airstrikes

US Strike Kills Up to 10 in Pakistan: Officials

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 07:47:10 -0400

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A US drone fired missiles into a suspected militant camp in a Taliban stronghold of northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border, killing up to 10 people on Tuesday, security officials said.

It was the first attack from a suspected US spy plane since last Wednesday, when Pakistani and US officials believe Pakistan's Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed along with his wife at a family home in South Waziristan.

Afghanistan Exit Could Bring Escalated Air War

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:55:39 -0400

by Paul Weinberg

TORONTO - Amid reports that the Barack Obama administration is quietly lobbying the Conservative government in Ottawa to keep Canadian troops in Afghanistan's Kandahar province beyond 2011, Stephen Harper is finding himself in an increasingly awkward dilemma.

The Canadian prime minister needs to appease a popular U.S. president who just deployed 4,000 Marines in a new Afghan offensive in Helmand, and at the same time avoid further alienating a war-weary electorate.

Now We See You, Now We Don’t

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:37:43 -0400

by Kathy Kelly

In early June, 2009, I was in the Shah Mansoor displaced persons camp in Pakistan, listening to one resident detail the carnage which had spurred his and his family’s flight there a mere 15 days earlier. Their city, Mingora, had come under massive aerial bombardment. He recalled harried efforts to bury corpses found on the roadside even as he and his neighbors tried to organize their families to flee the area.

US Toughens Airstrike Policy in Afghanistan

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:13:49 -0400

by Dexter Filkins

KABUL, Afghanistan - The new American commander in Afghanistan said he would sharply restrict the use of airstrikes here, in an effort to reduce the civilian deaths that he said were undermining the American-led mission.

In interviews over the past few days, the commander, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, said the use of airstrikes during firefights would in most cases be allowed only to prevent American and other coalition troops from being overrun.

Congress Should Require an Exit Strategy from Afghanistan

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 09:17:19 -0400

by Robert Naiman

In March, President Obama told CBS' "60 Minutes" that the United States must have an "exit strategy" in Afghanistan.

'No US Charges' Likely Over Afghan Raid

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:05:50 -0400

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.

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.

McChrystal Looks to Spin Afghan Civilian Deaths Problem

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:50:47 -0400

by Gareth Porter

WASHINGTON - At his confirmation hearings two weeks ago, Gen. Stanley McChrystal said reducing civilian deaths from air strikes in Afghanistan was "strategically decisive" and declared his "willingness to operate in ways that minimise casualties or damage, even when it makes our task more difficult."

Pentagon Wavers on Release of Report on Afghan Attack

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:02:58 -0400

by Nancy A. Youssef

WASHINGTON - Defense Department officials are debating whether to ignore an earlier promise and squelch the release of an investigation into a U.S. airstrike last month, out of fear that its findings would further enrage the Afghan public, Pentagon officials told McClatchy Monday.

Should the US also Suppress Evidence of Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan?

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:36:26 -0400

by Glenn Greenwald

Something that has happened repeatedly in Afghanistan over the last eight years happened yet again this week:

After U.S. Strike, Dispute Over Afghan Deaths

KABUL, Afghanistan - Sharply conflicting reports on an American airstrike this week continued to trickle out Friday from American military and Afghan officials as to whether the attack killed civilians.
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We Failed to Follow Bombing Rules: Pentagon

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 08:12:28 -0400

WASHINGTON - US forces failed to follow procedures in carrying out deadly air strikes last month in western Afghanistan that killed dozens of civilians, the Pentagon said.

A military investigation by a senior officer outside Afghanistan found "problems" with US bombing raids in a May 4 battle but it was unclear if the mistakes caused civilian deaths, Defense Department press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters.