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Police Fire on Anti-US Protesters in Afghanistan
At least nine killed in clashes as Afghans rage in wake of Koran burnings
UPDATE: (1:01 PM EST) "At least nine demonstrators were shot dead and dozens wounded Wednesday in violent protests across Afghanistan over the burning of the Koran at a US-run military base," according to Agence France-Presse.
United Press International had this video report:
And noted that "Jan Kubis, the U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan, expressed regret for the "improper handling" of the Koran. A readout from the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan stated the incident was a "sad mistake" that in no way reflects the United Nations' respect for the Islamic faith."
Earlier:
Afghan policemen run toward protesters during an anti-U.S. demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, Feb. 22, 2012. (AP)
The deaths occurred Wednesday in the Afghan capital and in the eastern provinces of Logar and Parwan, according to reports.
Radio Free Europe reports:
Demonstrations in Afghanistan over the burning of copies of the Koran at a NATO base have turned deadly -- with at least five people reported killed -- as Afghan police fired live ammunition into riotous crowds in Kabul and the eastern city of Jalalabad.
Roshan Khalid, a spokeswoman for the provincial government in Parwan Province north of Kabul, says three demonstrators were killed on the second day of protests in the Shinwar district.
Shinwar is close to Bagram Air Field, where NATO officials say a number of Korans were "inadvertently" burned on February 1.
In Jalalabad, a doctor says one young man was killed and 10 wounded on February 22 by live ammunition fired into an angry crowd of protesters.
RFE/RL's correspondent in Jalalabad says the shots were fired by members of the Afghan National Police who were trying to contain the surging crowd.
Meanwhile, at a protest in Kabul on the same day, doctors say one protester was killed and 10 others wounded by Afghan police who opened fire on demonstrators who were trying to march on the city center.
And provided this video:
Reuters adds:
The American Embassy said its staff were in "lockdown" and travel had been suspended as thousands of people expressed fury over the burning, a public relations disaster for U.S.-led NATO forces fighting Taliban militants ahead of the withdrawal of foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.
The U.S. government and the American commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan apologized after Afghan laborers found charred copies of the Koran while collecting rubbish at the sprawling Bagram Airbase about an hour's drive north of Kabul.
It failed to contain the fury. Thousands of Afghans took to the streets again, chanting anti-American slogans.[...]
Police said most injuries were caused by flying stones and sticks hurled by protesters. Demonstrators had charged police lines and nearby military bases at a protest on the edge of Kabul, burning tires and smashing vehicles and building windows.
Protesters shouted "Death to America!" and "Death to (President Hamid) Karzai" in a large demonstration on the outskirts of the Afghan capital.
"When the Americans insult us to this degree, we will join the insurgents," said Ajmal, an 18-year-old protester in Kabul.
Demonstrators set fire to part of a housing compound used by foreign contract workers. A Reuters witness said the fire damaged part of a guesthouse at the Green Village complex, where 1,500 mostly foreign contractors live and work.
Outrage also spilled over in the Afghan parliament, where several members shouted "death to America" inside the legislative chamber. [...]
Afghan media said demonstrations had also erupted in the province of Parwan, near the capital.
In Logar province, hundreds protested in front of the governor's office. Some threw stones. Separate protests were also under way in Jalalabad in the east.
Some protesters burned U.S. flags and shouted "Death to America." Others torched fuel tankers near the city's airport.
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76 Comments so far
Show All"gardenernorcal"
There is no need to wonder "if" these acts were the acts of contractors. The whole of the military and (at least) the vast majority of the government is working for its corporate owners.
Whether they realize it or not, all of the military are private contractors.
They are not working for the people. They may think that they are, but they are not.
The fact that some of the employees of the State Department are hired under the heading of "private contractors" is just part of the deception to help hide the fact that the rest of these corporate controlled tools of empire are not doing the work of the public.
The reason the government and its military seems to be becoming even more enormous under the control of those who espouse small government is because it has become a private venture for the benefit of the ultra-rich. The government consisting of the public interests is largely gone and both of the major corporate political parties are in on the assassination of government "of the people, by the people, and for the people."
Throughout the history of the USA there has always been a battle between those who sought some semblance of equal justice and those who worshipped domination and greed. We have arrived at the furthest expansion of the latter which has ever existed and the most deviously brilliant move by these sadists has been the elimination of any significant opposition. They maintain the illusions of two parties of the people, but these parties answer to the same owners.
The United States of America has been sold. That is why its Constitution and any agreements it made, such as the Geneva Conventions, are now roundly ignored by the corporate workers who pose as the government.
Americans believe they must win, so millions will vote for the mass murder Obama so they can "win" against the evil republicans, who want to do exactly what Obama already has done -- kill Muslim children by the tens of thousands. But if you vote for a murderer you cannot "win," you can only lose your soul.
The lever in the voting booth is not a mechanism by which you control who is in power, rather it is a mechanism by which those in power control you. Elections are an effect of social and political change, not a cause.
The argument you are using was used in the 1850s, and it led to the demise of the party being promoted in this manner.
Clearly, and your post is a perfect example, this "who ya gonna vote for?" nonsense, along with "I suppose you'd rather have a Republican?" crap is intended as a trap, as a clever way to end all discussion and discredit and frustrate critics. In other words, you destroy your own position when you make statements like that, since people are in fact trapped, the electoral system does not in fact work, and in your post you admit that. That means that your thinking boils down to nothing more intelligent than "nyah nyah, I am siding with those in power, and you aren't, and you can't do anything about, so you lose!"
The more clear it is to people that the sum total of your argument is about siding with those in power as you enjoy frustrating and maligning people in the process - and you are making that all quite clear - the more they will reject your position.
Ditch the "team/win" mentality. Lesser Evilism is a disease.
Personally, if I had the power, I would get in the Ignoble Peace Prize winners face along with Michelle and congress by plastering the halls of congress and the oval office with thousands of pictures of murdered and mutilated children. I wonder what Michelle and her two girls would think if they had to look at these horrible pictures of thousands of murdered, mutilated, and maimed children missing limbs?
I was on the island of Crete, at a very nice seaside outdoor restaurant, enjoying a nice meal (the best calamari I have ever tasted, very tender and sweet) with my Greek friends, who happened to speak fluent "American accented" English, when one of them said, "Oh, look, there's the president." Yup. The president of Greece pulled up in a limo, got out with his two bodyguards and took a table two over from ours. We nodded and exchanged smiles and brief pleasantries. This was 1998. I suppose things are different there now, though.
http://chris-floyd.com/march/
Like the wholly corporatly purchased, owned and managed Whitehouse Resident?
Golly, it's so hard to get the stories straight in a cover up. I suppose we might conclude, in this case, that the burning and trashing was accidentally on purpose.
I literally laughed out loud when I read that. Ever been to a fundamentalist christian "service"? I guess it must be time to start burning bibles for Jesus.
The mainstream media in Europe puts the media in this country to shame. The reporters in the U.S. should start earning their keep by realizing that they are not being paid to be stenographers for the politicians. They are, at least in theory, there to hold our politicians accountable for their actions. So far, they have done a lousy job of doing that.
When will one of these so-called journalists ask the warmonger Obama how he is able to sleep at night when his bombs and drone missiles have killed so many innocent civilians?
Just as soon as the mega-corporations those journalists work for no longer have any financial interest in the wars Obama illegally launches. I.e., never.
The owners of the media do not lack spine, they are not failing. They are succeeding. Their goal is to keep people misinformed and advance the interests of the wealthy and powerful few. No shaming of them will work, and no reform is possible. They must be divested of their stranglehold on the communication network.
Living in Europe, I'm on this site because, I can assure you, things are not so different in Europe. The BBC is a bland mish-mash of everything which in effect makes it nothing. 'News' is so intermingled with sport and entertainment that there is no focus on the things that matter. Most other media outlets are worse. They're always getting all indignant about some trivial scandal and winding the readers up into pointless anger. And of course the whole thing is funded by ads for the consumer treadmill.
PeterGreenaway, Feb 22 2012 - 9:41am, beat me to it.
Yep, the U.S. "breeding" of Afghan police has worked marvels, since they are now willing to mow down their own population protesting abusive U.S. practices.
Another victory for the State Dept and the Pentagon's civilizing mission.
Onwards Christian Soldiers!