posted May 08, 2009 at 8:30 am EST - http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0508/p99s01-duts.html
Pentagon admits US airstrike may have killed Afghan civilians

But the military said that the estimated death toll of the bombing this week – 100 people – was "grossly exaggerated."

By Arthur Bright
• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
Pentagon officials say that an American airstrike was at least partially responsible for the deaths of Afghan civilians who were killed during fighting in western Afghanistan Monday, though officials say that initial reports of the death toll were "grossly exaggerated."
The New York Times reports that two Pentagon officials, speaking anonymously, admitted Thursday that at least some of the Afghan civilian deaths Monday were caused by American bombs.

Initial American military reports that some of the casualties might have been caused by Taliban grenades, not American airstrikes, were "thinly sourced," a Pentagon official in Washington said Thursday, indicating that he was uncertain of their accuracy.

"It looks like at least some of the casualties were caused by the airstrikes," the official acknowledged. A second Pentagon official said, "It wouldn't surprise me if it was a mix," but added that it was too soon to tell.

But Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that Pentagon spokesman Col. Greg Julian said Friday that earlier estimates of the death toll had been "grossly exaggerated." Afghan police told AFP earlier that more than 100 people were killed, including an estimated 25 to 30 insurgents, while other sources had put the count as high as 170 civilians killed. Colonel Julian did not comment on the reports that US forces may have been responsible for at least some of the deaths, however, saying that the investigation of the incident was still ongoing. CNN notes that the investigation is complicated by the fact that the dead have already been buried, in accordance with Islamic practice.
The New York Times also cites two Afghan villagers' descriptions of the fighting Monday.

Fighting broke out when Taliban fighters attacked Afghan Army and police forces at a police checkpoint on the main road some 500 yards from one of the sites that was bombed, said Muhammad Jan, whose village, Shiwan, was bombed.

The fighting did not reach the village or cause casualties there, he said. The Taliban pulled back into the village and then left the area. Later, planes came and bombs fell, but by then no Taliban fighters were in the village....

Jamil Ahmad, who lives in another bombed village, Granai, supported the account. "The battle finished and the Taliban retreated," he said, adding "They did not stay in the villages."

The Independent, of London, writes that villagers say the airstrike went on for around two hours.

The US admits that it did conduct an air strike at the time and place, but it is becoming clear, going by the account of survivors, that the air raid was not a brief attack by several aircraft acting on mistaken intelligence, but a sustained bombardment in which three villages were pounded to pieces. Farouq Faizy, an Afghan radio reporter who was one of the first to reach the district of Bala Baluk, says villagers told him that bombs suddenly, "began to fall at 8pm on Monday and went on until 10pm though some believe there were still bombs falling later". A prolonged bombing attack would explain why there are so many dead, but only 14 wounded received at Farah City hospital.

The Independent adds that the incident sparked riots in Farah City, the capital of the province where the bombing took place, by Afghan villagers protesting the US airstrike.
The Associated Press notes that the US response so far to the incident has been "awkward." President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates have all stated their regret about the civilian deaths, but the top US military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David McKiernan, "suggested the US military may have been framed." The inconsistency of the response highlights the dilemma for the US.

"Civilian casualties in Afghanistan, however they occur, pose a risk to our efforts here," Gates said Thursday during a visit to the war zone.

His unenviable chore: Express sorrow for civilian deaths without taking blame for an incident about which the details still are murky.

"We regret any, even one, innocent civilian casualty and will make whatever amends are necessary," Gates said. "We have expressed regret regardless of how this occurred."

The Washington Post adds that the facts of the incident "may be less important than what the Afghan people believe took place in the remote western region."

Gates said that a cornerstone of the Taliban campaign is to blame civilian deaths on U.S. troops. And he suggested that the best way to counter the enemy's strategy would be to reduce civilian casualties throughout the country. "Even if the Taliban create these casualties or exploit them, we need to figure out a way to minimize them and hopefully make them go away," he said....

One way that the United States is seeking to reduce civilian deaths is by pushing American troops into Afghan cities and villages so that they live among the people who they are supposed to be protecting. The heavier U.S. presence should reduce the need for the controversial airstrikes. The higher troop levels also could lead to an increase in violence and U.S. deaths in the near term.

Casualties among American, international and Afghan security forces are up about 75 percent this year, Gates said. But Afghan civilian casualties have fallen about 40 percent over the same period, he said.

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Liberals are people that will believe anything twice.

lol christian science... there's an oxymoron

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"The Cruelest Trick Came From The Talibans, Who Allowed Plenty Of Drugs And Then Banned Music."
"Rarely is the question asked: is our children learning"- G.W.B.

Yeppers ... instead of commenting on Obama being a baby killer like Nixon and Bush, just knock the Christians.

Did you go over to the Dark Side, jf??

Vi

PS: Where's Med on this issue? So far no comments from old Med-'O-Mao. Geeze, based upon his daily rants and apoplexy over Bush on this issue, I figured he'd be all over this.

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Liberals are people that will believe anything twice.

now obamas a baby killer, the ridiculousness never ends...

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But wait ... WAIT!! What about Nixon and Bush?


Vi

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Liberals are people that will believe anything twice.

wow proof we are being lied to. and you are surprised by this? christian science monitor? swallow that spoon fed news and enjoy

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If the words 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' don't include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn't worth the hemp it was written on. - Terence McKenna

Dude! If you are offended by the word "Christian" in a news article, I suggest that you do a simple Google search on Obama's bombing of civilians (women and children) in Afghanistan. There's tons of info on the subject.

Vi

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Liberals are people that will believe anything twice.

But we have to bomb women an children to keep us safe VI damn don't you know anything. If we kill enouph women and children the bad guys will give up, right?

Seriously, They were probably hiding some Al-quida or whatever.
But does killing their familys reduce hatred or increase it?
Does killing women and children increase or decrease recrutment?

Has anything really changed?

haha sorry man, didn't have the time to read it at the time... i just read the top of it.. and made my smart ass comment
and about med. i havn't seen him post today. hope everything's ok.

ANYWAY..BACK TO THE TOPIC. i saw an article about it a few days ago. i like how this never makes the 7:00 news. i wonder how many innocent civilians we have killed/injured over there. whatever figure the gov. would gives us.. u can pretty much double it to get closer to the truth. my buddies dad was a Nam and he says how he believes there were more people that died n Nam than what the gov says. Said the news would state "6 people died today n Vietnam" when 9 people died in just his platoon. Kind of a "hear say" but def something to think about.

make love not war

__________________
"The Cruelest Trick Came From The Talibans, Who Allowed Plenty Of Drugs And Then Banned Music."
"Rarely is the question asked: is our children learning"- G.W.B.