“My husband just got back from a year long deployment to Afghanistan where seven of his fellow soldiers were wounded and have received Purple Hearts. Those of you who are claiming they are killing people and then "framing" the Taliban should be ashamed of yourselves.
They are over there fighting for YOUR right to say the shameful things you do on here. How soon so many Americans forget those images from 9/11. I think they should show those attacks once a week so people will remember what they did to us on our own soil and WHY we are there in the first place!! God Bless the American Soldier!!!”
The above paragraph was posted in the comments of an article on CNN.com. In the article, CNN reported on a February 2010 raid by NATO forces in Afghanistan. After surrounding a house where insurgents were staying, US and Afghan troops were fired upon by the insurgents, returned fire, and killed the men. The troops entered the house, and found several people (including two pregnant women and a teenaged girl) bound, gagged, and dead. All four appeared to be victims of what NATO spokespeople call “honor killings.” According to CNN, “An honor killing is a murder carried out by a family or community member against someone thought to have brought dishonor onto them” (often through sexual sin or treason).
After reading the CNN article, several commenters suggested that the story was a cover-up to hide the fact that US troops had killed the civilians. These suggestions prompted the strong rebuttal above.
The only problem is that the articled turned out to be false, and the suggestions of a cover-up turned out to be true. Not only had US troops killed the pregnant women, it now appears that there were no “insurgents” in the house. It was a policeman, a local prosecutor, and their families; all celebrating the birth of a baby. It also may be the case that, after surrounding the house, US forces were first to open fire on the armed civilians who came outside to defend their families.
After raiding the house and killing the civilians, NATO troops (including Americans) apparently tampered with the scene to support their fabricated story. One witness says that he watched through an open door as an American dug bullets out of a body (NATO strongly denies his claim).
Not only did these soldiers kill five civilians, they also lied about it. They attempted to cover up their incompetence by suggesting that the men in the house were murderers and the women were adulterers. And, if all that weren’t bad enough, 16 children are now grieving the deaths of their mothers.
Many good men and (unfortunately) women are willing to put their lives on the line to defend our freedoms. This is a great sacrifice. It’s true that they are often sent to run errands for do-good politicians and large corporations; but they go where they are told because it’s not their job to question those orders (that’s our job). It is downright evil to malign the reputation of those who would be the defenders of our liberty. That is the crime that was committed on that February day. American soldiers must now deal with the bitterness and anger that will be directed at them because a few of their comrades lacked restraint and good judgment.
Shame on NATO and US military leaders for not properly investigating these events in a timely fashion. Shame on CNN (who, as of this writing, has not updated the original story) and multiple other news sources for blindly retelling lies. But most of the shame should be on a person who kills a pregnant mother and then calls her a whore to hide his mistake.
God bless the American Soldier, indeed!!!.. But not these ones.
Sources:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/afghanistan/article7087637.ece
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/world/asia/06afghan.html
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/04/report-special-forces-tried-to-cover-up-raid-gone-wrong/1
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10096/1048263-82.stm
http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2010/03/gen_mcchrystal_reins_in_contro.html
http://rt.com/Politics/2010-04-06/nato-afghanistan-deaths.html
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/US-admits-to-killing-women-in-bungled-raid/articleshow/5764519.cms
