Tuesday, December 20, 2011

American Culture Vultures and I



Pregnant Afghan woman's death in U.S.-led night raid sparks dispute

December 19, 2011 |  8:28 am

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Afghan-night-raid
REPORTING FROM KABUL, AFGHANISTAN -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai and NATO officials have clashed once again on the issue of nighttime raids by Western forces, this time over an incident that left a pregnant Afghan woman dead.
A spokesman for the NATO force, Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, said Monday that the commander of Western troops in Afghanistan, U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, had met with Karzai over the weekend to express “deep condolences” over the woman’s death in Paktia province.
The precise circumstances of the raid early Saturday remained unclear.
Afghan officials in Paktia’s provincial capital, Gardez, said the woman was killed when U.S. and Afghan forces surrounded and then entered the home of the provincial head of counter-narcotics operations, an official named Hafizullah. He was arrested along with two of his sons, said Rohullah Samon, a spokesman for the Paktia governor.
The slain woman was Hafizullah’s wife, who was eight months pregnant, Samon said, adding that four other female family members were injured.

Jacobson did not say whether Hafizullah was suspected of collusion with insurgents or some illicit activity involving drugs, but defended nighttime raids as the “safest form of operation conducted to take insurgent leaders off the battlefield.” In most such raids, no shots are fired, he said, adding that the woman was killed in shooting that broke out after NATO forces came under fire from inside the compound.
Karzai and other senior Afghan officials have repeatedly denounced night raids. Most Afghans regard a home invasion by foreign troops as a grave cultural insult, and human rights groups say darkness and confusion -- and the attendant possibility of a firefight if those inside believe they are under attack by robbers or clan rivals -- pose a significant danger to civilians in raided residential compounds, including women and children.
Karzai has made a cessation of U.S.-led night raids a condition of a long-term military pact with Washington, a so-called strategic partnership agreement, which would govern the relationship between American troops and the Afghan government after 2014, when NATO’s main combat mission is to end.
The issue has emerged as a key sticking point in negotiations, which have gone on for months.
U.S. officials say the process of making all such raids Afghan-led is already underway, but they have not ruled out continuing American participation in strikes such as the Saturday mission. Commanders who have worked with the Afghan police and army acknowledge they still need considerable training to carry out specialized commando operations on their own.
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-- Laura King
Photo: In this photograph taken in 2007, U.S. and Afghan soldiers enter a house during a night raid in search of Taliban insurgents in Ghazni province. Credit: Nicolas Asfouri / Agence France-Presse / Getty Images


I am a member of a local (cultural) literary club. We meet weekly, in the evening and do our thingy. Some read, the other recite their recent handiwork. There is no audience, except invited guests, mostly relatives of a person whose turn it is to participate. It is an open mike situation. member lists his/her name and called upon in order of entry.Sometimes, due to the fervor, the meeting runs over time. It is, then broken into two sections with a suitable interval to mingle ad talk. One such interval interlude, I met an elderly gentleman and we got talking about gun ownership. I expressed my opinions that a peaceful country such as USA, needs no provision for guns to be sold and bought by citizens. The danger being, not trained to use the gun one might get hurt. Several cases of children getting killed and owners too.This guy, six feet tall and built like a Green Giant, defended himself. "Home is a castle and owner has a right to bear (all kinds of legal and illegal arms," so he said.Typical jingoist American fast and loose (cultural) tough talk.
His name wasn't Hafizullah. He did not trade in illicit substances. Was not on the list of most wanted. He was a Christian. Believed in (Christian) God and was a volunteer for the local Fire Brigade.
What is good for the goose, Oops, American Turkey is good for the Afghanistan (Gardez) Gander.
...and I am Sid Harth@sidileaks.net

  • Janine Phillis
    Why is it that when articles like this one are written they write it as though the Afghans are someway at fault because of they way they react..." Most Afghans regard a home invasion by foreign troops as a grave cultural insult.." - Wouldn't all people try to defend themselves if intruders broke into their home in the dead of night? ...How would most gun toting Americans respond?..would they see it as a cultural insult too ?- patronizing.
  • Jan Bauman · UC Berkeley
    It is past time for the US to get out of Afghanistan. We have killed far too many people and have made far too many enemies both there and in Iraq.
    Like the Iragis, the Afghanis have every right to hate what we do and what we have done to their country. Certainly were we occupied with night raids on American homes there would not be one American who would not hate the occupiers.
    All of the crocodile tears and phony apologies put forth by our generals will not restore the life of this woman and her unborn child. Chalk up another atrocity by our forces.
  • Siddieq Noorzoy · Habibya high school
    Karzai is faulted for many things. But, on the issue of night raids by US troops he has full support of the Afghan people.
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...and I am Sid Harth@sidileaks.net

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