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Subscribe to RSSMay 22: Rachel Maddow reports on the headlines from the NATO summit in Chicago, including supply routes to Afghanistan through Pakistan.
KABUL - Eight civilians in one family, including six children, were killed in a NATO air strike after a field operation in Paktia province, local government officials told NBC News.
The incident took place at 8pm on Saturday in the Garda Serrai district, according the Paktia government spokesman Rohullah Samoon.
They were all members of one family, he said.
NATO said told NBC News it was taking the reports of the incident seriously and was investigating.
Samoon told Reuters said the air strike was not coordinated with Afghan security forces on the ground in the area.
Civilian casualties have been a major source of friction between President Hamid Karzai's government and U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan, Reuters reported.
NATO is preparing to hand over all security responsibilities to Afghan forces and most foreign combat troops are scheduled to leave the country by the end of 2014.
Khyber Shinwari, NBC News, contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
but only until he gets anouther check.
Karzai g'ment is corrupt,but vthat does not give Obama/NATO the license to kill innocdent civilians in their own homes. Now a Father,a mother and 6 (six)children who had no connection to any Taliban or imported terrorist groups(s). Condolences by Obama/HRC/Panetta/NATO will not do. It is simply unacceptable to conduct airstrikes,bust into people's homes -on suspicion (no tangible proof) to kill for killing's sake. Where are the principles in conducting war based on signed treatiesx on warfare? Civilians as collateral damage is not accepted under the laws and Obama/HRC/Panettta/NATO are simnply shredding all acceptable laws pertaining to wars and civilian casualties. All should see Charlie Wilson's War- how the Soviet troops left Afghanistan-like the Brits (twice) in the Great Game.
what a load. Seriously?
I would withhold making any judgements about this until there is some more information available. It does not appear that they are even certain yet that this as a NATO air strike. It would not be the first that the Afghans had tried to claim an explosion was the result of a NATO strike when it was not. If it was a NATO strike, then people should wait to find out why this target was hit before passing judgement. This would also not be the first time that insurgents have used a civilian home as a base of operations or storehouse for weapons and explosives. They know that they can generate outrage if civilians are hurt so they hide themselves and their weapons and explosives in civilian homes. Let's get the whole story before we go condemning NATO for this. I am not saying that there have not been cases where an errant bomb or bad information resulted in the bombing of a civilian home without cause, but there have also been many cases where the civilians who were killed were not the innocent bystanders they were made out to be by the Afghans. If a civilian allows his home to be used by the insurgents then they are just as guilty as the insurgents and are a completely legitimate target. These people are also not above using their own children as shields/martyrs to advance their cause. It is always best to wait for the whole story to come out before passing judgement.
it would not be the first time innocent children have been bombed and shot either.
You make it sound like you believe the thinking goes "family at 6 o'clock" "aye sir, bombs away"... Reallly? IF civilian causalties occur, it isn't intentional; which is the difference between us and Al Quida... They intend to kill civies as a means up secure their 72 virgins....
And unfortunately it isn't unheard of that some (like Sadam) used human shields (aka during the first gulf war), and 2 that some lied about it (Gadafi for instance, where claims were made of civilian causalties, and CNN among other news teams went out with the officials, and asked where the attack occured. The Libyan gov't officials ran them around on wild goose chases for hours, and finally in the end admitted they didn't know where the attack they were talking about occured, and couldn't lead them to it) /rofl The news teams were left thinking they were being had.... It's pretty telling when "the eye witnesses" don't seem to know where they saw it :o
we are out to win the hearts and mind of the Afghan people; what a way to do it!
To makes me wonder- exactly!! I hope people realize there have been many innocent children (and adults) who were killed in these wars.
Hello folks,
Since World War II, 90% of the casualties of war are unarmed civilians. 1/3 of them children. Our victims have done nothing to us. From Palestine to Afghanistan to Iraq to Somalia to wherever our next target may be, their murders are not collateral damage, they are the nature of modern warfare. They don't hate us because of our freedoms. They hate us because every day we are funding and committing crimes against humanity. The so-called "war on terror" is a cover for our military aggression to gain control of the resources of western Asia.
This is sending the poor of this country to kill the poor of those Muslim countries. This is trading blood for oil. This is genocide, and to most of the world, we are the terrorists. In these times, remaining silent on our responsibility to the world and its future is criminal. And in light of our complicity in the supreme crimes against humanity in Iraq and Afghanistan, and ongoing violations of the U.N. Charter in International Law, how dare any American criticize the actions of legitimate resistance to illegal occupation.
Many of our soldiers don't fight for America, they fight for their lives and their buddies beside them, because we put them in a war zone. They're not defending our freedoms, they're laying the foundation for permanent military bases to defend the freedoms of Exxon Mobil and British Petroleum.
Face it we're Imperialists pure and simple. The elite look down on all of us as expendable chattel.
"Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy" Henry Kissinger
I’m not asking you to hate war, but to love peace? War, what is it good for, absolutely nothing!
al qaeda is killing people in order to convince others that their version of rule is best. NATO is killing people to convince them that another form of rule is best.
Despite who is responsible for the killing it is all for the end game of who should decide how others should live. Collateral damage is expected. Now lip service will be given to the event and then blown off as being "for the greater good."
The U.S. decided to show them that terrorism isn't a way to live. So for ten years the U.S. "terrorized" them through warfare to show them that living in fear (terrorism) isn't good. Only two more years until they learn the evils of living in fear of dying unexpectedly.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm President Hamid Karzai didn't loose his family .... or anyone he cared about ...
How would you feel if it happened to your family .... hit by a airstrike by a foreign power, you had little knowledge of? .... or even why they were there ...
I'm sure you would love them & turn the other cheek .... not hate them and join the Taliban ..
While I wish we could fight wars with no innocent cassualties, I feel that these few (albeit tragic) deaths will be but a drop in the bucket compared to the # of deaths that will probably occur after we (U.S. & NATO) pull out of Afghanistan and the Taliban resumes power.
How come, when a suicide bomber blows up an entire shopping area killing hundreds, we dont hear about "innocent civillian losses" just "bomber blows up self and 25 others"?
LEGALIZE MARIJUANA!
Yo, war is hell.
Know what I'm sayin'?
how do you know!
I've read a lot of books.
"Yo, war is hell.
Know what I'm sayin'?"
That all manners of immorality and sin are permissible as long as we call "war?" That's what I took from your comment.
"NATO is preparing to hand over all security responsibilities to Afghan forces and most foreign combat troops are scheduled to leave the country by the end of 2014."
So the Afghan forces can turn on our troops.
kudos A.E. you got it.
Thousands Of Innocent People Killed In Terrorist Strikes.
But that's ok, right?
When your family is killed by "friendlies" don't you think that raises terror in the survivors? Doesn't that make the "friendlies" terrorists also?
That's like a parent saying "I'm beating your ass for your own good." It doesn't matter who the real beneficiary is, someone's ass is sore - and it wasn't a pleasurable experience.
As to the deaths, yes, what is your point?
When terrorists kill thousands of innocent people, that is OK and we don't see a big to do about it.
Well, this is just the way it goes, these are casualties of a conflict. Don't make such a big deal of it.
"When terrorists kill thousands of innocent people, that is OK and we don't see a big to do about it."
Who in your twisted little mind ever suggested that "when terrorists kill thousands of innocent people, that is OK?"
The only time terrorists have killed thousands is 9/11. They usually only get 10-50 people per attack no more the the average US/NATO attack.
which makes perfect sense as they cannot be trusted. so tell me again.....why in the world are we there in the first place?
Because so many of you treated war, as a response to 9/11, as a football game that would kick ass in the first quarter and now the cheerleaders get more weary with each setback.
wrong, no vet wants our people in harms way unless absolutely necessary, and this simply wasn't.
I have never seen a more apt statement about the jingoists and chickenhawks of the past 10 years.
And the fans, long bored with the stalemate, are leaving the stadium in droves. Only the team owners are willing to continue the game because they can always hire more replacement players.
Forget about what we do in Afghanistan. Instead, let's focus on what the Syrians are supposedly doing in their attempt to quash the MI6, CIA and Mossad funded rebels.
better idea...lets focus on minding our own damn business.
very well put
now i feel what i wrote is garbage to your remark ia scootertramp
bravo
its amazing what a few words can say over many words
Quote from A E
("NATO is preparing to hand over all security responsibilities to Afghan forces and most foreign combat troops are scheduled to leave the country by the end of 2014."
So the Afghan forces can turn on our troops.)
what the hell would you do if nato just blew the #$%$ out of your family when your only involvement was farming the land eh?
say its ok give me money? rofl if so you are as lost as the smart bomb that blew these peeps away
and this is the remody for innocent deaths especially children duuuuuuuuuuuuh for nato payouts
ya we made so many new friends this way im thinking the middle east has a special ending for us
i would not let that slide for nothing
and barak oks this !! ya im voting for him again!!! noooooooooooooooooooooooooot
big duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh for our president for making our land safer rofl
yaaaaaaaaaa
not to sure about anyone else but i feel more insecure than ever, we really stirred the pot with a crap stick at the sacrafice of our children dieing on foreign soil, call our kids home let the cave people go back to their caves, where we should have left them, why because we dont even know why we are there!!!
sad world lately ya we got fooled into that mess and we will pay for it till the end
murder just isnt sweeped under the rug and i concider killing of children
MURDER
so strap on ones butt plug you will be needing it soon im sure
Someday these children living in terror and being killed in so called war lives will be answered for. I would not want to be responsible.
Ultimately the blame will fall on Islam
These people over there know that; as Americans, we HATE it when we hear children have been killed. So they use that to THEIR advantage. And apparently it's working. There is more to this story than what we have been told.
(Note: not ALL people in the Middle East are farmers)
1) the house was being used by the wrong guys and it went BOOM. (The parents should held accountable.)
2) Militants took over the house and it went BOOM. (They should be held accountable)
3) The family made the house go BOOM.
4) A gas leak made the house go BOOM.
5) The father was ticked about his cable bill and made the house go BOOM.
6) Someone was assembling a bomb and goofed making the house go BOOM.
7) Meth lab gone wrong making the house go BOOM.
... see the drift? There is more to this story than we know. The 'media' LOVES half a story.
And YOU fell for it!!!
Couldn't agree more. The U.S. loves the use of propaganda - means to an end.
Just like the other half of the story when the school was bombed in Iraq
"These people over there know that; as Americans, we HATE it when we hear children have been killed."
Some of us do. Others find it incredibly easy to brush aside with a yawn and a cursory "war is hell, what do you expect." Still others are sick enough to say things like, "Six future terrorists out of the way."
Oh, and by the way-- when NATO believes that reported casualties were not caused by their actions, they generally vehemently deny that they were responsible. Half the time that turns out to be a lie. However, when they don't even deny the fact that an airstrike took place, it's pretty ridiculous for you to suggest that this was a meth lab, or a bitter husband, or a gas leak.
They want to know who killed the children in Syria and hold them accountable, the same should be done for these children how can killing innocent children whether it be on purpose or not be any part of a war, just plain sick that there is even one casualty of a child, adults are stupid enough to play their war games but children should be no part of it how evil is this disgusting world. Everyone would be surprised at the amount of children who have been killed and had there blood shed. This world is far from being advanced we are going backwards quick.
I see no diference in NATO and de Syrian Regime both kills childrens .!!!!!!!!
They should film a new version of, "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes." with only people. It would be fitting for the times. And by all means ... keep the title.
"left more than 92 dead – including 32 young children – in Houla, Syria “must be identified and held to account," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday."
WTF we took ot six kids but thats ok becuse we stand for freedom ,huh . Freedom from life
here is one for ya
when we returned from our failed vietnam fight
people called our soldiers baby killers
so misled
our soldiers were not the baby killers
the baby killers was our government
that was a forced war, usa made our soldiers kill over there, why?
and our soldiers killed why? to survive they were thrown into a meat grinder
and again i say our government are the baby killers not our soldiers
because they keep our children in a spot with no rhyme or reason why we are there!!!
except more money in oil, natural resorces galore, one of the biggest lithium deposits is in afghanistan
no legitamate excuse why we are killing others in the middle east
this isa killing game not a freeing of people
i really didnt get the fact of our retaliation when it was a small extremist group that took out our towers and not the afghanistan people
so the baby killers need to rethink their idiocies before its to late
no more of our kids need to die overseas in this scandal
and i mean scandle concidering bush and blair plotted this war and they were recorded setting it up
put bush and blaair on trial and into jail
uae their money to pay for our fu$% ups
and pull out of the middle east
is the middle east that poor they cant take care of themselves
or just that greedy?
or did the middle east plan on this so they can pick us off one by one?
very puzzling
Another dead family at the hands of US-lead NATO. More bad news for Obama.
clinton condemns syria children massacre
But Obama still allows it. Take syria's money the war will stop, anyone selling to Syrias government shut them down. stop the flow of money and the fat cats will stop the war
I,m sick and tired of wars, Why do we have them? and who profits and who stays in power because of them.
Lets all pray or Meditate for peace. Lets quit killing our and their babies, finally realizing that they are all our children.
No More worthless deaths....
Why would NATO or anyone kill these "innocent" people?
Perhaps they were messing with the mainstay of the economy, the opium business
How stupid is anyone to believe that whenever we leave it will not be business as usual. Even if we no longer protect the opium farmers, their corrupt system will hit the international market with tons of opium.
Pakistan was found to be harboring Bin Laden, his followers seem to mainly be hiding out in the tribal region there, and Pakistan sentenced the doctor to 33yrs for helping us get Bin Laden. So, where is the justification in fighting against the Taliban in Afganistan while we let Pakistan walk, and pay them to boot. The Taliban was a legitimate Gov. in Afganistan, and never really had the means to give us Bin Laden, yet that was the USA's excuse for invading Afganistan. Reality says that we went there to impose a new Gov. on the people of Afganistan, and are fighting the Taliban to keep them from gaining control again, and the Taliban are fighting us becouse we invaded their nation. What would happen if the worlds nations got tired of the USA being a bully, and the UN sent troops here, and replaced our Gov. with one of their liking?. Do you think we would just accept it, or fight back?. It's time to get out of Afganistan, or expand the war to Pakistan.
Getting out is far superior to expanding the war. Just had a Nixon flashback.
When American warplanes kill innocent Afghan children, women, and men, it is called a NATO airstrike mistake.
The blatant US propaganda is so preposterous that only the brainwashed American people believe it -- notions like Iraqi WMD and Osama in the protective hands of the Taliban.
Our examples as adults in this world is really teaching children about bullying, killing of childrens innocent lives, war, law enforcement abuse etc. We are not great teachers.
This whole mission in Afganistan has been a total failure. Obama has been a total failure because he did not deliver on the promise of getting the hell out of there . Now I can see that Obama is not in charge anyway. People who we never voted for are in charge and that's very frightening to think about. What Obama should have done is deliver Cheney and Rumsfeld to Hague for war crimes trials. Maybe Obama will end up in Hague himself after all of this fiasco in Afganistan and Iraq. I know he will claim he killed Osama, but that won't work because Osama was our employee and CIA operative. The world knows our tricks and claims that we do everything in the name of democracy , which is as vague as it gets. We just give lip service and that is it. The world can see the bodies and skeletons we leeave around the globe in the name of democracy. We cause more destruction around the globe in one day then Afgans can cause in 1000 years. We are even not ashamed to advertise our military presence in over 170 countries and we somehow seem to be proud of it. All of this is coming to roost very shortly after we go broke and we fail to pay for the blood. Just look at all the Empires that failed prior to us and the common denominator was the lack of money and the will. We have no money and the will will follow shortly.
And the Drug Store Truck-drivin Man is given credit for busting the Soviet Union by causing them to spend themselves to death. What goes around comes around.
@Mimi Jacques, President Obama did not do this on purpose! What in the he@# is wrong with you???? I am sorry that this happened to children, but unfortunately this is war! The Taliban and other terrorists are the ones that use civilians as human shields, use their homes to hide in, we don't. I am a military wife and proud of it, but you know it saddens me that this happens because I have kids of my own, but blaming the President for something that he did not do is not cool! I hate war more than anyone and I want this to end just as much as anyone else. What are our troops suppose to do then if you say we can't conduct airstrikes, go into people's homes???, are we suppose to wait until they come out with their hand up??? no we are going to protect those troops and get the enemy where they are hiding. I know in my heart that our troops really do try and minimize civilian casualties, but sometimes this happens, unfortunately! If you think it is so easy, then why don't you go over there and tell the terrorists to stop hiding in the houses of civilians, tell them to stop being the cowards that they are and stop hiding behind women and children.
We knew what kind of war this would be 10 years ago, but we continue to throw in good money and lives to try to justify the previous idiocy of trying to change the place. The "terrorists" are fighting the war the way they must, and no one is going to shame them into fighting a toe to toe battle with a far superior military force. Obama did not do this on purpose, but with no Americans present it could not have happened. Get used to the idea that once NATO (USA) leaves, it will be chaos as usual in Afghanistan.
8 less potential terrorists, and a fistful of cash for the government cronies!
And thousand more given a reason to take up arms against oppression.
Those damned people are too ignorant to know what oppressed means!
Ooooooops!!
Repugnicans are quick to blame Obummer for this, yet fail to give him full credit for bin Laden's elimination. They must be hoping that the logical inconsistency will go right over the heads of American voters.
Please, please, please - hire an editor. One who determines who Samoon is, why he told Reuters, and give us what Reuters said. Without validation, this is useless. Be more Halmarkish -- care enough to give readers the very best reporting, not the first with errors.
Just so we are clear...NATO and the US Military have killed far more innonent people than all the terrorists in the world combined......So guess what that means?....WE ARE THE TERRORISTS!
Seen the movie - know the plot. In reality, they were either killed because they were in an area that they should not have been in, were in the company of known enemy combatants that regularly hide behind their families making THEM legitimate targets as well, or were killed by a drone that cannot ascertain the validity of a target as efficiently as "boots on the ground" .which are NOT there. This is because the USA ever since Vietnam has tried to fight its wars without getting anyone killed and is enamoured with high-tech warfare that has NEVER been a decisive factor in long protracted asymetrical wars. Short term Hiroshimas - YES, Vietnams-NO. To quote a more modified version of Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind, "Frankly everyone, I don't give a flying f— — k about the entire country of Afganistan and everyone in it" . Enough said.