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Kucinich Challenges Gates on Civilians Killed in Afghanistan
The buck doesn't appear to be stopping anywhere in Afghanistan.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday "demanding information on the decision-making process and the underlying intelligence that led to a NATO attack on a civilian convoy." (Raw Story - File) "Two days after Afghanistan's deadliest attack on civilians in six months, many questions remain unanswered," The Canadian Press reports. "Perhaps the two most pressing are: Who called in the air strike? And on what grounds?"
The article continues, "Dual investigations by NATO and the Afghan government are underway to answer those questions. But the cabinet of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has already made it clear the attack was, in a word, 'unjustifiable.'"
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) -- whose own press release notes that he remains "a vocal critic of the war in Afghanistan" -- wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday (pdf link) "demanding information on the decision-making process and the underlying intelligence that led to a NATO attack on a civilian convoy."
"Media reports indicate that 27 civilians were killed, including women and children and many more were injured," Kucinich's press release notes, adding, "The U.S. government has an obligation to protect civilians under international law. As Secretary of Defense, you have an obligation to ensure that all military operations conducted in Afghanistan are conducted in accordance to such laws."
Kucinich writes, "Please provide information about the events leading up to the air strike, including the name of the person who granted authority to US Special Forces helicopters to conduct the aforementioned airstrike, the name of the person who ordered the airstrike, a detailed description of how it was determined that the civilians traveling by minibus were Taliban insurgents, and the protocol for ordering this airstrike and all other airstrikes."
The press release adds:
Kucinich demanded a response within two weeks, citing "the gravity of the situation and the tragic loss of life." Kucinich added, "The United States must demonstrate a clear commitment to protecting civilian lives in Afghanistan, and the results of this investigation are vital to ensure that an adequate system of oversight and accountability is in place."
Kucinich warned, "If necessary, I will direct the request for information via a Resolution of Inquiry in the House of Representatives." A Resolution of Inquiry is a procedure to force a House vote to force the release of documents from the Executive Branch. Under House Rules, a Resolution of Inquiry must be referred to committee and acted upon within 14 legislative days.
While specifics about what happened hasn't really been adequately addressed yet, the new Pentagon policy apparently believes in at least taking responsibility for errant actions.
The Christian Science Monitor notes, "Another botched airstrike, another apology."
"In a video distributed Tuesday in Dari and Pashto, the main languages spoken in Afghanistan, the top NATO commander here Gen. Stanley McChrystal said he was sorry to the nation for 27 civilian deaths, after US special forces killed a convoy of Afghan civilians they had mistaken for insurgents. It was the coalition's deadliest mistake in six months," Julius Cavendish writes for CSM.
The article adds, "While public apologies by NATO have become almost commonplace - this was just one of half a dozen in the past 10 days, and the second by McChrystal himself - the push to admit mistakes and say sorry is unprecedented in NATO's nine-year intervention in Afghanistan. It fits into McChyrstal's new strategy that prioritizes winning over the population."
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74 Comments so far
Show All-"Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) -- whose own press release notes that he remains "a vocal critic of the war in Afghanistan" -- wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates '
Where would Obama be without the token humans in the Democratic party. Ah...the exception that proves the rule. And covers for the rulers.
Yeah, isn't it conforting that it was a "NATO" bomb that did the killing, and not an American one. Ah, the virtues of having a coalition, even if that coalition is 99 percent composed of US soldiers.
If the Dutch and other major contributors leave, you will soon have to blame these incidents on, I don't know, maybe Jamaica can send a four man contingent.
Good point, and MSM plays along with it.
Someone called him McChrystalnacht on another post. Might catch on.
Dennis is one of the few "for real" congressmen and Senators in the corrupt and criminal government. He was run out of the election process in 2004 and 2008 by those who feared him the most for his outspoken honesty and principles of "We the People" first and foremost.
HOWEVER, given the climate in politics now and the frustration of much of the electorate with O'Bummers' lying into office, the time is RIPE for a Kucinich-beats-Obama-in-the primaries event.
I see a Kucinich/Grayson ticket as a START (Kucinich/Paul would CERTAINLY be VERY interesting! I only put D.K. first on the ticket because R.P. doesn't go far enough for me.) toward reclaiming the government for the people. Of course, there is also the dire need to vote out blue dogs and wussies beholden to corporations also. (For those of you who don't know it: Dennis has never, NEVER taken a dime of corporate money.)
Just like Ron Paul getting an early start on the Republican side, we Progressives who think that even Ron Paul (Another "funny-looking" politician) doesn't go far enough, need NOW to start spreading Dennis's name, ideals, integrity, and voting record on issues important to the survival of "We the People". If we started doing that now instead of wasting cyber space with keyboard bitching about O'Bummer, a "movement" BACK toward the Left is possible.
Dennis will never be allowed on any kind of Democratic ticket,just like Ron Paul will never be allowed on the Republican ticket because both party's are sooooo corrupt. The way I see it, they would need to switch to a third party to be viable. I believe a Kucinich, Paul ticket would be a strong contender as a third party in 2012 as it would be a marriage of progressives and conservatives.
Yep, I would vote for them twice and forgive Texas too.
Although I have reservations about Ron Paul there is no question that he would have made a better president than any of the other 2008 contenders, except for Nader, Kucinich or McKinney.
Good point. People were expecting a serious turnaround in the U.S. military and foreign policies from Obama. They would got just that from any of these four - including Ron Paul. All of them seemed ready to take on the MIC, and the media did a "terrific" job at ignoring them.
SOUNDS LIKE GOOD THINKING.
[W]e Progressives ... need NOW to start spreading Dennis's name, ideals, integrity, and voting record on issues important to the survival of "We the People". If we started doing that now instead of wasting cyber space with keyboard bitching about O'Bummer, a "movement" BACK toward the Left is possible.
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This is the key take-home, for sure.
But judging from the non-response I got in '04 when I suggested getting up an industrial-type program to develop a political machine for Dennis --develop it just like any other product-- in time for '08, I suspect it won't happen.
Too many self-styled "leftists" are nothing but poseurs and dilettantes, happy to pay an unlimited amount of lip-service in the cause of a better world but never available when it's time for the heavy lifting.
"Too many self-styled "leftists" are nothing but poseurs and dilettantes, happy to pay an unlimited amount of lip-service in the cause of a better world but never available when it's time for the heavy lifting."
Well said! Sometimes it amazes me at the "Pseudo Left" who espouse in one hand and take action from the other. Y'know, kind of like 90% of the pols they are bitching about.
This will be my last, personal attempt to get D.K. into the fray when the primaries start; that, of course, applies only if he tries to bang the corporate media concrete wall again against O'Bummer, whom he doesn't seem that pleased with.
Personally, I've been hoping he would finally dump the Damnocrats and "Go Green". That, in itself, would, in my opinion, DRAMATICALLY increase the viability of the Greens. So, I guess we'll just have to see where Dennis's head is in late 2010 or early 2011. I know one thing for sure: irt won't be up his ass like the normal, cookie-cutter politician.
Ron Paul does NOT just "not go far enough." And a progressive who actually has researched Paul's full agenda would have more than just "reservations," as another reply to this comment said.
Paul is a Libertarian, not just in social issues and foreign policy, but in ECONOMICS. What does that mean? Massive cutting back of government, killing Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and NO regulation of business.
Paul is not a nut, he's just a believer in a strict Libertarian point of view. He wouldn't, even if he could, kill Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid immediately, which even he has stated would be disastrous. But he'd start the process if he could so it would happen over time.
Paul sincerely believes all this would be good for us. I sincerely believe it would be horrid. Progressives liking Ron Paul is a big mistake.
Why must Dennis always be the one to step up to the plate? Why isn''t the rest of what is left of the Congress behind him? Or, is it just as Rumsfeld said, "Stuff happens," and collateral damage justifies the means? How pathetic. I can imagine the survivors of those accidently killed are really excited about being 'won over.'
Annabelle: " Why must Dennis always be the one to step to the plate"? Because there are 535 people in Congress that are suppose to represent government of the people; by the people; and for the people; unfortunately less than 1% represent that Constitutional statement and most are corrupt politicians that are: Of the MIC; by the MIC; and for the MIC! Dennis is one of the few with integrity. That is your answer.
SHADES OF "HUMAN" HISTORY (three-pronged pun).
Can you help the conclusion that life is thought to have no value to Americans in the present scheme of things. Just remember when that small suicide private plane crashed into a building the mainstream press noted, "There was ONLY one killed..."
What a lonely voice in Congress Dennis Kucinich is. When he ran for president in 2008 you knew he was for real when it came to ending the wars and going after the war criminals and torturers... unlike Obama.
Secretary of Wars , Robert Gates, knows full well that the price of slaughtering civilians is $2000, paid to any survivors that apply for it. That's why it is cheaper to slaughter entire families - no one is left to apply.
Today's reports say $1,500-2,500. Someone stupid enough to have burns from
spilling coffee on themselves in McDonalds got $million.
Life is surely cheap unless it is a US or UK life.
You should get your facts straight. The woman who spilled the coffee needed *skin grafts*. The coffee was intentionally served *dangerously* hot - far too hot to drink, and McDonalds had already paid off ~70 similar claims for scalds and serious burns. They knew damned well that the coffee was dangerous, but continued to supply it at that temperature anyway.
"The push to admit mistakes and say sorry is unprecedented in NATO's 9 year intervention in Afghanistan.It fits into McChrytal's new strategy that prioitizes winning over the population".This says it all for me;kill all who,they think,is the enemy apologize to the rest and they will understand and be your friends.If this is not the definition of insanity and hubris my mind and dictionary are in default and this is right at Obama's door since he has no heart and Soul.His kids and wife and "friends"?Think of Stalin who loved his kids and had friends.Tony
Congress refuses to hold anyone accountable for anything, including themselves.
Kucinich is brave to provoke the status quo, but his provocations will have no effect.
The machine rolls on....
Kucinich was my choice but I do believe had he been elected he would have been murdered, just like Paul Wellstone, like MLK, Malcolm X. True hearts and true voices of dissent cannot survive in America.
Never thought of it like that....so Obomba should live to be 100!
I just read another article today where Gates whines about "The demilitarization of Europe" and how some NATO allies lack of will to tread blindly into our war ventures in the Middle East. Gates feels as though European countries are not spending enough money to fight OUR wars so he basically calls them out for not investing in their own military industrial complexes. This is GW all over again except terms like "With us or against us" has evolved into a "Pay or die by terrorist" strategy for winning support for our endless wars. I wonder whose idea it was to keep this asshole around?
The will of God, Muslims believe the Law of Retaliation is God’s Law. When incidents like this happen the family of the dead are required to retaliate. One can say NATO but the people they see are Americans. Hopefully we will see a Paul – Kucinich election in 2012. No matter, which one ends up in the White House, we would win on foreign policy. I remember Bush chanting on TV about how much he prayed and sought God’s guidance, then he invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. I never heard one Christian ask; “ did you not hear Jesus tell you to stop applying the Law of Retaliation.
This is typically tribal law; that being the obligation to avenge a relative. As for Muslim law, I really don't know much about it, but there is so much BS being writen about Islam nowadays I that I wonder how accurate your statement about retaliation being "God's Law" in Islam is.
Dennis Kucinich is indignant at our killing of civilians. I share his indignation. How can our bombers know the difference between terrorists and innocent civilians? Killing and apologizing, killing and apologizing: thats the nature of the of the Afghan war. Shame!
The essence of the problem lies with the reluctance of the US command to put American lives in danger - refuse to face the enemy head-on and face politically unpopular American deaths, instead take the easy way out by using air power by virtue of which there is no danger of American fatalities.
Even ground offensives are carefully stage-managed to produce what appear to be military successes without exposing US forces to serious risk - how many American fatalities resulted from the recent offensive?
Kucinich can be exceptionally good. He's about the best there is in the Congress.
Nonetheless, the left has to hold his feet to the fire. At the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston, Kucinich supporters were dismayed when Kucinich immediately threw his support to the war candidate, John Kerry, that two-faced Democrat from Massachusetts.
Continue to support Kucinich, if you must, Democrats, but he must be held accountable.
Well, Dennis K is the best Democrat in Congress.
Ron Paul is the Best, at least in my opinion he is.
I would like to see the Presidential elections go back to the way they were;
Instead of a two person tag team, President and VP,
it should be the winner is the president, the person in second place, the VP.
This way this coming election, if the Democrats can get Kucinich to beat Obomber in the primaries
and if Ron Paul can win the Republican primaries,
then for the election it would be Ron Paul, who would win
and Dennis Kucinich coming in 2nd, who would be the Vice-President.
I think America would be off to a good start from there.
Sounds good to me!
I like the idea too! And as a matter of fact, just to end the war, if it came between Obama and Ron, I would likely vote for Ron, even though in many ways, he is a corporate shitbag as well, at least he is honest about it, seemingly. If kucinich was in it at all though, most definitely I would vote for him. Say what you want, I think he would do the best job for the people who actually exist on the ground.
Presently, there Is NO "buck" with the NAPPYS (No Account President and Party of Yoo're Screwed); but they better DEM start the prosecutions of BushCompany AND holdover Obama regime war criminals (e.g., Gates, McCurstal, BetrayUS and Oildinero), IMMEDIATELY!
I think cons want him there to appease libs and other "enemies".
Spot on! Kucinich is the Potemkin Village of the Democratic Party. He is there to delude Progressive minded people that there is hope (pardon the expression). If we just remain patient, remain optimistic, stay the course, etc the Democrats will evolve to where DK expresses the main stream of the Party, not an aberration. AS IF the PTB would let him anywhere near the nomination. The won't even let him near the debates!
I will take Kucinich seriously when, and only when, he leaves the Vichy Democrats and becomes a Green, Socialist, Populist or Independent. Don't hold your breath.
The moment he leaves the dems. he will number among all the rest of the Greens, Socialists, populists in congress; none. And, as far as Independents, they fall one way or the other INVARIABLY! There are only TWO ways to vote on any bill; up or down! One thing about having a Progressive in congress is that a bill sometimes is a little more progressive than it would have been had they not been there.(it doesn't take a third party for that) Running on one of these alternative parties tickets insures only one of two things: If it is a conservative leaning alt. party, the Dem. candidate will win; if it is a progressive leaning alt. party, the Repub. candidate will win. All they do is cause a split in the vote! So much for change in my lifetime.
Last I checked Bernie Sanders is a Socialist who votes with the Dems.
I guess an example of 'walking the talk' would be to form a picket line at the entrances to Nellis AFB to prevent Predator/Reaper jockeys from going to work.
Can you verify your statements?
Can you verify your statements?
Can you verify your statements?
It's amazing that Dennis Kucinich is the only one who stood up in Congress and demanded information on the decision-making process and the underlying intelligence that led to a NATO attack on a civilian convoy."
What a "snake pit" our Congress has become!
Now we Americans are getting a strong taste of what it must have been like to live in the totalitarian Soviet Union, fascist Italy, or nazi Germany, where the controlled press and media spouted the imperial line and brooked no protests. NOTE: the US corporate media does not allow any discussion of US imperialism, which has been going on for over a century now. US interventions have been experienced in the Philippines, Vietnam, Chile, Iran, Cambodia, Laos, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Haiti, Cuba, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, the list goes on and on. Search the web for "US imperialism."
Dennis Kucinich is indeed a singular voice of integrity and courage amid the general corruption and warmongering for the Empire of the Congress. The tremendous destructive force of modern high tech warfare merges with a prevailing US military and civilian rulers attitude that the only good (place the name of the current enemy group) is a dead one. Age, gender, combatant or civilian matters little. From the "only good indian is a dead indian" in the days of European invasion and conquest of the New World to "Kill 'em all, let God sort 'em out" of the Southeast Asian wars of the 1960s, millions were slaughtered with the flag waving and the state religion of National Militarism/Patriotism flourishing for all to see. The odds of the rulers and owners of the US Empire having or finding a sense of morality or a conscience are slim.
Consider the 5,000 or so US military dead compared to the estimated million plus dead Iraqi civilians, and it is clear that it is far safer to be in the military than a defenseless civilian in a high tech, shoot everything that moves, war zone. 3 to 6 million estimated civilian deaths in the wars on Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam of the 1960s, compared to 53,000 US military dead, as a whole region is devastated by toxic chemicals (Agent Orange) and explosives of every description.
It would be interesting to know just what military tactics and doctrines are taught at the US military service academies and the Army War College. Overwhemning deadly force seems to be a centerpiece of practice whatever the theories.
Yup. Too bad we don't have more people in office like Kucinich who ARE a strong voice of integrity and courage.
Smart Bombs, Dumb F**king Military Intelligence!
I read many dreamers still seeking salvation by the Democrats and/or Republicans. It doesn't matter who you vote for, it won't happen. Every midterm election cycle is breaking new records for campaign contributions, and this year, expected to hit $3.2 billion. That's for a midterm! And every time, with the exception of Dennis, who is after all a local hero in Cincinnati, the biggest spender wins. So there you have it. The core of our broken electoral system are the voters. Until they become informed and involved, nothing will change. By the time they do, if ever, it may be too late. I don't know, but I believe we will find out, based on predictions of dire economic conditions looming up on us. That is, the corpocracy will keep plundering our wallets until there's nothing left to steal and the majority of Americans are unemployed or living on poverty wages.
Glenn Greenwald has an excellent article in Salon explaining how the Democratic Party works, using the "rotating villain" to derail any move to rein in corporate control. For anyone who thinks we can change anything within the Democratic Party, this should disabuse them of that notion. Ralph was right when he said the party is hopelessly corrupt. It has sold it's soul to Mammon. It has no soul. Just a bunch of suckers hanging on and yearning for the good old days. Those who point out that the party uses the few progressive representatives to keep the "base" coming back have it right. Talk about crumbs falling off the table. Pretty dry crumbs at that.
http://www.alternet.org/rss/breaking_news/121538/the_democratic_party%27s_deceitful_game/
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
On my Goddess !
Annn INQUIRY ! Not the CONGRESSIONAL INQUIRY !!
McChrystal considers suicide, to avoid the DREADED INQUIRY !!!
Any person worthy of being considered human would immediately slash the MIC budget by 75% and defunded the wars except for retreat and peace.
At this point in history from Vietnam to today anyone who still supports the Democrats is mentally ill.
This in no way reflects on the handful of decent Democrats like Kucinich, only on the delusion that Democratic Party is redeemable or not wholely criminal as a group.
Hope? Change?
Kucinich 2012.