The Kabul operation has a particular emphasis on the education of girls and the development of female leaders.
Non-violent protests? Civil disobedience? Bah!You need civil society before you can have civil disobedience. What exactly could these poeple 'disobey'?
This isn't just an attack against the UK as a nation. It's yet another symbol for the Taliban in their "holy" war to repress and treat women like animals. Where one of the only ways women can free themselves from oppression is to commit suicide by setting themselves on fire. An attack against the Western culture that dares to blaspheme and say women deserve access to adequate eduction, health care and a wide range of civil rights. Free of oppression. Equal to men.Man the pro-stay-in-Afghanistan segment is out in force in this thread spewing stuff that could have been written by Bush’s Speechwriters in the past decade. First of all, we went in there to fight Al Quaeda, not transform their society. So why the hell are we still there fighting the 'Taliban'?
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said [March 7] that both the U.S. and Afghan governments agree the American military should remain involved in Afghanistan after the planned 2014 end of combat operations to help train and advise Afghan forces.Which reminds me...
"Obviously it would be a small fraction of the presence that we have today, but I think we're willing to do that," Gates told a group of U.S. troops at Bagram air field, which is headquarters for U.S. and NATO forces in eastern Afghanistan. "My sense is, they (Afghan officials) are interested in having us do that."
On May 4, 2011, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner said that American troops should stay in Iraq past the December 31 withdrawal deadline.posted by Trurl at 6:34 PM on August 19, 2011
Is it superior morality to not intend to cause civilian casualties,This is another weird statement. Why is killing someone through disregard any worse than killing someone deliberately? Both result in their death. Both result in anguish for their families and the people who knew them. This just seems like an excuse to kill civilians to me so long as you don't think you 'intend' to kill them.
Much in line with Assange’s tragic narrative, the leaked documents depict a disturbing fudging of facts and unreported killing of hundreds of civilians. Two incidents in particular have been highlighted by the Guardian.This is oftentimes because the Taliban are actively targeting civilians. Usually, when the ANA and NATO accidentally kill a civilian, it's not bad intelligence... it's that armed Taliban are basically hiding amongst the civilians intentionally, and the civilians are in no position to refuse them.
One involves a group of US marines, who went on a shooting rampage after coming under attack near Jalalabad in 2007. They recorded false information about the incident, in which they actually killed 19 unarmed civilians and wounded another 50.
In another case the same year, documents detail how US special forces dropped six 2,000lb bombs on a compound where they believed a “high-value individual” was hiding, after “ensuring there were no innocent Afghans in the surrounding area”. A senior US commander reported that 150 Taliban had been killed. Locals, however, reported that up to 300 civilians had died.
But the NYT chose not to run with these stories as their lead, instead they pulled out the ISI card, in their Editorial “Pakistan’s Double Game”...
"IEDs and suicide attacks, tactics used by Anti-Government Elements, accounted for nearly half (49 percent) of all civilian deaths and injuries. Civilian deaths from IEDs increased 17 percent from the same period in 2010, making IEDs the single largest killer of civilians in the first half of 2011. . .
Suicide attacks in the first six months of 2011 killed 276 civilians, causing 19 percent of all civilian deaths (24 percent of civilian deaths attributed to Anti-Government Elements). While the number of suicide attacks was similar to the same period in 2010, civilian deaths from suicide attacks increased by 52 percent, the largest increase of any tactic killing Afghan civilians. Suicide attacks in 2011 have become more complex, often using multiple bombers in spectacular attacks that kill many Afghan civilians. . .
In addition to changes in tactics, new locations were targeted by Anti-Government Elements in the first half of 2011. UNAMA documented the first confirmed cases of attacks against two hospitals, which are in principle protected places under international humanitarian law. The Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a military hospital in Kabul on May 21 that killed six students from the medical faculty and wounded 23 others. UNAMA documented a second attack on a hospital on June 25, when a suicide attacker detonated explosives at a civilian hospital in Azra district, Logar province, killing 20 including 13 children lined up to receive vaccinations and injuring 43, many of whom were women and children."UNAMA takes the position that the armed conflict in Afghanistan is a non-international armed conflict between the Government of Afghanistan supported by international military forces (also referred to in this report and within Afghanistan as “Pro-Government Forces”) and various non-State armed groups (also referred to in this report and within Afghanistan as “Anti-Government Elements”)In other words, they consider the US military the de facto government of Afghanistan, and anyone else as an "Anti-Government Element."
UNAMA documented tactics used by the Taliban to coerce civilians to support them. For example, in addition to the fear created through IED attacks, targeted killings and other deliberate attacks against civilians, the Taliban continued to use intimidation tactics such as night letters, verbal threats, abduction and illegal check points to force communities to support them.Now they're just upset that they are stealing ISAF tactics.
The political wing of the United Nations, UNAMA) has said in its report that the casualties inflicted to civilian in May 2011 were incomparable in the last four years. The report states that 368 civilians were killed and 593 were wounded in this month, and 82 per cent of those killed (301 persons) are attributed to the Mujahedeen and only 12 per cent (45 people) is attributed to the invaders and their puppet regime's operations, while only 3 per cent of that is attributed to the attacks of the so called peace keeping forces air raids. At the end, UNAMA has called on the Mujahedeen and their opposing parties to pay due attention to prevention of civilian casualties.One of these groups has actually been outside of Kabul this year. I'll let you guess which one it is.
It is a matter of regret that despite repeated claims of impartiality, the UN implements a one sided policy, and not only on civilian casualties but in connection with political, cultural, economical, ethical and military aspects of the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan, they have sided with the colonialists in the past ten years and unfortunately they are continuing doing it and this statement on civilian casualties is a clear evidence of that. It seems that similar to American Generals and Commanders, the officials of UNAMA have become incapable of analyzing the current situation of Afghanistan, and in particular the assessment of the armed conflict, just like the leading American commander, Gen. Petraeus, who had said upon his incorrect judgment on Ghaziabad bloody event which led to 70 civilians death where most of them were children that: “The Afghans intentionally have killed and cremated their children in order to show the number of civilian casualties higher in the American bombardment”.
The UNAMA officials here again have forgotten the blind bombardment of the invaders on Doab district of Nuristan province that led to affecting 300 people, most of them civilians, particularly women and children, as stated by eye-witnesses and parliamentarians of that province. In addition to the Doab event, the number of civilian Afghans martyred and wounded by the invaders in the month of May in every corner of the country would number many fold of what is mentioned by UNAMA. We want to present in the following lines an exemplar picture that will not be similar to UNAMA and Kabul administration‟s baseless, imaginary and dictated numbers, but will be based on evidence with details of specific place, date, time and other relevant information.
On 1st May, in Fandi area of Baraki Bark district of Logar province, two children were martyred by American‟s firing and three women were wounded...
... At the end, it is necessary to mention that we identified and presented the figures and relevant details on civilian casualties committed by the invaders in the month of May, which are documented and show exactly the time and place, then UNAMA should do a favor and prove and publish what, where and how have inflicted the over 80 per cent of the civilian casualties in order to make it clear that whether they are saying the truth or they just air propaganda in favor of their funders.
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The British Council-supported production of Love's Labour's Lost in 2005 was the first performance of a Shakespeare play in Afghanistan in over 17 years. The play was performed in the Afghan language of Dari and the capacity audience responded enthusiastically to the eternal and universal themes of Shakespeare’s play and to the local references and music.
Love's labours ... lost.
posted by chavenet at 1:51 AM on August 19, 2011 [2 favorites]