KARZAI’S UNMITIGTED GALL: SAYS CIVILIAN DEATHS ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE…SEE NOTE
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/mar/6/karzai-rejects-us-apology-over-killing-9-afghan-bo/
THIS CORRUPT BASTARD CALLED TALIBAN KILLINGS OF TWELVE CIVILIANS YESTERDAY “UNISLAMIC’ BUT SLAMS AN ACCIDENTAL DEATH…
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s president on Sunday rejected a U.S. apology for the mistaken killing of nine Afghan boys in a NATO air attack and said civilian casualties are no longer acceptable.
According to a statement from his office, President Hamid Karzai told U.S. ArmyGen. David H. Petraeus, the top commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, that expressing regret was not sufficient in last week’s killing of the boys, ages 12 and under, by coalition helicopters.
Female supporters of a left-wing political party hold placards carrying pictures of Afghans killed or wounded in recent air strikes during a protest in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday, March 6, 2011. Hundreds of people marched through the streets of central Kabul to protest U.S. military operations and demand the withdrawal of foreign troops. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
NATO also has apologized for the mistaken killings. Civilian casualties from coalition operations are a major source of strain in the already difficult relationship between Mr. Karzai’s government and the United States, and they generate widespread outrage among the population.
“President Karzai said that only regret is not sufficient and also mentioned that civilian casualties during military operations by coalition forces is the main reason for tension in relations between Afghanistan and United States,” the statement said. “It is not acceptable for the Afghan people anymore. Regrets and condemnations of the incident cannot heal the wounds of the people.”
The killing of the nine boys took place on March 1 in the Pech valley area of Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is seated at the podium during the International Conference on Security Policy in Munich on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, who directs day-to-day operations of coalition forces across Afghanistan, later issued a video statement of apology.
In the video, Gen. Rodriguez said troops at a base in the valley were responding to a rocket attack and dispatched attack helicopters to the location they were told the rockets came from. He said the helicopters thought they were engaging insurgents, but it later turned out they were boys from a nearby village who were cutting firewood.
Mr. Karzai appealed to Gen. Petraeus to do more to prevent such incidents. He made the remarks to Gen. Petraeus during a Sunday meeting of the National Security Council, a body that includes Cabinet members and senior political and military officials.
According to the statement, Gen. Petraeus said during the meeting that the killing was a mistake by coalition forces and extended his condolences and regret to Mr. Karzai and the Afghan people, promising that such an incident will not be repeated.
“President Karzai said that repetition of such incidents would affect relations and the environment of trust between us. The continuation of such incidents is not tolerable and not acceptable for the Afghan people and government,” the statement said.
NATO operations against insurgents in eastern Afghanistan have caused friction with the Karzai administration in recent weeks after government charges that the military has caused a number of civilian deaths and casualties.
Last week, Mr. Karzai warned President Obama in a video conference call that U.S.-led forces must do a better job addressing civilian casualties.
Earlier this month, the Karzai administration claimed that 65 civilians, including 40 children, were killed in a NATO assault on insurgents in Kunar. NATO has said that video of Kunar operations on Feb. 17 — the main event in more than three days of fighting — showed troops targeting and killing dozens of insurgents, not civilians.
Civilian deaths have jumped this year primarily because of increased attacks from insurgents, according to U.N. data. Insurgents recently have started carrying out indiscriminate attacks against soft targets such as banks, supermarkets and sporting events.
But allegations of civilian deaths from NATO forces, who pledge to protect the population, often cause much more anger.
Hundreds of people from a left-wing political party marched through Kabul to protest U.S. military operations and demanded the withdrawal of foreign troops.
They chanted, “Death to America, death to the American government,” and carried pictures of Afghans killed or wounded in recent airstrikes. They burned an effigy of Mr. Obama.
Violence has been on the rise in eastern Afghanistan and earlier in the day a roadside bomb killed 12 civilians, including five children, in Paktika province.
A spokesman for the governor of the province, Mokhlis Afghan, said another five people were wounded when the bomb planted by insurgents exploded next to a truck carrying civilians.
Paktika borders Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas, used as safe havens by insurgents fighting U.S.-led coalition troops in Afghanistan. Insurgents regularly cross the rugged frontier to attack coalition forces and the region has seen an increase in fighting, as well as a rise in casualties.
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