Over the weekend, US warplanes have carried out at least six airstrikes against the coastal town of Gandarsh, Somalia. US African Command (Africom) says 62 people were killed in the strikes, and all were “terrorists” from al-Shabaab.
34 people were killed on Saturday, and 28 more on Sunday. The identities of the slain are not clear, and there is no way to verify Africom’s claims. This is, however, standard operating procedure for them, to both label all slain as militants, and to say they don’t think any civilians were killed or wounded.
This often doesn’t remain the case, however. When the US is striking a large number of people inside a populated area, it’s very unusual not to have some civilians killed along the way. Yet in remote places like Somalia, it often takes days to find that out.
In the meantime, the Pentagon has virtually total control over the narrative, and sticks to formulaic releases meant to spin the strikes as legal, claiming they preempted a plot, without providing any evidence of such a plot.
Sigh! I remember when Dubya thought of the great idea to interfere in Somalia in 2006, making the UN Sec. Gen livid. Once in , never leave-US motto.
And Clinton before him. Doesn’t matter, presidents are only temps. Middle management temps.
And Daddy Bush before him.
Another gruesome Trumpian tragedy that JUSTIN WON’T DISQUS!
We know that all of those killed were terrorists because Africom uses special high-tech ordinance that distinguishes between combatants and civilians. Thus, they were all al-Shabaab, even the women and children.
Terrorists to whom? They were in their own country and bombed by another nation that has no legal right to wage war on them.
“Terrorism” is a tactic. Whether or not someone is in his own country, has been bombed by another nation, or is fighting against a nation that has no “legal right” to wage war on him has as much bearing on whether or not what he’s doing as “terrorism” as the color of his wristwatch band.
The “terrorists” were the pilots, who along with their commanders should be put on trial for war crimes.