It happened on February 21, 2010.
A group of Americans in Nevada were on a military base sitting behind screens looking at images coming from a Predator-drone flying in Afghanistan.
They saw three cars driving on a road.
One pick-up truck and two closed cars.
They followed these three cars for hours and saw they were women and children traveling.
The Americans in Nevada decided this convoy of cars should be attacked nevertheless.
They ordered a Bell OH-58D helicopter to fire deadly rockets on the cars.
23 Afghan civilians were killed.
12 Afghan civilians were wounded.
After initially denying the whole episode, an investigation was made by NATO and recently Major-General McHale published a report.
He had to admit that major mistakes had been made.
In other words, those Afghan civilians were killed without justification.
What does an army do in such a case?
Put the assassins on trial?
One must be kidding.
A foreign army, when strong enough, can enter any country, massacre civilians and pretend it was an unfortunate mistake.
Only four American soldiers have been found responsible for the unjustified, unlawful and brutal killing of the Afghan men, women and children.
And what is their punishment?
An official reprimand.
Like a naughty boy in school: don't do that again.
And classes continue as usual.
It is like a mass-murder that have been committed on a sandy square.
The place is drained with the blood of the victims.
The ones responsible for the killings put fresh sand on the blood drained soil and pretend nothing ever happened.
But the family of the victims and the compatriots will always remember .
And the memory will be even more hateful when they have to realize that the culprits got away with it in a mini minimal way.
This is a war that is being fought by the United States and several European countries.
Where many civilians live.
Like us.
And our interests, the politicians say and decide, need to be defended by sending an army to Afghanistan.
And sorry for the many Afghan civilians killed there.
Do we believe that is OK?
.
1 comment:
No war is justified. Violence begets violence. When will governments learn that they are perpetuating the cycle of hatred and violence? Obama should be taken to task for not withdrawing from all foreign wars like he initially promised. But now he is not really in charge, is he?
Post a Comment