The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (IRIN) have reported that NATO led forces are now responsible for more civilian deaths in Afghanistan than the Taliban they are fighting. Looks like the strategy of US commander, General Dan K. McNeill (Bomber McNeill) is having the expected consequences.
LFCM have more.
This is, of course, ghastly and tragic, and a characteristic of 'imperialistic, conlonialist' wars!
Gosh, it felt odd writing that. When I was a teenager, I thought Britain had given up on all that stuff, and imperial wars in far off lands were something from Kipling! I suppose I was naive when I was a kid. I somehow believed we were moving forward, or at least away from imperialism; now british soldiers are fighting and dying in Afghanistan all over again. It sometimes feels like a bad and bloody dream; or maybe that should be nightmare? I seem to remember that there is a ratio for killing in colonial wars; for everyone of our 'heroes' that gets killed, we, in return, kill at least ten of them, usually fifty and sometimes a hundred! And in the end they win, despite the dreadful carnage and slaughter, because it's their country and they don't have anyplace else to go!
Sometimes I see Blair in my mind's eye grinning and surfing in the sunshine, without a care in the world, then I notice he's surfing in a sea of blood.
Why do westerners so eagerly report this stuff? You have nothing confirmed and just the “word” of some “humanitarian group”.
We’ve had similiar “scandals” about the Marines in Haditha.
Wake up English, you may have a negative birth rate, but if you’re really tired of living step in front of a train. The “humanitarian groups” never deplore the horrors of terrorism, and you self-absorbed bleeding hearts will use anything to give yourselves access to righteous indignation.
From Afghanistan,
Matt Sanchez
"Humanitarian groups" deplore the horrors of terrorism all the time. In fact they deplore all terrorism. What we have wrought in Afghanistan and Iraq is nothing short of State Sponsored Terrorism and war crime after war crime. Thanks for mentioning Haditha but you forgot Fallujah and Ramadi and many, many more names.
Terrorism and war crimes perpetrated by one's own government, particularly in a so called democracy, are as or more deplorable than the acts committed by the fanatical fringe in that we are all complicit in the slaughter and have been made more vulnerable to becoming collateral damage in the wars between self righteous ideologues.
By the way, thanks for the resurgent heroin supply. God only knows where Black Ops would get their funding if it weren't for hard drugs.
Why do westerners so eagerly report this stuff? You have nothing confirmed and just the "word" of some "humanitarian group".
We've had similiar "scandals" about the Marines in Haditha.
Wake up English, you may have a negative birth rate, but if you're really tired of living step in front of a train. The "humanitarian groups" never deplore the horrors of terrorism, and you self-absorbed bleeding hearts will use anything to give yourselves access to righteous indignation.
From Afghanistan,
Matt Sanchez
Several estimates were saying this, but the fact that it's the UN gives it much more weight. This kind of thing is to be expected when you have a policy of sacrificing civilians in order to keep military casualties down.
I suspect the situation would be the same in Iraq if there was just anti-US resistance and not much internecine conflict.
The question is, will the Media really seize on this? Also, can Karzai's anger raise the political cost of killing civilians enough to stop the airstikes in favour of "going in on the ground".
Sorry Craig with all due respect to you, but the double posting of moronic musings, calls for a good flame 'horrors of terrorism', Marlon Brando here we go; 'the horror, the horror, the horror ….'.
From Afghanistan, my foot, more like from the basement of the granny, with cold pizza, and mail counter to get paid for.
No need for any 'word', the tonnage of ordinance dropped, and the screaming Afghan glove puppets are sufficient to validate the vast numbers of dead Afghans. Nevertheless, this somehow does not give any 'wet-back' the right to start lecturing us all, what to think, whether posting from Afghanistan, Granny's Basement, Tel Aviv, or the other side of Rio grand.
As for the swipe at the negative birth rates, we here in the UK like the travelling with no destination in mind. Further, why do you not go and pontificate in some heavy site, like drudge, and or some other lunatic bin? Better still why don't you heed your own advice and find a train somewhere?
PS. just how many people were killed through terrorist actions world wide last year? for your information its far below the death rates due to road traffic accidents in one day.
Iraq's death toll is far worse than our leaders admit
The US and Britain have triggered an episode more deadly than the Rwandan genocide
Published: 14 February 2007
On both sides of the Atlantic, a process of spinning science is preventing a serious discussion about the state of affairs in Iraq.
The government in Iraq claimed last month that since the 2003 invasion between 40,000 and 50,000 violent deaths have occurred. Few have pointed out the absurdity of this statement.
The Pentagon will not release information about deaths induced or amounts of weaponry used in Iraq. On 9 January of this year, the embedded Fox News reporter Brit Hume went along for an air attack, and we learned that at least 25 targets were bombed that day with almost no reports of the damage appearing in the press.
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/art…
Apparently 'A Team' style of warfare under way in Iraq and Afghanistan is fought with lots of 'bangs, and smoke' and no casualties, or deaths. The absurdity of sweeping the unfolding genocide under the carpet is not enough, hence the deployment of stooges to reinforce the fairy tales of wars with no dead, or injured.
The sorry thing is, for M.Sanchez, critical scrutiny of the coalition's military activity is moraly wrong. He has resolved to be completely disinterested in reports of death and suffering. Now that is a pitful state of being in itself.
"The "humanitarian groups" never deplore the horrors of terrorism, and you self-absorbed bleeding hearts will use anything to give yourselves access to righteous indignation."
Hardly worthy of reply but…..
The horrors of terrorism eh? – just what exactly do you mean by 'terrorsim'? Go on – see if you can define it to exclude what, from the point of view of the average Iraqi or Afgani, the Western powers are engaged in in their countries.
And if your definition is selectively confined to those occasional parallel acts of barbarism in Spain, England or other Western countries, tell us what you think motivates the perpetrators.
Oh, and finally, if your country (Spain? – wherever) were occupied by a foreign army with the stated aim of making the world safe for some foreign concept or other that you neither understood nor cared twopence about, would you be a Quisling, confining yourself to 'deploring' the deaths of thousands of your innocent countrymen; or an 'insurgent' determined to rid your country of viscious, patronising sanctimoious foreigners who you know by their actions couldn't give a shit about you?
1. I was just in Fallujah and Ramadi last month. People were afraid of the insurgents/terrorists who have heavily targeted the opposition.
2. In Diayla, several attempts to instill Sharia law and enslave the local population were thwarted by American and Iraqi forces.
3. The Left confuse their dispute with capitalism with the Islamo-fascist dispute with wanting to tear the West down. But then again, the Left is a nihilist cult that often espoused anarchy for social change in the past.
4. I have met and spoken to Iraqis. They OVERWHELMINGLY want Americans to help bring security to their country. Most of them trust American forces more than they do their own countrymen.
http://www.Matt-Sanchez.com
Casualty reports from the Independent is like getting an assessment on Femenism from the Taliban.
The people killing in Iraq and Afghanistan are the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and Al Qaeda Iraq. The British do not want to call things by their name, but here the matter is very clear. Ask the Iraqis and the Afghans.
Consider the source. The UN has the worst record on Human Rights.
Matthew Sanchez are you the same Matthew Sanchez mentioned here?
You don't need to be a brain surgeon to realize that just because the bombing has been reduced in Baghdad, the insurgents are just going to bomb somewhere else less protected.
The US simply has not got enough troops to stop the insurgents transporting and setting off car bombs.
Secondly 'Islamo-fascist' is a nonsense word, wielding two different concepts with different histories into a all round smear word for anyone who disagrees with the bloody mess that is Iraq, its a term for the ignorant.
and talking about stupidity – arming sunni insurgents What on earth makes the US army think the Sunni insurgents will keep their promise not to use weapons given to them by the US on the US army?
This is just adding fuel to the fire
Its an incredibly stupid idea, one in a long list of stupidity which has characterized this misadventure that is Iraq.
Hi Matt, personaly im glad to see you comment here, and can believe that you have honourable intentions. We dont need the UN to inform us that airstrikes do kill too many innocent people, but what authority could convince you of that?
When our most respected medical journal and just about every relevantly qualified expert backs a top class statistical survey indicating that many hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have perished due to Western military tactics, we are not just going to forget that study because the Commander in Chief announces it has been discredited, while officialy "we don't [even] do bodycounts" Not to count the harm we do is obscene, not to acknowledge suffering is psychotic.
I dont believe your sample of opinions in Iraq and Afghanistan are representative, we have numerous sources, most of them are good honest sources, this site is filled with them. Besides, knowing our politicians and the tactical shames commited by Western power on these Countries, we know what folly it would be for any survivors to put their faiths in further Western intervention.
I hope you stop playing the wargame Matt, there is no hope or glory in this fight. Good luck.
Well, well, the intrepid world traveller, and editor at very largely, posting from Afghanistan, now is narrating about his trip to Fallujah, Ramadi, for investigating Diayla, with first hand reportage, about the Yankee mem sahibs, and their respective sahibs, whom are trusted and welcomed in Irak, by those 'camel jockeys'.
The world travelling editor at extremely largely fixated on the 'isms', and 'ists' conflates a secular supremacists political doctrine, and a religion, that apparently makes sense only to him (if there exist any senses at all in this specimen on exhibit) that of course wreaks of utter bollocksology, to the rest of us.
Further, the intrepid editor at very extremely largely becoming a mind reader, tells us all, of our fight against yet another 'ism', that has lead us all to neglect a whole bunch of other 'ists'. That he further clarifies by highlighting; 'UN has the worst record on Human Rights'. Needless to point out that apparently population of UN, are up in arms, and in need of the help of Yankee sahibs to go and liberate the long suffering inhabitants of UN, just like they did in Irak with Operation Iraqi Liberation. Rightly so because when was any elections held in UN? That dictator Ban ki Moon, whose love for karaoke, and fear of loud explosions is well known the world over, was never elected, and is not democratic too!!!!!
Well I for one have seen the error of my ways, and cannot wait for the soon to be published 'world politics according to Matt from Afghanistan' comic, written by Matt in a bunker in Afghanistan, explaining it all with colouring-in supplements to boot.
Craig take note of the in depths analysis by Matt, and stop hating the 'isms', and fall in line behind our leaders too!!!
Sad fact not to be overlooked is the moronic musings of Matt actually have traction in the main stream media, and sound very much like the utter gubshites whom are currently residing in the seats of power among their respective warmongering cronies. Hence, on goes the genocide, and on go the apologist stooges defending the indefensible. When will the ICC bring on real prosecutions against these criminals, and their reprehensible crimes against humanity?
This is not exactly getting huge coverage in the media, is it?
You're right Choam, i cant find any mainstream reports of this.
Did someone say, "Why do westerners so eagerly report this stuff?" ??