Collateral Damage
The New York Times reports how nine children in an Afghan village were killed while at play when an American air strike went snafu. Besides the children the strikes also claimed the life of a 25 year old who was to be engaged within the week,

Two brothers in the village, Sarwar Khan and Hamidullah, lost three children between them, they said. "The Americans are all the time making these mistakes," said Mr. Khan, who lost his two sons, Faizullah, 8, and Obeidullah, 10. "What kind of Al Qaeda are they? Look at their little shoes and hats. Are they terrorists?"
[...]Nevertheless, Saturday's attack was at least the fourth this year in which civilians have been killed or injured. Eleven members of one family were killed in April in Paktika in eastern Afghanistan when American forces called in air strikes on a group of militants escaping toward the Pakistani border and a bomb landed on a house. Eight people, including women and children, were killed in a village in the northern province of Nuristan on Oct. 30 when American planes bombarded their village at night. The military acknowledged the April bombing but has not confirmed responsibility for the Nuristan bombing.

Imagine nine American children being killed in an attack on say a toy store, how will the American public react? Is there any way to explain to the parents here that their children were 'collateral damage'? It has been some time since the Taliban was thrown over but such incidents continue to occur, how long will the people of Afghaistan and now Iraq suffer before they can let their children play marbles on the streets without fear of losing them to another American strike against the Al Qaeda?
posted by ubaid - Sunday, December 07, 2003 at 6:59 PM - 0 comments - post anonymously