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Technorati'No US Charges' Likely Over Afghan Raid
The US military is unlikely to discipline troops involved in an air strike in Afghanistan which killed up to 140 civilians, the top US commander has said.
![[A wounded Afghan boy is seen on a stretcher after a blast in Asadabad, capital of Kunar province June 9, 2009. (REUTERS/Stringer)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/civilians_afghanistan.jpg "civilians_afghanistan.jpg")
Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he had seen nothing in a forthcoming report on the strike that might lead to disciplinary action over the incident.
The release of the report on the air strikes in Farah province in May had been delayed on Thursday amid reported disagreements among military officers over what information should be made public.
The US and Afghan governments have clashed for weeks over the incident.
Afghan officials say the strike killed 140 civilians, making it the most deadly military operation involving civilians since the 2001 US-led invasion.
Preliminary US estimates had put the civilian death toll at between 20 and 35 and the number of Taliban fighters killed at 80 to 95.
An Afghan rights watchdog has said that 97 civilians died, and that no more than two Taliban fighters were killed.
"There are some estimates but ... I don't think we ever will really know how many," Mullen said.
Report recommendations
Officials have already said some "mistakes were made" and that procedures were "not strictly followed" in the operation.
The report, details of which have been leaked to the US media, urges increased training for US troops.
It is also set to urge a review of the use of air support when targeting Taliban fighters after mounting civilian casualties that have provoked outrage in Afghanistan.
It also recommends that US forces sent to Afghanistan should receive training in the kinds of scenarios they could face, including situations that have resulted in civilian deaths, one official told the Associated Press.
Periodic refresher training throughout soldiers' tours of duty in the war zone, is also set to be recommended by the report.
The review said the early May air raids were carried out against Taliban targets in Farah but that, at least in one case, it was unclear whether civilians were in the vicinity.
Bombing 'delayed'
In one incident, an Air Force B-1 dropped a 900kg bomb on a building that Taliban fighters had been seen entering, officials say.
Some military officials have questioned whether that bomb was larger and more destructive than warranted, the Associated Press reported.
The air crew received permission to strike, but circled around and dropped the bomb without reconfirming, the report is set to say.
That delay, officials said, may have allowed the fighters to leave the building and civilians to enter before the bomb was dropped.
It is not known whether the raid added to the civilian toll, officials have said.
Officials said the report does not recommend changes in tactics and procedures used in Afghanistan, though the new commander there, Lieutenant-General Stanley McChrystal, has said he will review them as well as all existing rules of engagement.
The US government has come under increasing criticism over the past year for civilian deaths during operations against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Barack Obama, the US president, and other Washington officials have repeatedly expressed regret for civilian casualties and vowed to take measures that would avoid future attacks.
7 Comments so far
Show AllNeverWrong
Your comments continue to become more and more bizarre while making no sense at all. I still fail to understand what black culture and the rate of black crime in the U.S. have to do with the fact that the U.S. military is unjustifiably slaughtering Afghan and Pakistani civilians [which is what this article deals with].
You then attempt to justify American slavery of Africans and genocide of Native Americans by stating that because other cultures and nations have done this to other people in the past that this this is supposed to somehow exculpate what the United States has done both to its own indigenous people and to Africans that it had enslaved and to people living in other countries. You also take another absurd position by stating that since the U.S. provides a great deal of aid to foreign countries that that would be a reason to overlook the fact that the United States military is, again, murdering innocent civilians in third world countries for absolutely no justifiable reason whatsoever. I seriously doubt that citizens living in countries which have received financial aid from the U.S. would be willing to overlook and forgive the United States because they are ruthlessly murdering its citizens.
You seem to believe that if the U.S. "spreads health care and medicine" that that will somehow obviate the fact that, again, the United States has tortured and massacred people who have never attacked or threatened anyone in these United States while also overlooking the uncomfortable fact that those being held in prisons overseas have never been charged with crimes that they were alleged to have committed.
You also happen to believe that the U.S. may, as you say, be the leader in giving "aid in a crisis" while conveniently neglecting to point out that it also happens to rank 37th by the WHO in terms of quality health care among the countries of the world and is the only advanced country in the world that can claim that it does not provide universal health care for its citizens.
Try not to wrench your back out while waving the flag in so vigorous a fashion.
We are supposed to believe that Al Jazeera, as stated by NeverWrong, is "a propaganda arm of Islam" while ignoring the fact that the American military has denied, and will continue to deny, that they have unjustifiably murdered thousands of innocent civilians in the Middle East. NeverWrong's bizarre example of rampant "culture of crime" committed in America is somehow supposed to justify America's illegal and immoral invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq as well as its killing of innocent civilians in Pakistan by drone missiles. I think not.
As NeverWrong correctly notes "consider the source" as his main supply of information appears to be the inflammatory and less than credible Rush Limbaugh. He states "Let's worry about America first" while not acknowledging that that has been what the United States has been doing all too often which is indulging in slavery, committing genocide against Native Americans and wantonly invading other countries, either overtly by the US military or covertly by the CIA by fomenting insurrection in third world countries in order to justify American imperialism.
It would appear that the propaganda that NeverWrong should be most fearful of is the type that he is allowing himself to be subjected to by the likes of Limbaugh and the denizens and fascists of the far right.
Erroll, silly you! My main source of info on this epidemic of murder is the big city news. Look at any big city, Philly, NY, Chicago, LA, etc. and you will see so many black on black murders it will make your head spin! You CANNOT refute this! Nobody (like you) cares! This is worse than any other problem we face.
Slavery? Name a race that NEVER engaged in slavery. Ancient history. Who built the pyramids in what is now Egypt? Why, enslaved Middle Easterners. They weren't George Washington's slaves.
Genocide? Name one race that hasn't engaged in genocide. Oh, have you ever heard of Africa? Pol Pot, Adolph Hitler, Idi Amin Dada, Joseph Stalin, Che Guevara, Kim Jong Il?
Name one race that doesn't now, or in their past have some really nasty skeletons.
American imperialism? Ah, I see, America is evil, end of argument. Sorry. Not true. America is the first with aid (at least before Obama)in a crisis, feeds more people (for free) than any other 10 countries combined, spreads health care and medicine like others spread mass murder. Nasty stuff, that.
The truth is you, and others like you care not at all about the subjugation of blacks in America that the Democrat party supports and the culture of crime breeds. Listen to any Rap lately? I noticed in your little blog you didn't try to refute Bill Cosby, who has seen this from within, Rush just happens to agree with him.
Firstly, consider the source, Al Jazeera. It is a propaganda arm of Islam. The numbers are exaggerated, if not completely false. Secondly, Who cares? Hundreds of 'African Americans' (a divisive term, at best, and one I use loosely) are murdered weekly by other 'African Americans' and no one cares about that. Nothing on CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, NYT, LAT, Common Dreams etc. Obama refuses to address the culture of crime that 'African Americans' embrace that causes this, as do all 'African American' 'leaders'. The only persons I have ever heard discuss this epidemic are Rush Limbaugh and Bill Cosby. Let's worry about America first. Let's all be 'Americans' then our problems will disappear.
Are the Obamas above the laws of God and man like the Bushs?
Being a former pilot in the Military, this is certainlya shame. The Bush regime promoted murder in every possible way. Yet he and his murderous group killed civilians at will. Obama has been traveling the same course, which will lead him to the gallows also as a war criminal.
My orders were not knowingly fire on civilians.The repugs have proven to be a worse enemy than the foreigh soldiers.
The only real way to acquire attention to the 'slaughter of the innocents' is to hold the individuals who participated directly responsible.
When americans 'support the troops' in an illegal war then they simply feed the flames of the 'irrational doing the bidding of the illogical for illegal reasons'.
'Following orders' is and has been since the Nuremberg Tribunals an unacceptable rationale for the shedding of innocent blood.
When more americans hold ALL of the members of the US Military responsible for their illegal actions in following orders in an illegal war, they may begin to get the message.
They do not deserve any honor from any intelligent american or any other member of humanity on this planet. Each one of them from Gen. "Smith" on down to Pvt."Jones" is actively participating in an illegal war of aggression----the miserable excuse of 'collateral damage' would not apply if it were 'american collateral damages'---would it?
P.S. I intentionally with hold the 'capital' "A" in american.
Except for the '12 decent Americans' I speak of often----the rest of them do not deserve my respect until they "earn it"----and they have a long way to go yet. (It may only matter to me, but it is MY 'respect' to do with as I choose-----)
Good Luck America, you really need it.........