by
C. L. Cook
On the night of December 27th, 2009 a troop of American soldiers, (allegedly with Afghani regulars accompanying them) helicoptered from Kabul into Kunar province and the village of Ghazi Kang. There the Americans targeted the sleeping quarters of a small private school. The Times of London
quotes Assadullah Wafa, former governor of Helmand province and the lead investigator into the events of that night. Wafa says;
"At around 1 am, three nights ago, some American troops with helicopters left Kabul and landed around 2km away from the village. The troops walked from the helicopters to the houses and, according to my investigation, they gathered all the students from two rooms, into one room, and opened fire."
The Times talked to a local headmaster, who filled in the gory details of the "raid," saying;
"Seven students were in one room. A student and one guest were in another room, a guest room, and a farmer was asleep with his wife in a third building. First the foreign troops entered the guest room and shot two of them. Then they entered another room and handcuffed the seven students. Then they killed them. Abdul Khaliq [the farmer] heard shooting and came outside. When they saw him they shot him as well. He was outside. That's why his wife wasn't killed."
NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) initially denied the governor's allegations, saying there was no "direct evidence" to substantiate his version of events. An
unnamed spokesperson told reporters the ISAF raiding party came under fire, saying;
"As the joint assault force entered the village they came under fire from several buildings and in returning fire killed nine individuals."
The dead children ISAF claims opened fire on them were between the ages of 14 and 11 years. News of this atrocity shocked all of Afghanistan. President Karzai admonished his allies, hoping no doubt to deflect and mollify the anger in the streets.
Despite Karzai's assurances something will be done, the recent spate of civilian killings by the U.S., NATO, and their Afghan army allies is rapidly turning the Obama surge into a tide of blood and suffering that promises to escalate violence to levels seen in Iraq, before
pacification took hold there.
To underscore the precariousness of the situation in Afghanistan, a demonstration of civilians, whipped up U.S. military sources say by Taliban agents provocateur and a tale of desecration of the Holy Koran committed by soldiers during one of their frequent house raids a couple of days ago, took to the streets today. Desecrating Islam's holy book was a charge the U.S. faced during the
dark days of the Guantanamo Bay's Camp X-Ray interrogation revelations. The Americans denied the desecration then, though it later became apparent there were several incidents of such desecration, and they are denying it today in Afghanistan.
In May of 2005, demonstrators came out into the streets across the Muslim world, and nine were shot dead in Afghanistan. Reports today coming from the village of Garmsir are contradictory, and the exact number of casualties and the circumstances of the shooting are unclear, but what is known is: Demonstrators were fired upon by coalition soldiers. There are several dead, some say eight, some more.
Whether these demonstrators were provoked by Taliban stories of transgressions against the Holy Koran or not, sentiment is generally so hostile toward the foreigners it seems nothing short of
annihilating the country to save it will settle whatever it is the Western powers wish to accomplish there. Just yesterday, sixteen Afghanis, all "insurgents"
according to official sources, were killed in two aerial drone missile attacks. The drone attacks, the number of which has dramatically increased over the last year, have particularly outraged Afghanis, who claim most of those killed are innocents.
State media outlet, the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC)
quotes ISAF spokesperson, Colonel Wayne Shanks, who told a press conference there will be a joint ISAF/Afghan army investigation of the killings and, using the occasion to attack the "enemy" said;
"In fact, you can see that our enemy, the insurgents, have very little regard for the Afghan people. [...] We have noticed a very dramatic increase in civilian casualties caused by roadside bombs by attacks that insurgents have on the Afghan people."
While the war weary people of Afghanistan, caught between competing armed factions, may despise the foreign fighters on both sides of the occupation killing them, it is ISAF and NATO they brave the streets to protest; if those protests are met with live fire and death, what remains of ISAF's meagre moral toe hold there will evaporate entirely.
