Air Strikes Only Effective in Killing Civilians

Imagine you are a parent living in a war zone.  A happy life is hardly a reality but you are surviving by keeping your head low and cooperating with no one and everyone.  One day you venture out of your house for an hour to pick up flour for the next month.  When you return your house, and the family you left there, you find it has been completely destroyed.  Your children, your spouse, your life scattered around your land like rubble.  You, and your family, have become victims of air strikes.

Whether in Kosova in the 90’s, or Afghanistan & Iraq today – air strikes are deadly to civilians and they have devastating effects on infrastructure for years to come.  I’ve seen it.  I’ve walked, ten years after the war, through the streets in Prishtina, Kosova where bombed hospitals sit empty and unused in an area where a mammography machine would save lives from breast cancer.  I’ve lived in a house held up by makeshift beams and gutted on one side because a missal exploded 5 feet from the front door in 1999. 

This month we’ve had new insight into the multinational forces (MNF) responsibility for civilian causalities in Iraq and Afghanistan.  October was the deadliest month for civilians in Afghanistan and air strikes played a significant part.  Last Sunday 60 minutes did a report on this very issue.   They found a family who was suspected of harboring terrorists and bombed to death by multinational forces.  The family was never confronted or warned to get out.  The villagers claim those died never had anything to do with insurgents.  MNF bombed without proof – they just bombed.  President Karzai came out publicly in that program condemning air strikes.  Bush touts Afghanistan as a victory and an explanation of what we are doing in Iraq.  And yet, “while the enemy has killed hundreds of civilians this year, a similar number of civilians have been killed by American forces. With relatively few troops there, the U.S. and NATO rely on air power. The number of civilians killed in air strikes has doubled.”  Where is the victory in that?

In Iraq we have less information because the MNF refuse to be open about the civilian causalities.  The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq recently released a report which deals with civilian causalities.  I’ll simply quote the highlights of page 9.  “UNAMI recorded a number of incidents in which 88 civilians were reportedly killed during air strikes conducted by MNF forces.12 They included the following: nine civilians killed in five villages in the al-Anbakiya area near Ba’quba on 11 March; two civilians killed in Dulu’iya in Salahuddin Governorate on 15 March; 16 civilians killed in Sadr City in Baghdad on 30 March; 27 civilians killed in Khaldiya, Ramadi, on 3 April…..:”  the list goes on for another 30 or so lines.

If we cannot stop this war let us at least stand up for the people who suffer from it on a daily basis.  I urge you to contact your representatives and tell them to work with the UN to report these atrocities.  We must bring the crimes of this war to light.  The only weapon we have now is shame and the best way to shame our own government is to align ourselves with an international power.

Iraq Toll

Those who died in Iraq from Oct 7 to 13:

Cpl Gilberto Meza  21  Oxnard CA

Cpl Zurab Choghosvili  26  (Soviet) Georgia

Cpl Benjamin Dillon  22  Rootstown OH

Cpl Jeremy Burris  22   Tacoma WA

Frank Cady III  20  Sacramento CA

Sgt Jason Lantieri  25  Killingworth CT

Sgt Lillian Clemens  35  Lawton OK

Spc Samuel Pearson  28  Westerville OH

Sgt Eric Duckworth  26  Plano TX

Sgt Donaid Munn II  22  St Clairs Shores MI

Pvt Nathan Thacker  18  Greenbrier AR

22 were seriously wounded and maimed.

56 wounded were returned to occupation.

328 Iraqi brothers and sisters were killed.

Cf:  www.icasualties.org

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Iraq Toll

Those who died in Iraq from Sep 2 to 8:

Sgt Kevin Gilbertson  24  Cedar Rapids IA

Spc Christopher Patton  21  Lawrenceville GA

Sgt Delmar White  37  Wallins KY

Pvt Randol Shelton  22  Schiller Park IL

Spc David Lane  20  Emporia KS

Sgt Joel Murray  26  Kansas City MO

Spc Rodney Johnson  20  Houston TX

Spc Keith Nurnberg  26  McHenry IL

Pvt Dane Balcon  19  Colorado Springs CO

Cpl William Warford  24  Temple TX

Sgt David Cooper Jr  36  State College PA

Sgt Eddie Collins      England

Sgt Michael Yarbrough  24  Malvern AR

Sgt John Stock  26  Longview TX

Cpl Brian Scripsick  22  Wayne OK

Cpl Christopher Poole Jr  22  Mount Dora FL

Sgt Lee Wilson  30  Chapel Hill NC

Spc Jason Hernandez  21  Streetsboro OH

Spc Thomas Hilbert  20  Venus TX

Cap Drew Jensen  27  Clackamas CA

Spc Marisol Heredia  19  El Monte CA

Cpl Ryan Woodward  22  Fort Wayne IN

47 were seriously wounded and maimed.

58 wounded were returned to occupation.

256 Iraqi sisters and brothers were killed.

Cf:   www.icasualties.org

Fox Leading the Attacking on Iran - Just like they did Iraq

Iraq Toll

Those who died in Iraq from Jul 22 to 28:

Sgt Shawn Adams  21  Dixon CA

Cpl Bobby Twitty  20  Bedias TX

Sgt Courtney Finch  27  Leavenworth KS

Cpl Matthew Zindars  21  Watertown WI

Cpl James McRae  22  Springtown TX

Cpl Robert Lynch  20  Louisville KY

Sea Daniel Noble  21  Whittier CA

Spc Daniel Leckel  19  Medford OR

Sgt Joshua Mattero  29  San Diego CA

Spc Jaime Rodriguez Jr  19  Oxford CA

Spc Charles Bilbrey Jr  21  Owego NY

Sgt William Howdeshell  37  Norfolk VA

Pvt Michael Baloga  21  Everett WA

95 were seriously wounded and maimed.

52 were returned to kill fields.

511 Iraqi brothers and sisters were killed.

Cf:  www.icasualties.org

THE UNITED STATES OF AMNESIA

If you follow the Bush administration’s line of thinking (at least the line they have used in their talking points) we have been having trouble with Iran for decades. In fact, it was highly publicized that the recent talks with Iran were the first since a 20 year diplomatic freeze between the two states. According to James Dobbins, who was the Bush administration’s first envoy for Afghanistan after September 11^th, that is hardly the case. His insights in a July 22^nd Washington Post column shed light on how we have and can continue to engage Iran as a partner for stabilizing the Middle East and fighting al-Qaeda.

“Many believe that in the wake of Sept. 11, the United States formed an international coalition and toppled the Taliban. It would be more accurate to say that the U.S. joined a coalition that had been battling the Taliban for nearly a decade. This coalition – made up of Iran, India, Russia and the Northern Alliance, and aided by massive American airpower – drove the Taliban from power.”

This was not an anxious alliance, Dobbins goes on to emphasize the openness of the talks in 2001 during the U.N. conference in Bonn, Germany. “The Iranian representatives were particularly helpful…then-Secretary of State Colin Powell authorized me to meet anywhere, anytime, on any matter with any Iranian official, as long as our discussions related to Afghanistan.”

Contrast this attitude toward Iran with that of the Bush administration in 2007 when talks on Iraq went into their second, most recent, session. “U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said he also challenged Iran over its suspected support for other radical groups in the Middle East such as Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran rejected all of the accusations, he said…. Crocker said there had been several “heated exchanges” in the seven hours of talks, and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari described them as ‘very challenging.’” (Associated Press)

So what happened to our coalition against terrorists? “Only weeks after Hamid Karzai was sworn in as interim leader in Afghanistan, President Bush listed Iran among the ‘axis of evil’ – surprising payback for Tehran’s help in Bonn.” I can’t speculate on the reasoning for this change – I can only condemn it.

If we truly seek a democratic and stable Middle East region we cannot continue on this path. Iraq is a central place to bring our diplomatic relations back into reality. “None of Iraq’s neighbors was eager for the invasion four years ago ….All are now worried that the civil war in Iraq will serve as a breeding ground for terror and violence that will be increasingly exported to their own countries.” (Brookings)

“Iran has the most capability to be a decisive force given its intimate ties to virtually every Shia and Kurdish politician, its geography and its economic connections.” Iran’s influence in Iraq is more than apparent. Their cooperation in the stabilization and re-building of Iraq is essential to creating a workable plan.

The Bush administration would have us believe that staying in Iraq is the only option. Samuel Berger and Bruce Riedel would vehemently disagree. These Brookings scholars believe that Iraq’s neighbors cannot engage with the U.S. diplomatically before we end our occupation. Most notably, Iran fears Iraq becoming a base for the U.S to launch an attack against their country. Why would they cooperate if the feel threatened?

Creating a peaceful region without a permanent U.S. presence should be the number one priority of all involved. The first step toward this end is a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops and cooperation with Iran akin to that of 2001.

Iraq Toll

Those who died in Iraq from Jul 15 to 21:

Eric M Holke  31  Crestline CA

Cpl Shawn Stankovich  20  Arlington WA

Maj Jaroslav Pozadzy  39  Poland

Pvt Brandon Bobb  20  Orlando FL

Pvt Ron Joshua Jr  19  Austin TX

Sgt Nathan Barnes  23  American Fork UT

CPO Patrick Wade  38  Key West FL

PO Jeffrey Chaney  35  Omaha NE

Pvt James Harrelson  19  Dadeville AL

Spc Zachary Clouser  19  Dover PA

Spc Daniel Gomez  21  Warner Robbins GA

Spc Richard Gilmore III  22  Jasper AL

Sgt Luis Gutierrez  38  Bakersfield CA

Sgt Ronald Coffelt  36  Fair Oaks CA

Cpl Brandon Craig  25  Earleville MD

Air Peter McFerran  24  Wales UK

Air Christopher Dunsmore  29  Leicester UK

Air Matthew Caldwell  22  Birmingham UK

Cpl Rhett Butler  22  Fort Worth TX

Cpl Timothy Flowers  25  No Ireland UK

Sgt Jacob Schmuecker  27  Atkinson NE

Cpl Christopher Scherer  21  E Northport NY

5 were seriously wounded.

105 wounded were returned to kill fields.

492 Iraqi sisters and brothers were killed.

Dying to Get Paid in Iraq

The issue of Iraq is not one that is only debated in our halls of government. Corporate interests have a heavy say in the war through private contracts vetted by the U.S. military. A recently Los Angeles Times Article (one heavily quoted in this blog) said, “The number of U.S. paid, private contractors in Iraq now exceeds that of American combat troops, newly released figures show, raising fresh questions about the privatization of the war effort and the government’s capacity to carry out military and rebuilding campaigns.” The contracts given for the missions in Iraq were given to private companies with links to the Bush administration in 2003 without a proper bidding process required by law.

Government officials claim that some duties are contracted out because they provide necessary services giving military personal time to engage in combat operations. The problem, of course, is that private contractors, unlike military personal, are not subject to the same rules of engagement and code of conduct the U.S. military is said to enforce. “At one point in 2004, for example, U.S. forces were put on food rations when (contracted) drivers balked at taking supplies into a combat zone.” These logistical contracts are primarily owned by Kellog Brown & Root (a Houston-based oil services company) and its parent company Halliburton Co.

Of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention the security contracts held by Blackwater, Triple Canopy and Erinys. “We don’t have control of all the coalition guns in Iraq. That’s dangerous for our country,” said William Nash, a retired Army general and reconstruction expert. Military policy experts report that on several occasions “heavily armed private contractors have engaged in firefights when attacked by Iraqi insurgents.”

This brings to light the question, why are civilians engaging in activities mandated to the military? The answer is, as always, money. Peter Singer, a Brookings Institution scholar said, “This is not the coalition of the willing. It’s a coalition of the billing.”

This ‘billed coalition’ is counter productive to keeping troops safe and getting them home faster. Because they are not subject to any law, they help to create dangerous situations for themselves and U.S. troops. Democracy Now has been following a case against Blackwater whose contractors were brutally killed in Iraq. Jeremy Scahill, author of the New York Times bestseller, “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army, said, “We have to remember that when those four men were killed in Fallujah, dragged through the streets, strung up from a bridge, the Bush administration responded by laying siege to the Iraqi city of Fallujah, carrying out some incredible 37,000 air strikes. Hundreds of people were killed. Thousands were displaced from their homes. In many ways, it was the week that the war turned and that the anti-occupation resistance exploded.”

So, as our Representatives on both sides proclaim their disdain for the war and refuse to take substantial action to end it, let us be reminded of the links between corporate and government interests. We cannot allow our leaders to maintain the status quo while people are dying by the thousands, money is wasted, and our reputation as a country is flushed down a million dollar toilet. Find out who paid for you Reps re-election campaign and you just may have some insight into why they consistently vote against the will of the American people. As activists, we are derelict in our mission if we don’t engage this topic in our work.