Worldcantwait.org has an Obama Watch going, already documenting the responsibilty of Barack Obama for attacks on civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Re the “good war” in Afghanistan: The Associated Press reported January 24 that “Hamididan Abdul Rahmzai, the head of the provincial council in Laghman, said village elders arrived at his office hours after the early morning operation to complain that the 15 killed were innocent civilians.
During a call from an Associated Press reporter, Rahmzai relayed questions to the village elders directly, who angrily shouted that they would swear on the Quran, the Muslim holy book, that all those killed were civilians. The elders claimed that women and children were among the dead. The villagers told Rahmzai that they are shepherds and have no ties to militants.”
The New York Times reports that village elders and the pro-US central government agree that 13 civilians were killed and 9 wounded, commenting, “Afghan officials say that when U.S. forces raid villages in their hunt for Taliban fighters, they end up killing civilians and ultimately undermine their cause.”
Pakistan: Unmanned drones made two strikes into Pakistan, killing women among what the Obama administration says were Taliban. Juan Cole, in Salon.com in an article headed “President Obama, meet Lyndon Johnson” writes, “The Bush administration launched 30 air attacks on targets in Pakistan in 2008, killing 220 persons. The strikes seem to have started in the summer, during the presidential campaign, about a year after candidate Obama began urging this policy. Bush may have instituted the aerial attacks to deny Obama a campaign talking point and to prevent him from out-hawking John McCain. That is, Obama may have pushed Bush — who had earlier been wary of alienating Pakistan — to the right.”
As a friend just wrote me, the people in Pakistan don’t have the luxury of adopting a “wait and see” attitude about Obama’s intentions in pursuing the so-called “war on terror”.
5 comments ↓
Why? Well, he is one, for starters. And he’s not going to end war or the military empire either.
Dave. I sure hope you’re wrong. But I have to think you may be right.
To our new President Barak Obama:
Lest we forget, if we kill one innocent civilian unjustly ( by this I mean not accidentally ), we are the worst of the worst.
Obama don’t begin to kill the innocent. You were not elected to do this. Don’t listen to the war crowd. Better to let a dozen guilty persons go free than to kill one innocent person.
Stop the killing.
I don’t think war will solve any of the problems of Afghanistan or Iraq or in pakistan. Anyway, cool report. Let Barack Obama stop the war and make the world a better place to live. peace
As I feared, I see no substantive change in US policy under the new regime. The same greedy profiteers are running things, for their own greed and profit. We the People have little or no input as to what is going on in our name, nor, I fear, will we ever.
At home we are becoming serfs at an increasing rate. Abroad, we are still the greatest terrorists in the world. Arguably, Israel is in the running, but we do it in many places, whereas they are doing it to only a couple of opressed peoples.
Unless We the People rise up and demand an end to these endless wars, and an end to our “silently strike from the air” policy, unless We the People rise up and demand an end to the continual saving of the rich from their greedy folly and gambling addiction with our money, then we are lost even deeper in the Cheney/Bush slough of despond.
Remember, the money they give to the wealthy is our money, extorted from us, or borrowed from others by pledging our substance. Those of us who would join a tax revolt are out of luck, for as long as we have income, the money is already withheld from our pay. It is only the fat cats who have the luxury of paying nothing, while receiving largess in our name.
Think about it!
Awesome point about the tax revolts, Steve! I’m sure that’s why this “war time emergency” withholding program which was instituted in WWII was never dropped. As long as they continue to take a good percentage of our incomes under the threat of prison, they will continue to fund these awful wars. It doesn’t seem to matter if it’s Bush, or Clinton or Reagan or Obama, there’s always another evil out there for the us military to lay waste to.
sickening.
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