Afghan villagers get payments for US airstrike that killed civilians. Govt. commission says 140 died

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May 12, 2009

A government commission concluded that 140 civilians died, more than twice the figure cited by the United States.

Reporting from Farah City, Afghanistan -- Turbaned elders and weather-beaten farmers trekked to this provincial capital today to accept reparation payments from a government commission that concluded 140 civilians were killed in a fierce battle last week between Taliban fighters and coalition troops.

If the figure arrived at by the commission is correct, it would make last week's fatalities in rural Farah province the worst single episode of civilian casualties since the U.S.-led invasion more than seven years ago.

"This was an accident, and we offer condolences," provincial Gov. Rosul Amin told the somber, ragged assemblage of villagers. Relatives received about $2,000 for family members killed and $1,000 for those injured.

Twenty-five militants were also killed in the fighting, according to the commission, which was appointed by President Hamid Karzai.


read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan-civilians13-2009may13,0,1662624.story

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1. .

A local villager looks at a U.S. Marine during a patrol in a village in Golestan district of Farah province, May 11, 2009.
REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

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2. Civilians. THEY'RE ALL CIVILIANS.

We're not fighting a war against a nation's military forces. We're fighting a war against civilians. When we don't like them or they resist US domination (whether for "good" or for "evil") then we say they're no longer civilians but "enemy combatants" or "militants". When we can't cover their slaughter by linking them to any kind of resistance whatsoever, then we admit they're "civilians."

What is a "militant"? A civilian whose sister or daughter was blown to chunks earlier that week.

There simply is no military solution here. It's a disaster. I've been hanging around a military base lately and even the troops know its a disaster.

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3. Spreading "Democracy," Inc

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4. you can understand why they're desperate to spin the deaths

as somehow the blame of the Afghans they're pursuing. I don't think they'll get very far with that in Afghanistan, but the tactic may play well in the equalizing scope of our media.