While writing the blog entry for Kathy Kelly’s recent Antiwar Radio interview, I did a Google search for the New York Times piece on the nine firewood-gathering Afghan boys killed by NATO gunships. I clicked on what I thought was the correct link, a Times article appropriately titled “Afghan Villagers Torn by Grief After U.S. Raid Kills 9 Children.” This story, however, was from 2003. Instead of nine boys gunned down while gathering firewood, seven boys were blown up while playing marbles and two girls were killed while fetching water from a stream. Afghan President Hamid Karzai was “profoundly shocked” and sent a delegation to investigate, while the U.S. military command “expressed regret.”
After nearly ten years in Afghanistan, U.S. and NATO military operations are still plagued by mistakes and faulty intelligence; still killing civilians with regularity; still making the same excuses. When is enough, enough?
