punditman says @ 9:35 EDT: Winning hearts and minds, one massacre at a time.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 30 — Just a week after Afghan President Hamid Karzai chastised international forces for being “careless,” Afghan officials reported Saturday that possibly 100 or more civilians had been killed in a NATO and U.S.-led assault.
The battle in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, which was prompted by a Taliban ambush, began Friday night and continued into Saturday morning, Afghan officials said. It ended with international forces bombing several compounds in the remote village of Hyderabad.
“More than 100 people have been killed. But they weren’t Taliban. The Taliban were far away from there,” said Wali Khan, a member of parliament who represents the area. “The people are already unhappy with the government. But these kinds of killings of civilians will cause people to revolt against the government.”
Another parliament member from Helmand, Mahmood Anwar, said that the death toll was close to 100 and that the dead included women and children. “Very few Taliban were killed,” he said.
A few hundred here and few hundred there, it means nothing to Bush. After all they are only poor Afgans, to which Bush can’t/won’t relate.
Yeah, no “Pioneer” campaign contributors there.
Tell me again why this man is still in the White House? Wa Po reports:
The big question right now among Republicans is how to remove Vice President Cheney from office. Even before this week’s blockbuster series in The Post, discontent in Republican ranks was rising.
As the reputed architect of the war in Iraq, Cheney is viewed as toxic, and as the administration’s leading proponent of an attack on Iran, he is seen as dangerous. As long as he remains vice president, according to this thinking, he has the potential to drag down every member of the party — including the presidential nominee — in next year’s elections.
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They said he’s getting his batteries replaced this summer. And here I thought it was Lynne peeling fresh baby hearts was what kept the ole boy going!
Yes, Punditman, one massacre at a time! When will it end?
Btw… Excellent post!
The brutal and cowardly murders of hundreds of Afghan civilians at the hands of US-led forces as we are witnessing has no meaning for the Bush Administration. The aggressor and occupier is free to kill and destroy. This is the inevitable result of the militaristic logic of neo-colonialism and neo-fascism.
[...] them over there so we don’t have to fight them here“, right? Regardless of all those innocent civilians caught in the cross-fire, right? But I do have a question, though: what is it with those neocons [...]