Following Criticism of Civilian Deaths, US Pulls Funding for Afghan ‘Media Center’
US Embassy Insists Move a Coincidence
The timing was so perfect it would make your head swim. An Afghan government fact-finding team held a press conference Saturday at the US-subsidized Afghan Government Media and Information Center criticizing NATO for killing civilians, and immediately thereafter the US Embassy announced all the funding for the center would be pulled.
The embassy is insisting its entirely a coincidence, and that they had been “considering” the move for quite some time. They also withdraw all US embassy personnel from the site of the center following the press conference.
The fact-finding team reported that NATO had caused a number of “unnecessary” civilian deaths over the past few weeks, adding that NATO often killed civilians for no conceivable reason, attacking and killing a child for climbing a tree and attacking civilians transporting a water-pump then claiming they thought it was a cannon.
They warned that NATO’s often brutal behavior was causing a growing backlash among the public, noting that one of the wounded survivors from an attack in Kandahar said his sister wants to become a suicide bomber now.
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John Ellis
December 29th, 2011 at 5:18 am
MAINSTREAM ZOMBIES
Without news, new reality as it happens, Afghans would be deaf, dumb and blind to all that goes on in the real world. A much better state of affairs then our American public, for mainstream media being new darkness, mainstream zombies locked in a fantasy world is the public we must contend with.
Bruce Richardson
December 29th, 2011 at 6:28 am
Washington will always strive to control the war narrative. How else could this gratuitous war be quantified?
curmudgeonvt
December 29th, 2011 at 6:37 am
Haw DARE they piss in the Emperor's lunchbox. But, it was just a coincidence, of course.
thedissenter
December 29th, 2011 at 10:29 am
There ya go. Giving new meaning to the old saying "if you don't like the message, shoot the messenger" – or is it 'don't shoot the messenger' — oh, well…
Aarky
December 29th, 2011 at 8:25 pm
Their statement didn't pass the Pinnochio test. Hopefully, the Embassy will deduct the cost of this media center from all the really phony programs they estimate at $7 billion a year. There are other radio stations in Afghanistan and enough people know about the routine and casual killings of too many innocents by US and NATO troops. All the killings is why Karzai keeps insisting the nighttime raids have to stop. That has been the deal breaker for the US in trying to arm twist the Afghans into a Strategic Relationship for the next ten years.