Is there some kind of self-imposed news ban on Afghanistan…

posted by Bill Arnett @ 11:21 AM Permalink

…of which I am unaware, or is the BBC just better and faster at getting and reporting the news?

It has been all over the papers the last couple of days that an American base in Afghanistan was overrun by Taliban elements which have forced the closing and abandonment of that facility.

Today the BBC reports some very significant bombing by the U.S. that killed dozens:

Dozens of Afghan civilians have been killed during aerial bombing by US forces in the western province of Herat, tribal elders say.

They said an important tribal elder was among the dead in Shindand district.

A Nato spokesman said a number of insurgents had been killed and there were no reports of civilian casualties.

Earlier, US forces admitted killing eight civilians in a neighbouring province - the latest in a series of bombing incidents involving civilians.[…]

News of the fighting in Shindand district came from tribal elders who reported dozens of casualties in the Zerkoh Valley.

They said a large number of civilians had been killed in aerial attacks from midnight until 1000 local time.[…]

Haji Nasrullah Khan, a hugely influential tribal leader, and three other men had been targeted and killed and four civilians injured, the local police chief for Shindand said.

A Nato spokesman confirmed there had been an operation in the region of Parmagan village and said: "All indicators were that it had been successful with a number of insurgents killed and no reports of any civilian casualties."[…]

In a separate area of neighbouring Farah province, US forces said they had killed eight civilians after they were attacked from a number of houses in Bakwa district.

Their statement said a routine patrol came under sustained attack from machine-gun fire on Tuesday from houses adjacent to the road.

"The coalition returned fire and called for close air support on the enemy positions," the statement said.

"A house was hit - eight civilians were killed, two others injured. Coalition forces never intentionally target non-combatants, and deeply regret any occurrence such as this where civilians are killed and injured as a result of insurgent activity and actions."

Calling for 'close air support' and bombing the houses of alleged insurgents is so indiscriminate as to border on murder in my mind. 500 to 2,000 pound bombs are weapons of mass destruction that kill everybody within their blast range, man, woman, child, 'insurgent' and/or total innocents.

Further proof of this comes later in the article:

The issue of civilian casualties has again come up as there have been a number of incidents over the last couple of weeks.

On Thursday President Hamid Karzai visited families of those killed in the eastern province of Nangahar who had reported that more than 50 people from a wedding party died after being bombed by American aircraft.

President Karzai offered them his condolences and some financial assistance.

This is yet another report of the bombing of wedding parties that must look like large gatherings of terrorists dressed in festive garb with music, dancing, plenty of food and drink, and quite obviously posing a threat to the American Forces indiscriminately bombing innocent people on what should rightfully be one of their happiest days.

I'm sure that the condolences and 'some financial assistance' to the families of the fifty dead were a great comfort and totally makes up for wiping out entire families.

This is neither the way to win a war nor the hearts and minds of the populace.

Labels: Afghanistan war, bush war doctrine, human rights, hypocrisy, indiscriminate bombing, inhumane cruelty., military, Taliban