An apology…

…is what they get. Hey, I know we all get a fresh start now with the Administration change to happen in about 76 days. I’m happy, probably you are happy… Afghans, not so much. In fact, they are furious.

Just think about it. If there were Alien spacecraft somewhere in our skies. Always there. If they could see at night, target, bomb and kill whomever they wished, whenever they wished. If, say, white bridal gowns made them NUTS, reminding them of an old, gown-wearing ENEMY they thought they had once DEFEATED, and white bridal gowns were spotted in an outdoor gathering of… MORE ENEMY? They would do what?

Karzai says air strike kills 40 in Afghanistan

REUTERS
Reuters North American News Service

Nov 05, 2008 12:56 EST

KABUL Nov 5 (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday an air strike by coalition forces earlier this week killed some 40 civilians and wounded about 28 in Kandahar province.

Karzai called on U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to make it his priority to stop the killing of civilians.

Scores of Afghans have been killed in U.S. air strikes this year, leading to resentment against the presence of foreign troops and a rift between Karzai and his Western backers.

The air strike took place on Monday in the Shah Wali Kot district in the southern Taliban heartland of Kandahar province.

“By bombing Afghanistan, the war against terrorism cannot be won,” Karzai told a news conference.

Several villagers who had taken a group of wounded to the hospital in Kandahar city said the air strike hit a wedding party.

The U.S. military said it was checking reports. “The coalition and Afghan authorities are investigating reports of non-combatant casualties in the village of Wech Baghtu,” said U.S. forces spokesman Commander Jeff Bender.

“If innocent people were killed in this operation, we apologize and express our condolences to the families and the people of Afghanistan,” he said in a statement.

My comment: Why does this continue to happen? How does it happen? Who loses rank? Who visits the civilians with the apology? Does W. cry over THESE losses? How mad would YOU be at the aliens if your bride & groom and all their family members were wiped off the face of the earth? Who would YOU support? Notice that President Karzai is appealing to Sen. Obama, not our current sorry excuse.

UPDATE: IT JUST HAPPENED AGAIN.

Afghan Official: Coalition strike again kills civilians

By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer Jason Straziuso, Associated Press Writer 58 mins ago

KABUL, Afghanistan – An airstrike in northwest Afghanistan killed 13 Taliban militants and seven civilians Thursday, Afghan officials said, a day after President Hamid Karzai demanded a halt to civilian casualties in U.S.-led coalition operations.

The United States has conducted missile strikes in Afghanistan and in Pakistan’s tribal areas along the border — strikes U.S. Gen. David H. Petraeus said Thursday have killed three of the top 20 extremist leaders there.

The strike came just days after another coalition airstrike in the south of the country killed 37 people, mostly woman and children.

The Thursday incident happened in Ghormach district of Badghis province, where a three-hour long clash between the militants and Afghan and foreign troops preceded an airstrike that hit the house of a provincial council member, said deputy governor Abdul Ghani Saburi.

Thirteen militants and seven civilians, including two women and two children, were killed in the attack, he said.

A statement from the U.S. military in Afghanistan said they are aware of “possible civilian casualties that may have occurred while responding to an insurgent ambush on a route clearance patrol in the Ghormach district of Badghis province.”

“We do not know all the facts at this time but we will investigate this situation to get to the truth,” said Col. Greg Julian, the chief U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan.

“If we find that innocent people were killed in this incident, we apologize and express our sincere condolences to the families and the people of Afghanistan,” Julian said.

The airstrike follows a similar incident Monday in the southern Kandahar province, where over 30 civilians were reported killed.

Karzai on Wednesday called on U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to ensure that Afghan civilians are not killed in operations by U.S. forces, following a bombing of the remote village of Wech Baghtu in the southern province of Kandahar on Monday afternoon that destroyed an Afghan housing complex where women and children had gathered for a wedding.

Villager Abdul Jalil, a 37-year-old grape farmer whose niece was getting married, told an Associated Press reporter at the scene of the bombing that U.S. troops and Taliban fighters had been fighting about a half mile from his home.

Fighter aircraft destroyed his compound and killed 37 people, Jalil said. Karzai’s office said the attack killed about 40 people and wounded 28.

OKAY, YOU CAN GO BACK TO BEING HAPPY NOW. Thanks for the apology, Jeff and Greg. Let’s keep bombing people first and investigating later. SOP.