A local Afghan police commander is coming under scrutiny tonight after it was revealed that he rounded up civilians in Uruzgan Province, including children and the elderly, and summarily executed 17 of them on charges of “Taliban ties.”
According to provincial officials, the commander forced 20 civilians from their homes before he began the executions, and other police under his command reportedly took part in the attack.
Perhaps the most shocking aspect of this massacre is that provincial assembly officials say that the commander has not been arrested, because he has long-standing support from NATO occupation forces who would not allow them to move against him. Officials said they have petitioned the Karzai government about past abuses by the commander and are once again calling for his removal.
The attack on civilians was apparently “retaliation” for a recent Uruzgan bombing targeting other police. The national Interior Ministry, which would normally be responsible for reacting to massacres, does not appear likely to do, saying that despite eyewitness accounts and confirmation from top provincial officials they don’t believe the massacre really took place, and they have labeled everyone killed as a Taliban per the police report.
Get the embassy and the helicopters ready for the evacuation…..!!!
NATO are these the guys who want Assad to stop the violence??????
Wrong country! Assad is in Syria. This mini My Lai was carried out by the Afghan Army commander. Many dozens of these incidents were carried out by US troops in night raids as a rebirth of the Phoenix program from Viet Nam. Don't forget what happens when a 500 lb bomb is dropped on one house and it flattens a dozen others and kills 10-20 innocent people. The political side then laments, "Why do they hate us so much"
This sounds bad at first, but one must remember that this Afghan police commander doesn't have F-15s or Predator Drones, so he and his boys have to work much harder to rack up their Afghan children and old folks body count. Credit where it's due.
Indeed!
so without an independent news source on the ground, it's 'we said, they said' just like Syria. The revenge cycle spins out of control by societal institutions, including the US/Europe god of market commerce. The fact that people cannot peaceably rule themselves does NOT mean that they are able to be ruled by others. Dressing people who can't swim up as lifeguards and having them proudly and bravely jump in over their heads doesn't save people who are drowning, even if the latter's suffering seems to justify the attempt.
I can not disprove the fact that in many cases these local people who are sympathetic towards the Taliban; label Taliban casualties as local innocent civilians. Though one cannot ignore the ethnic hat rate of the irresponsible armed groups against rival ethnic groups., and in this case of the Hazaras' against the Pashtuns.
"The fact that people cannot peaceably rule themselves…"
If you study up on it, I think you will find that absent foreign intrusion into their affairs, these people can and have ruled themselves quite peaceably. Prior to the American proxy war against Russian influence, the war that savaged Afghanistan and gave birth to al Quaeda, and then again, prior to the American invasion to go after bin Laden and his CIA-spawned-and-then-turned-rogue al Quaeda, the Afghans had been able to recover a stable and peaceful Afghanistan. Then of course the American terrorists came and put an end to that.
The Taliban cleaned up the mess left back when by the US proxy war against Soviet influence, just as they will restore peace and stability once again when they have chased out the US forces there now.
Oh, and you thought the Taliban were bad guys. You've drunk too much of the US propaganda Kool-aid.
..".labelled everyone killed as Taliban as per the police report.." It looks like they have learned their lessons well from the US/NATO guys. The US House just voted $85 billion for next years fun and games ( also known as shoot up the country and try to fill the sinkhole of corruption).
Who needs mercenaries when they can pull the trigger themselves? NATO must be so proud. Apparently, the local wildlife has learned well.