[Peace-discuss] The good war

[C. G. Estabrook]

"We must refocus our efforts on Afghanistan and Pakistan -- the central 
front in our war against al Qaeda -- so that we are confronting 
terrorists where their roots run deepest. Success in Afghanistan is 
still possible, but only if we act quickly, judiciously, and decisively. 
We should pursue an integrated strategy that reinforces our troops in 
Afghanistan and works to remove the limitations placed by some NATO 
allies on their forces. "  --Barack Obama

"Our efforts must also involve a regional recommitment to success in 
Afghanistan. The Taliban is resurging; they and their al Qaeda allies 
must not succeed. As President, I will not allow us to fail in 
Afghanistan." --Hillary Clinton

	July 11, 2007
	Bomber McNeill, the Faceless Pol Pot of the Sky
	Is This Man a Psychopath?
	By RICHARD NEVILLE

You be the judge. Following his appointment as commander of NATO's 
forces in Afghanistan earlier this year, U.S. General Dan McNeill 
devised a daring strategy to defeat the Taliban. He would beat them at 
their own game. That's why this week marks an important milestone for 
General McNeill--"Bomber" to his troops--because his goal has been 
achieved. Although mocked by British officers for overuse of air power, 
McNeill proved its effectiveness within days of taking up his post. His 
air strikes hit homes in the Kapisa province north of Kabul, killing 
nine people from four generations of a local family, including a 
6-month-old child. The usual complaints erupted from human rights 
fanatics and the lily livered Dutch, but McNeil held his ground.

It was the fault of civilians for living in populated areas, explained 
Lt. Col. David Accetta at the time, areas that can provide a shelter for 
Taliban on the run. So homes were "targeted and hit." This was the first 
clue to the McNeil plan. Among the corpses found in the mud brick rubble 
at Kapissa in March, were four women, four children under 5 years old, 
and an 80-year-old man. The Bomber's tactic was on track. The gloves 
were off. Over the next three months, NATO would set out to prove that 
its air force could kill more civilians than the number achieved by the 
Taliban.

But it wasn't easy. The British and Dutch were reluctant to accept the 
mission, fretting about civilian blood. (General McNeil is a veteran of 
Vietnam). Some experts spread rumours that the flurry of attacks by US 
aircraft was "indiscriminate", but that was the point. Others argued the 
strategy violated the Geneva provision that parties to conflict shall at 
all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants and 
between civilian objects and military objectives and accordingly shall 
direct their operations only against military objectives (Article 48, 
1977 addition to, Part IV). However, as the US Attorney General Gonzales 
had dismissed the Geneva Conventions as quaint, who cared?

PHOTOS STOLEN AT GUNPOINT

McNeil welcomed input from other services. After the aerial slaughter in 
Kapisa, a convoy of Marines fleeing an ambush east of Kabul, started 
shooting wildly at the highway traffic. Their score was 19 civilians 
dead and 50 wounded. Afterwards, US soldiers confiscated photos of the 
incident at gun point.

In the past few months civilian injuries and deaths have been reported 
every few days, although Western sources report the numbers are often 
exaggerated - Chicago Tribune. A bizarre kill was achieved on June 12, 
when US troops destroyed a police checkpoint east of Kabul and called in 
attack aircraft. Seven Afghani police were killed and four wounded. 
Shredded and bloodstained police gear littered the crash scene. "We are 
here to protect and serve the Afghan government, but the Americans have 
come to kill us," said Khan Mohammad, a policemen who felt he was under 
attack by the Taliban.

Six days later, McNeil's jets bombed a compound suspected of housing 
al-Qaida militants in eastern Afghanistan, netting seven children. 
President Hamid Karzai condemned foreign forces for careless 'use of 
extreme force' and for viewing Afghan lives as 'cheap', but this didn't 
deter the mission. The following day NATO forces fired a rocket into a 
building in Pakistan and notched up another tally of civilians - a 
child, a woman and seven men. Pakistan military spokesman Major General 
Waheed Arshad said his country demanded an explanation, but no-one was 
listening. In the body bag stakes, NATO and the Taliban were now neck 
and neck. A puzzled Ban Ki-Moon, the United Nations Secretary-General, 
came to Kabul to slow McNeill's hand, but it was too late for that.


SWORD AND SHIELD THAT GUARDS AMERICA

NATO planes struck again at the end of June in Hyderabad, in the remote 
Girishk district, killing numerous villagers, including women children. 
"Six houses have been bombed, three of them have been reduced to 
rubble," a local named Feda Mohammad said, claiming about 100 had been 
killed or wounded. "People are still busy bringing out the dead from 
under the rubble, there are funerals at various places. A local member 
of parliament, Wali Khan, said "the Taliban were far away from there". 
He warned that continued slaughter of civilians will spark revolt 
against the Afghan government.

Local Police said 25 civilians were killed in air strikes in the same 
area the week before, including nine women and three young children.
Hamid Karzai said "indiscriminate and unprecise" operations by foreign 
forces could no longer be tolerated, but his voice was drowned out by 
this year's Independence Day address delivered by the Secretary of the 
Air Force Michael W. Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael 
Moseley, which urged American Airman to be proud of their calling: 
"Wherever you are on our nation's 231st birthday, have a safe and 
enjoyable holiday, and take pride in knowing that you are a member of 
the finest Air Force the world has ever known! Your service provides the 
sword and shield that guard our nation, its interests, and ideals 
throughout the world. On this Independence Day be proud to be an 
American Airman -- a warrior who has answered our nation's call to fly, 
fight and win.

And win they did. This weekend it was confirmed that US troops and their 
NATO allies have out killed more civilians than the insurgents. UN and 
local rights groups tallied 314 civilians killed by McNeil's forces and 
279 killed by the Taliban and associates. Congratulations, Bomber, enjoy 
your victory.


AUSTRALIAN AIR CREWS ASSISTED

Except of course, it isn't a victory. Every dead civilian recruits 5 
more locals for the Taliban. This will provide an excuse for continued 
US presence in the region and plenty more Afghanis to use as targets.

Even if Bomber McNeill is arrested for war crimes, such insane attacks 
will continue. It is what the air force does. That its enemy lacks 
warplanes only intensifies its savagery. In bloodless bureaucratic 
prose, the official site of the US air force reports around 40 sorties 
each day in Afghanistan (90 in Iraq), which involve the extermination of 
[suspected] insurgents in tree lines and family compounds. Example: 
"July 507: F-15Es hit an enemy mortar position with GBU-38s near Kajaki 
Dam. The JTAC reported the weapons hit their intended target. The pilots 
also conducted a show of force to try and flush out any insurgents still 
in the area aircrews also strafed enemies in a tree line", etc. C-130 
crews from Australia assisted in such attacks, despite Canberra's 
assurance that its mission is one of "restoring infrastructure".

Western commanders say any comparison of casualties caused by Western 
forces and by the Taliban is unfair because there is a clear moral 
distinction between accidental deaths from combat operations and 
deliberate killings of innocents by militants. This is claptrap. When 
invading an impoverished land peopled by extended families with 
interlocking tribal loyalties, the world's mightiest air power has an 
obligation to proceed with respect and restraint. Alas, this it failed 
to do, as it has failed to do in previous wars.

The killings of civilians cannot be excused as regrettable "accidents". 
They may not have been intentional, but they arise from a military 
culture that makes such casualties inevitable. In their hearts, the 
officers know this. It is why they don't do body counts. It is why in 
the daily reports of hundreds of bombing raids, you'll never see any 
mention of death.

Richard Neville has been around a while. He lives in Australia, the land 
that formed him. In the Sixties he raised hell in London and published 
Oz. He can be reached through his very bracing website, 
http://www.richardneville.com.au/

http://counterpunch.org/neville07112007.html