Afghan civilian deaths big problem in war

[laststeamtrain]

Source: AP

Afghan civilian deaths big problem in war

By PAULINE JELINEK – 39 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. special operations forces in Afghanistan need more precision weapons systems to better avoid unintended civilian deaths, a top military officer told Congress Thursday.

The warning from U.S. Special Operations Command leader Adm. Eric T. Olson came as the Pentagon's top military officer revealed that he does not believe discipline is warranted in the recent U.S. bombing in Afghanistan that killed dozens of Afghan citizens.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday acknowledged that the accidental killing of civilians in Afghanistan has become one of the military's greatest strategic problems in the faltering war.

Pentagon officials are preparing to release their investigation into the May 4 bombing that was aimed at Taliban militants but also killed civilians. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, told a Pentagon press conference Thursday that he has seen nothing in the investigation that would call for disciplinary action against the U.S. forces involved.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iqyaFh_efr-brDq0rMLF1hkop0tgD98TE5180

---

"We need more & 'better' weapons or we'll kill this dog"

[Autumn]

1. Seems to me that goes for any war

wish these people in charge would buy a fucking clue.

[laststeamtrain]

2. LA TIMES: In Afghanistan, halting civilian deaths in strikes is mission impossible

In Afghanistan, halting civilian deaths in strikes is mission impossible

The U.S. has made the goal a top priority. But the nature of the war calls for split-second life-or-death decisions, almost guaranteeing more accidental casualties.

By David Zucchino

June 19, 2009

Reporting from Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan — When Afghan parliament member Obaidullah Helali went to visit his constituents in the village of Garani last month, they confronted him with clubs and stones.

It was three days after a U.S. airstrike killed dozens of civilians in the remote settlement in western Farah province. Enraged villagers threatened to beat Helali and other officials and asked why the Afghan government couldn't protect them -- not from the Taliban, but from the U.S. military.

"If the Americans don't stop these kind of accidents, the people will never believe the government will keep them safe," Helali said.

But experiences such as the fateful May 4 airstrike show that halting civilian deaths will not be an easy goal. Fighter pilots and air controllers at the main U.S. air base near Kabul, the Afghan capital, say that even the most comprehensive safeguards can fail under the stress and confusion of combat against an enemy that they say often uses civilians as human shields.

The mounting death toll of Afghan civilians from U.S. airstrikes has unleashed a tide of resentment and fury that threatens to undermine the American counterinsurgency effort here. From President Obama to the new U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, American officials have made the reduction of civilian deaths a top priority as they revamp their strategy here.

<more>

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-civilian-deaths19-2009jun19,0,3718403.story

[laststeamtrain]

3. Punishment for Afghan raid unlikely: U.S. military head

Punishment for Afghan raid unlikely: U.S. military head

Reuters
Thursday, June 18, 2009 7:29 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military is unlikely to discipline troops involved in a deadly air strike in Afghanistan that heightened tensions between Washington and Kabul, the top U.S. military official said on Thursday.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. troops handled themselves well during the battle last month against Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's western Farah province.

<snip>

The U.S. and Afghan governments have clashed for weeks over the civilian death toll from the battle.

Afghan officials maintain that the action killed 140 civilians, making it the most deadly military operation for noncombatants in the country since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

Preliminary U.S. estimates had put the civilian death toll at between 20 and 35 and the number of Taliban fighters killed at 80 to 95. An Afghan watchdog agency has said that 97 civilians died, with no more than two Taliban members killed.

<more>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/18/AR2009061803644.html

[annm4peace]

4. Adm. Olson GOD WILL DISCIPLINE YOU

The warning from U.S. Special Operations Command leader Adm. Eric T. Olson came as the Pentagon's top military officer revealed that he does not believe discipline is warranted in the recent U.S. bombing in Afghanistan that killed dozens of Afghan citizens.