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| Afghanistan |
| US re-examines Afghan attack that killed civilians |
| 2008-09-08 |
| The U.S. military said Sunday it has "new information" about an American attack that Afghanistan says killed 90 civilians and it is sending a senior military officer to the country to review its initial investigation that concluded no more than seven civilians died. The military did not say what new information had emerged. But Afghan and Western officials say Afghanistan's intelligence agency and the U.N. both have video of the aftermath of the airstrikes on Azizabad village showing dozens of dead women and children. An Afghan government commission has said 90 civilians, including 60 children and 15 women, died in the Aug. 22 bombings, a finding that the U.N. backed in its own initial report. But a U.S. investigation released Tuesday said only up to seven civilians and 35 militants were killed in the operation in the western province of Herat. A U.N. official who has seen one video of Azizabad told The Associated Press it shows maimed children. The official became highly emotional describing rows of bodies. A second Western official has said one video shows bodies of "tens of children" lined up and he called the video "gruesome." The two officials spoke on condition they not be identified because the videos had not been publicly released. Although the U.S. said Tuesday its investigation was complete, the military at that time appeared to leave open the possibility that photographs or video of the scene could emerge. American officials said privately last week that they were aware photographic evidence apparently existed, but that they did not have access to it. "No other evidence that may have been collected by other organizations was provided to the U.S. investigating officer and therefore could not be considered in the findings," the initial U.S. report said. On Sunday, Gen. David McKiernan -- the senior U.S. officer in Afghanistan and the commander of the 40-nation NATO-led mission -- had requested that an American general travel from U.S. Central Command in Florida to Afghanistan to review the U.S. investigation. That announcement followed by one day a statement attributed to McKiernan on Azizabad that said: "We realize there is a large discrepancy between the number of civilians casualties reported" and McKiernan would continue to "try to account for this disparity." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 I saw CNN acting like this story of 90 civilians killed was true aiders and abetters that they are. They can't or unwilling to distinguish between truth and propaganda. CNN reporters are either part of the hate America crowd or just too lazy to engage in honest reporting. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2008-09-08 19:18 |
| #2 This time the Green Helmet Guy stays behind the lens. |
| Posted by: Skunky Glins 5*** 2008-09-08 18:37 |
| #1 An Afghan government commission has said 90 civilians, including 60 children and 15 women, died in the Aug. 22 bombings Thus justifying the jihadi's objective -If you surround yourselves with women and children nobody should be able to (legitimately) take you out i.e."human shields work". |
| Posted by: Gladys 2008-09-08 05:50 |