top: witness Stanley McCrystal and the death of Pat Tillman.

And, according to the OP, the force went to the compound on "...reliable information".
Reliable? Seems not.

Source: New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — After initially denying involvement or any cover-up in the deaths of three Afghan women during a badly bungled American Special Operations assault in February, the American-led military command in Kabul admitted late on Sunday that its forces had, in fact, killed the women during the nighttime raid.

The admission immediately raised questions about what really happened during the Feb. 12 operation — and what falsehoods followed — including a new report that Special Operations forces dug bullets out of the bodies of the women to hide the true nature of their deaths.

A NATO official also said Sunday in an interview that an Afghan-led team of investigators had found signs of evidence tampering at the scene, including the removal of bullets from walls near where the women were killed.

The disclosure could not come at a worse moment for the American military: NATO officials are struggling to contain fallout from a series of tirades against the foreign military presence by the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, who has also railed against the killing of civilians by Western forces.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/world/asia/05afghan.html?ref=global-home

Which pretty well sums up the war.

It's this lying, exposed, that plants the seeds of conspiracy and tin-foil hats.
Hmmm. Does kind of make you wonder, doesn't it? What ELSE have we been told lately that was true?

and rec

Whoever headlined this article "Gardez investigation concludes" is going well beyond what the young 'uns call "lede burying."

Of course, ISAF isn't really a news source.