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When it comes to Afghanistan, "military victory" is an
oxymoron. Even President Obama and his Defense Secretary Robert Gates
say so. Repeatedly.
The only path to peaceful resolution to the Afghanistan conundrum,
they point out, is by winning the "hearts and minds" of the Afghan
people.
When it comes to Afghanistan, "military victory" is an
oxymoron. Even President Obama and his Defense Secretary Robert Gates
say so. Repeatedly.
The only path to peaceful resolution to the Afghanistan conundrum,
they point out, is by winning the "hearts and minds" of the Afghan
people.
That is why the grim news from Afghanistan about the cover up of the a
botched US military raid of a baby shower near Gardez is so
devastating. Unfortunately, the public response to-date from US and NATO
officials in Kabul has been dreadful. It turns out that the Obama
administration's Afghanistan strategy is being defeated by
self-inflicted wounds, and it is unclear that US officials over there
even have a clue that they continue to inflict them.
This is why a truly independent investigation of what happened is so
critical to the President's strategy in Afghanistan. Please join
our campaign calling on the president to investigate the baby shower
raid that resulted in the killing of innocent Afghans, including two
pregnant women.
If you haven't read about this
horrendous incident, and the US response to it, brace yourself.
Afghan investigators are claiming that US Special Operations forces
tried to cover up the horrific killing of five Afghan citizens in
February following a raid of what turned out to be a baby shower.
Three women were killed. Two of them were pregnant. Also killed was a
police commander and his brother, a government prosecutor.
As if this wasn't bad enough, military officials went about fueling
Taliban claims about how barbaric the foreign military occupation is by
immediately putting out false information about the raid. They claimed
that NATO soldiers had stumbled upon the "bodies of three women who
had been tied up, gagged and killed" after the raid was over. According
to the New York Times, military officials also claimed at
the time that the bodies showed signs of puncture and slashing wounds
from a knife and appeared to have died several hours before the raid.
They went on to imply that the women had been killed by their own
families. CNN reported the story under the headline: "Bodies Found
Gagged, Bound after Afghan 'Honor Killing'" .
Now it turns out that the claims by the US military were false. The London
Times and New York Times reported this week that Afghan
investigators have determined that American forces tampered with
evidence at the scene and even "dug bullets out of their victims bodies"
after the killing.
The US led military command finally admitted on Sunday night that
their previous denials of any involvement in the killing of the women
were false. Special Forces had, indeed, killed them. Still, they
denied any cover up. A US military official declared: "We strongly deny
having dug any bullets out of bodies. There is simply no evidence."
While denying any tampering with evidence, he went on to say that the
military is "further investigating" the incident. Who else might
possibly have had a motive to cover up the evidence at the scene was
left to the imagination.
The Taliban could have hardly made this up to fuel their campaign
against the foreign invaders and military occupiers.
Don't get me wrong -- I think that the current US strategy in
Afghanistan is a grave mistake and cannot be set right by correcting
the Pentagon's botched reaction to a horribly botched raid. But, this
incident is one more illustration of why a military led strategy in
Afghanistan -- that is tone deaf to the damage that something like this
does to its own cause -- is doomed to failure. Nothing short a complete
demilitarization of US Afghanistan policy is required. But, while no
one his holding their breath that this is in the cards, at the very
least the administration can take steps to deal responsibly with this
horror. And stop the damage that it continues to inflict on its own
cause.
A thorough and truly independent investigation of the baby shower
killings is required NOW. Justice and accountability demand it. So does
a strategy that is dependent on winning "hearts and minds".
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When it comes to Afghanistan, "military victory" is an
oxymoron. Even President Obama and his Defense Secretary Robert Gates
say so. Repeatedly.
The only path to peaceful resolution to the Afghanistan conundrum,
they point out, is by winning the "hearts and minds" of the Afghan
people.
That is why the grim news from Afghanistan about the cover up of the a
botched US military raid of a baby shower near Gardez is so
devastating. Unfortunately, the public response to-date from US and NATO
officials in Kabul has been dreadful. It turns out that the Obama
administration's Afghanistan strategy is being defeated by
self-inflicted wounds, and it is unclear that US officials over there
even have a clue that they continue to inflict them.
This is why a truly independent investigation of what happened is so
critical to the President's strategy in Afghanistan. Please join
our campaign calling on the president to investigate the baby shower
raid that resulted in the killing of innocent Afghans, including two
pregnant women.
If you haven't read about this
horrendous incident, and the US response to it, brace yourself.
Afghan investigators are claiming that US Special Operations forces
tried to cover up the horrific killing of five Afghan citizens in
February following a raid of what turned out to be a baby shower.
Three women were killed. Two of them were pregnant. Also killed was a
police commander and his brother, a government prosecutor.
As if this wasn't bad enough, military officials went about fueling
Taliban claims about how barbaric the foreign military occupation is by
immediately putting out false information about the raid. They claimed
that NATO soldiers had stumbled upon the "bodies of three women who
had been tied up, gagged and killed" after the raid was over. According
to the New York Times, military officials also claimed at
the time that the bodies showed signs of puncture and slashing wounds
from a knife and appeared to have died several hours before the raid.
They went on to imply that the women had been killed by their own
families. CNN reported the story under the headline: "Bodies Found
Gagged, Bound after Afghan 'Honor Killing'" .
Now it turns out that the claims by the US military were false. The London
Times and New York Times reported this week that Afghan
investigators have determined that American forces tampered with
evidence at the scene and even "dug bullets out of their victims bodies"
after the killing.
The US led military command finally admitted on Sunday night that
their previous denials of any involvement in the killing of the women
were false. Special Forces had, indeed, killed them. Still, they
denied any cover up. A US military official declared: "We strongly deny
having dug any bullets out of bodies. There is simply no evidence."
While denying any tampering with evidence, he went on to say that the
military is "further investigating" the incident. Who else might
possibly have had a motive to cover up the evidence at the scene was
left to the imagination.
The Taliban could have hardly made this up to fuel their campaign
against the foreign invaders and military occupiers.
Don't get me wrong -- I think that the current US strategy in
Afghanistan is a grave mistake and cannot be set right by correcting
the Pentagon's botched reaction to a horribly botched raid. But, this
incident is one more illustration of why a military led strategy in
Afghanistan -- that is tone deaf to the damage that something like this
does to its own cause -- is doomed to failure. Nothing short a complete
demilitarization of US Afghanistan policy is required. But, while no
one his holding their breath that this is in the cards, at the very
least the administration can take steps to deal responsibly with this
horror. And stop the damage that it continues to inflict on its own
cause.
A thorough and truly independent investigation of the baby shower
killings is required NOW. Justice and accountability demand it. So does
a strategy that is dependent on winning "hearts and minds".
When it comes to Afghanistan, "military victory" is an
oxymoron. Even President Obama and his Defense Secretary Robert Gates
say so. Repeatedly.
The only path to peaceful resolution to the Afghanistan conundrum,
they point out, is by winning the "hearts and minds" of the Afghan
people.
That is why the grim news from Afghanistan about the cover up of the a
botched US military raid of a baby shower near Gardez is so
devastating. Unfortunately, the public response to-date from US and NATO
officials in Kabul has been dreadful. It turns out that the Obama
administration's Afghanistan strategy is being defeated by
self-inflicted wounds, and it is unclear that US officials over there
even have a clue that they continue to inflict them.
This is why a truly independent investigation of what happened is so
critical to the President's strategy in Afghanistan. Please join
our campaign calling on the president to investigate the baby shower
raid that resulted in the killing of innocent Afghans, including two
pregnant women.
If you haven't read about this
horrendous incident, and the US response to it, brace yourself.
Afghan investigators are claiming that US Special Operations forces
tried to cover up the horrific killing of five Afghan citizens in
February following a raid of what turned out to be a baby shower.
Three women were killed. Two of them were pregnant. Also killed was a
police commander and his brother, a government prosecutor.
As if this wasn't bad enough, military officials went about fueling
Taliban claims about how barbaric the foreign military occupation is by
immediately putting out false information about the raid. They claimed
that NATO soldiers had stumbled upon the "bodies of three women who
had been tied up, gagged and killed" after the raid was over. According
to the New York Times, military officials also claimed at
the time that the bodies showed signs of puncture and slashing wounds
from a knife and appeared to have died several hours before the raid.
They went on to imply that the women had been killed by their own
families. CNN reported the story under the headline: "Bodies Found
Gagged, Bound after Afghan 'Honor Killing'" .
Now it turns out that the claims by the US military were false. The London
Times and New York Times reported this week that Afghan
investigators have determined that American forces tampered with
evidence at the scene and even "dug bullets out of their victims bodies"
after the killing.
The US led military command finally admitted on Sunday night that
their previous denials of any involvement in the killing of the women
were false. Special Forces had, indeed, killed them. Still, they
denied any cover up. A US military official declared: "We strongly deny
having dug any bullets out of bodies. There is simply no evidence."
While denying any tampering with evidence, he went on to say that the
military is "further investigating" the incident. Who else might
possibly have had a motive to cover up the evidence at the scene was
left to the imagination.
The Taliban could have hardly made this up to fuel their campaign
against the foreign invaders and military occupiers.
Don't get me wrong -- I think that the current US strategy in
Afghanistan is a grave mistake and cannot be set right by correcting
the Pentagon's botched reaction to a horribly botched raid. But, this
incident is one more illustration of why a military led strategy in
Afghanistan -- that is tone deaf to the damage that something like this
does to its own cause -- is doomed to failure. Nothing short a complete
demilitarization of US Afghanistan policy is required. But, while no
one his holding their breath that this is in the cards, at the very
least the administration can take steps to deal responsibly with this
horror. And stop the damage that it continues to inflict on its own
cause.
A thorough and truly independent investigation of the baby shower
killings is required NOW. Justice and accountability demand it. So does
a strategy that is dependent on winning "hearts and minds".