New Film Chronicles Civilian Slaughter In Afghanistan

Civilians continue to be killed by American and coalition forces as the war in Afghanistan stretches into its eighth year with no end in sight. The civilian casualties have gone from the realm of tragedy and have now become frequent enough to turn the population against the United States in a war President Obama and congressional Democrats have escalated over the last several months.

Earlier this month, Dr. Roshnak Wardak, an Afghani member of parliament who has lived in both countries, told the Huffington Post that the attacks inside Afghanistan have been devastating to U.S. credibility.

"We became tired from these attacks. Every day there is discussion in the parliament," she said. "I'm against this kind of operation, very much against."

The bombings are costing the United States the support of the civilian population, said Wardak, an independent not affiliated with a party who described herself as a moderate. "Every time this bombardment happens by drone, tomorrow we discuss this matter in the parliament. And I'm so sorry that when we discuss this matter, American country and their leadership, their soldiers, they are losing their popularity among the M.P.s and also among, especially, the people. Very much they are losing their popularity," she said.

A new short film, to be released Thursday by Brave New Films and provided to the Huffington Post, interviews victims of those bombings. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with another $100 billion, over the objections of an antiwar faction of Democrats.

Be warned. It's not pretty.

Ryan Grim's book, This Is Your Country On Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America, is now out

Comments

[barackobama4prez]

I want us to end the war TODAY but I know it's not possible. We are s.c.r.e.w.e.d. either way and that's what Dubya wanted.

[jmpurser]

Pretty much.

Can't blame Dubya for Obama's "surge" though.

[Solja]

Somebody has to use their brains in this disaster, and it certainly wasn't Bush.

[b1rd67]

I agree that Obama has not made the best decision, but the fact that a decision still needs to be made in Afghanistan is 100% Bush's fault... if he had stayed out of Iraq, concentrated on Afghanistan, and not let OBL escape when he was cornered at Tora Bora then we wouldn't still be having this debate or war!

[Holypat777]

This enrages me beyond words.

[pcruess44]

Heart-wrenching piece

[Bcasey11]

Afghanistan is an illegal war also! there is no proof that the Afghanistan government was responsible for the 9/11 attacks

[jmpurser]

Actually, there is. They gave safe harbor to Al Qaeda even after 9/11.

[furey]

http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2008/10/30/the-ones-who-attacked-us/

[Jon Mohrbacher]

Excellent post furey. Let me reprint some here for quick viewing:

Seeing the phrase ”dominance of Central Asian energy exports” brings to mind the author of The Grand Chessboard, one Zbigniew Brzezinski. In that bold but seldom-cited 1997 apology for 21st century American empire Brzezinski writes:

“Never before has a populist democracy attained international supremacy. But the pursuit of power is not a goal that commands popular passion, except in conditions of a sudden threat or challenge to the public’s sense of domestic well-being. The economic self-denial (that is, defense spending) and the human sacrifice (casualties, even among professional soldiers) required in the effort are uncongenial to democratic instincts. Democracy is inimical to imperial mobilization.” (p.35)

“Moreover, as America becomes an increasingly multi-cultural society, it may find it more difficult to fashion a consensus on foreign policy issues, except in the circumstance of a truly massive and widely perceived direct external threat.” (p. 211)

“The momentum of Asia’s economic development is already generating massive pressures for the exploration and exploitation of new sources of energy and the Central Asian region and the Caspian Sea basin are known to contain reserves of natural gas and oil that dwarf those of Kuwait, the Gulf of Mexico, or the North Sea.” (p.125)

And how has Dr. Brzezinski recently busied himself? He is a “top foreign policy adviser” to Barack Obama.

[Whinger]

Vietnam revisited, but in fairness, why is their no headcount of the civilians murdered by the Taliban?

Greater care must be taken when targeting the terrorist, civilian deaths are unacceptable, yet, when the entire country is the battlefield, no ones safety can be guaranteed.

In addition, these displaced people need to be provided for, ignoring their plight is not an option, otherwise the battle for hearts and minds is lost already!

[realpolitic]

Not bombing houses from 50,000 feet in the air is a good way to slow unintended civilian deaths. If your family was involved, I doubt you could so casually say that no one's safety is guaranteed. In an insurgency campaign, this sort of indiscriminate killing just plays into the hands of the enemy. Petraeus said as much regarding Iraq.

[bbrecht]

You might recall the US trained and funded the militia that became the Taliban during the Russian Afghanistan war. War is a blunt instrument that rarely accomplishes much.

[LooktotheLeft]

Sleep well GWB

[ROBOT8]

THE TRUTH IS THE GREATEST ENEMY OF THE STATE." -- Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945

[AlwaysRightLeftist]

Very upset and disappointed in Obama's continued (increased?) use of airstrikes. One of the reasons I voted for him was because he said he was going to put more troops on the ground and dramatically scale back airstrikes which inevitably lead to many civilian casualties. If the only way we can "win" involves killing innocent people, then we need to gtfo now.

[garcia83]

i am by no means happy with this result. it makes me want to cry to see children live lives like these.

america does create converts when attacks are not carried out with precision and so carelessly. simple fact.

but let us not pretend that an attack is unnecessary. let us not pretend that the woman beating, zealot inspiring, bin laden hiding taliban is an enemy to be reasoned with.

perhaps there are two sides to every coin.

in all wars, the complacent are complicit.

[Jon Mohrbacher]

9/11 was a crime, yes. But does that justify shooting up an entire country? (By the way, the FBI still hasn't connected Bin Laden to 9/11.)

Yeah, the Taliban committed some pretty awful human rights against its people, we can all agree that's was the case. But it's not like we overthrew that government for humanitarian reasons. In fact, we are partially responsible for bringing it about. And if we were on a humanitarian mission in Afghanistan, thing would look a whole lot different. So none of this is justified.

[KKojei]

No matter what you read or what you see, the truth about our involvement there is never forthcoming. Since my own time in the military I have had a great disgust for this business of war. I HATE IT!!! We, The American People have to demand that our tax dollars NOT go to involving ourselves in conflicts that have nothing to do with the safety of our homes and families. The lie of it all is that these people have to die because the Taliban and Al Qaeda is in their midst. This is disgusting. American taxpayers are funding this brutal and criminal mass murder. Are you a taxpayer? Is this what you want your money to be doing in the world? Does this not make you complicit because of your complacency about the lives of these innocents?

[Solja]

The Afghanistan conflicts DO have to do with our safety at home. These people want to kill us, and they are planning that very act in Afghanistan.

[LemonMeringue]

Bush's legacy.

That, and torture.

[JakeMontero]

lemon is such a d.ope.

[newpantaloons]

Montero is such a m.oron.

[Solja]

It should be obvious that this is Bush's legacy, along with Iraq. You need to wake up and smell the Bush wars.

[nogimmicks]

Obama's "change".

[BarackstarObama]

You're right, President Obama is in the process of finishing the war that 43 abandoned years ago.

[LooktotheLeft]

co-sign

[Jon Mohrbacher]

Is he finishing it or escalating it? To answer that question, we need to see if the course we're on and the goal we have in mind is at all realistic. The point of this video series is to prove it's not.

[Solja]

And had Bush not abandoned it, we wouldn't have so much to do there right now.

[LooktotheLeft]

GWB's legacy

[bascombe]

there is profit in death. weapons are our most expensive export. and we raise the killer jeebus-freaks here in AmurKKKa so we can export our weapons and death.

we talk a good high-minded game, though.

[newpantaloons]

Exactly!

[WeMustSpeakOut]

Pathetic, but true.