This is from Voice of America (6.7.07) and demonstrates just how demented and surreal is the pro-war US viewpoint. The piece talks about 2 million refugees in Jordan and Syria with no support from elsewhere and then says the US killed 3 'terrorists' in Iraq.
Thousands of Iraqi refugees gather outside the offices of a U.N. refugee agency in Damascus, Syria, to register their names for obtaining a refugee status, Feb 2007
Earlier Friday, the United Nations refugee agency noted the war is also taking its toll in other countries, calling it "unconscionable" that Jordan and Syria are being left alone to deal with two million Iraqi refugees.
The U.N. agency has received $70 million in aid so far to deal with the crisis, but says Jordan and Syria need much more as they struggle to cope.
Spokesman Ron Redmond in Geneva says a whole generation of Iraqi children is in danger of missing out on an education, while thousands of Iraqi refugees cannot get proper medical care.
In an interview with the Arabic television network al-Arabiya, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani urged neighboring Iran and Syria to help in combatting terrorism in Iraq.
Mr. Talabani said the task of fighting terrorism in Iraq would be much easier with the help of Iran and Syria. He said predominantly Shi'ite Iran can help rein in Shi'ite militias in Iraq.
The U.S. military said Friday that coalition forces killed three terrorists and detained eight suspected insurgents in al-Anbar province, west of Baghdad.
7/06/2007
British Defeat in Iraq Pt. 29
Every British military target in Southern Iraq was attacked within hours on Friday 6th July. I wonder how the War on Terror is going.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1760473&Language=en
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1760473&Language=en
Reality For Iraqis
The attached graphic images give the lie to the sanitised media coverage:
http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2005/08/23/iraq_gallery/iraq.html
http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2005/08/23/iraq_gallery/iraq.html
7/02/2007
'Unfortunate' Afghan Civilians
ROME 2nd July, 2007 -
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations,Zalmay Khalilzad, said Monday it was "unfortunate" that civilians have been caught up in the NATO-led military operation in Afghanistan, calling war an imperfect science. He used to be the U.S. Ambassador in Iraq so you would think he would have got better at justifying and excusing massacres of innocent victims by 'liberators'
Speaking in Rome, where he was attending a two-day conference to map out a strategy for strengthening Afghanistan's police, legal and justice systems.
The U.N. chief and the Afghan president were there as participants at the conference Monday and Tuesday. 'President' Karzai, known as the Mayor of Kabul because he is not safe to leave the capital, condemns NATO incompetence and brutality almost daily now as the number of civilians killed this year passes 600. Incredibly, most of them have been killed by NATO forces.
Asked if there were efforts or proposals among allies to do something about compensation, Khalilzad said he wasn't aware of any.
"When there are victims, on humanitarian grounds we have to do what is appropriate," the U.S. envoy told reporters at the U.S. Embassy. "Our commanders have some flexibility" regarding compensation. He said he was referring to payments sometimes made on the spot to families of civilians victims.
"It's very unfortunate that in these military operations at times civilians get caught in the middle," said Khalilzad.
"Our people, the military folks, I think, do their best to avoid civilian losses. That's not their goal. But sometimes it happens that weapons go awry, and war is not a perfect science, unfortunately" said the ambassador.
Khalilzad said it was important that civilian losses should be investigated and "that lessons are learned from those investigations."
Karzai made no immediate comment. He will still be condemning these massacres next year if he survives. There is no doubt another stooge like Karzai is waiting in the wings with the same empty condemnations already scripted.
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations,Zalmay Khalilzad, said Monday it was "unfortunate" that civilians have been caught up in the NATO-led military operation in Afghanistan, calling war an imperfect science. He used to be the U.S. Ambassador in Iraq so you would think he would have got better at justifying and excusing massacres of innocent victims by 'liberators'
Speaking in Rome, where he was attending a two-day conference to map out a strategy for strengthening Afghanistan's police, legal and justice systems.
The U.N. chief and the Afghan president were there as participants at the conference Monday and Tuesday. 'President' Karzai, known as the Mayor of Kabul because he is not safe to leave the capital, condemns NATO incompetence and brutality almost daily now as the number of civilians killed this year passes 600. Incredibly, most of them have been killed by NATO forces.
Asked if there were efforts or proposals among allies to do something about compensation, Khalilzad said he wasn't aware of any.
"When there are victims, on humanitarian grounds we have to do what is appropriate," the U.S. envoy told reporters at the U.S. Embassy. "Our commanders have some flexibility" regarding compensation. He said he was referring to payments sometimes made on the spot to families of civilians victims.
"It's very unfortunate that in these military operations at times civilians get caught in the middle," said Khalilzad.
"Our people, the military folks, I think, do their best to avoid civilian losses. That's not their goal. But sometimes it happens that weapons go awry, and war is not a perfect science, unfortunately" said the ambassador.
Khalilzad said it was important that civilian losses should be investigated and "that lessons are learned from those investigations."
Karzai made no immediate comment. He will still be condemning these massacres next year if he survives. There is no doubt another stooge like Karzai is waiting in the wings with the same empty condemnations already scripted.
40/50 Civilians in One Weekend
From The Independent 2.7.2007
More than 100 people, nearly half of them Afghan civilians, were killed in Nato air strikes against the Taliban this weekend, an investigation by local officials in Helmand province has concluded.
The civilian deaths are just the latest incident of so-called collateral damage to have occurred in recent weeks - a pattern that even foreign troops admit is rapidly undermining efforts to establish some sort of security in the country and win the support and loyalty of local people.
The assessment of Saturday's pre-dawn air strike in the Gereshk district came from the mayor and police chief, who said that 62 Taliban militants had died during the attacks as well as 45 ordinary Afghans including women, children and the elderly. President Hamid Karzai said this weekend that it was "difficult for us to accept or understand" what had happened .
He has repeatedly called on US, Nato and Taliban forces to do more to prevent civilian casualties, warning that "Afghan life is not cheap and it should not be treated as such". And he has ordered foreign forces to co-ordinate military operations with the Afghan government. "From now on, they have to work the way we ask them to work in here."
Concerns about the impact the fighting is having on civilians, especially children, has been growing since clashes increased after the spring thaws.
Such appeals appear to have had little impact on the operations of Nato's International Security Assistance Force [Isaf] or the US military's Operation Enduring Freedom, both of which are supposed to co-ordinate their actions with the Afghan authorities but often appeared to act unilaterally.
Isaf has previously admitted there was a problem with the number of civilians being killed. But after this latest incident officials disputed the Afghan total. Major John Thomas, an Isaf spokesman told the Associated Press: "We don't mean to trivialise any of those who died but we want to make it clear that we believe the numbers are a dozen or less."
He blamed the Taliban for the civilian deaths, saying: "It's the enemy fighters who willingly fire when civilians are right next to them."
The deaths occurred after fighting late on Friday. Helmand's provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein said Taliban fighters had tried to ambush a joint US-Afghan military convoy and then fled to the village of Hyderabad to take cover.
More than 100 people, nearly half of them Afghan civilians, were killed in Nato air strikes against the Taliban this weekend, an investigation by local officials in Helmand province has concluded.
The civilian deaths are just the latest incident of so-called collateral damage to have occurred in recent weeks - a pattern that even foreign troops admit is rapidly undermining efforts to establish some sort of security in the country and win the support and loyalty of local people.
The assessment of Saturday's pre-dawn air strike in the Gereshk district came from the mayor and police chief, who said that 62 Taliban militants had died during the attacks as well as 45 ordinary Afghans including women, children and the elderly. President Hamid Karzai said this weekend that it was "difficult for us to accept or understand" what had happened .
He has repeatedly called on US, Nato and Taliban forces to do more to prevent civilian casualties, warning that "Afghan life is not cheap and it should not be treated as such". And he has ordered foreign forces to co-ordinate military operations with the Afghan government. "From now on, they have to work the way we ask them to work in here."
Concerns about the impact the fighting is having on civilians, especially children, has been growing since clashes increased after the spring thaws.
Such appeals appear to have had little impact on the operations of Nato's International Security Assistance Force [Isaf] or the US military's Operation Enduring Freedom, both of which are supposed to co-ordinate their actions with the Afghan authorities but often appeared to act unilaterally.
Isaf has previously admitted there was a problem with the number of civilians being killed. But after this latest incident officials disputed the Afghan total. Major John Thomas, an Isaf spokesman told the Associated Press: "We don't mean to trivialise any of those who died but we want to make it clear that we believe the numbers are a dozen or less."
He blamed the Taliban for the civilian deaths, saying: "It's the enemy fighters who willingly fire when civilians are right next to them."
The deaths occurred after fighting late on Friday. Helmand's provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein said Taliban fighters had tried to ambush a joint US-Afghan military convoy and then fled to the village of Hyderabad to take cover.
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