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U.S. Bombs Afghanistan Hospital, Kills At Least 9 Doctors And 3 Children, Calls It "Collateral Damage"
Update 2: the death toll has risen to 16, including 9 hospital staffers and 3 children.
UPDATE: At least 16 people died- nine MSF staff, 7 patients from Intensive care unit, among them three children http://t.co/5puRbAlgXS
— Doctors w/o Borders (@MSF_USA) October 3, 2015
Update: and now the UN is getting involved, which means the US will have to spend even more taxpayer funds on bribes to make the "international community" forget this collateral damage incident and refocus on evil Russia.
#BREAKING: Kunduz air strikes 'inexcusable', 'possibly criminal': UN rights chief
— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) October 3, 2015
* * *
Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for US foreign policy, or for the credibility of the US state department to slide further, it got much worse.
Less than a day after US ambassador to the UN, uber-warhawk Samantha Power informed Russia of the latest US foreign policy stance by tweeter, when she called "on Russia to immediately cease attacks on Syrian oppo[sition and] civilians" in the latest desperate attempt to halt the Russian campaign against US-created ISIS which may wipe out the terrorist threat in just a few short days, it was the US itself which admitted that early on Saturday the US airforce bombed an Afghan hospital run by the medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors without Borders, in the Afghan city of Kunduz in an air strike that killed at least nine people and wounded 37.
It is w/ deep sadness that we confirm so far the death of 9 @MSF staff from bombing last night of MSF’s hospital in Kunduz. 37 Wounded.
— Jason Cone (@jtcone1977) October 3, 2015
As the Executive Director, of Doctors without Borders Jason Cone tweeted, "all parties 2 conflict, including in Kabul & Washington, were clearly informed of precise GPS Coordinates of @MSF facilities in Kunduz" and that the "precise location of @MSF Kunduz hospital communicated to all parties on multiple occasions over past months, including on 9/29."
In other words, this morning's US bombing was nothing more than another example of the utter incompetence, carelessness and disregard for innocent civilian lives that has become a staple hallmark of US foreign policy, something we have already witnessed repeatedly in the past 6 years as a result of the thousands of innocent people dead as part of US drone attacks, also known as "collateral damage."
The attack, which started at 2:15am local time, took place when almost 200 patients and employees were in the hospital, the only one in the region that can deal with major injuries, Medecins Sans Frontieres said.
The aftermath of the US bombing:
At the aid group's bombed-out hospital, one wall of a building had collapsed, scattering fragments of glass and wooden door frames, and three rooms were ablaze, said Saad Mukhtar, director of public health in Kunduz.
A video of the aftermath was also released moments ago:
"Thick black smoke could be seen rising from some of the rooms," Mukhtar said after a visit to the hospital. "The fighting is still going on, so we had to leave."
"We are deeply shocked by the attack, the killing of our staff and patients and the heavy toll it has inflicted on healthcare in Kunduz," the aid group's operations director, Bart Janssens, said in a statement.
"I could hear sounds of heavy gunfire, explosions and airplanes throughout the night," said Khodaidad, who has only one name. "There were several huge explosions and it sounded like the roof was falling on me."
As expected, Doctors without Borders was furious after the attack:
1/ MSF condemns in the strongest possible terms the horrific bombing of its hospital in Kunduz full of staff and patients.
— Jason Cone (@jtcone1977) October 3, 2015
Worse, as Cone adds, the US bombing raid "continued for >30 minutes after American & Afghan military officials in Kabul & Washington first informed of proximity to hospital." Not only was the US bombardment uncalled for, but it continued long after supervisors were made aware they should call it off.
Perhaps the only thing the US military got right was admitting it was responsible for this latest murder of innocent civilians, when it issued a statement acknowledging that it carried out airstrikes, claimed they were conducted "against individuals threatening the force," and conceded that "the strike may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility."
Oh well, oops?
Meanwhile the drama at the hospital continues:
Many @MSF patients & staff remain unaccounted for. #s keep + as we develop clearer picture of the aftermath of horrific bombing in Kunduz.
— Jason Cone (@jtcone1977) October 3, 2015
While the US tried to justify its latest murder of innocents by supposedly engaging the Taliban, a spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said U.S. air strikes targeted the hospital, killing killed patients, doctors and nurses adding that "no militant fighter was a patient" the group said. The U.S. military has unleashed twelve air strikes this week in support of government forces in the city. Most airstrikes hit targets on the city's outskirts and the overnight strike was only the second in a central area, the military said.
MSF said it had treated almost 400 patients in the 150-bed hospital since fighting broke out, most for gunshot wounds.
So many patients have flooded in that the hospital has had to put them in offices and on mattresses on the floor. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was "deeply shocked" by the incident.
"This is an appalling tragedy," said Jean-Nicolas Marti, head of the ICRC in Afghanistan. "Such attacks undermine the capacity of humanitarian organizations to assist the Afghan people at a time when they most urgently need it."
As Glenn Greenwald points out, "it’s impossible to fathom what the U.S. media would be saying and doing if Russia did something like this in Syria. By contrast, the reaction to this airstrike by their own government will be muted and filled with apologia, ironically quite similar to the widely vilified caricature of Jeb Bush’s comments about the Oregon shooting spree: stuff happens."
It's quite possible to "fathom" what the "objective" US media's reaction to this horrific tragedy will be: utter silence. Which, however will not be the reaction from the rest of the world, which with every passing day realizes that when it comes to Pax American, the only this that matters for the Obama administration is appeasing his generous backers from the US military industrial complex which just happen to arm all sides in the conflict. That and the banks who provide the loans, of course.
However, when it comes to the now four-year-long attempt by the US to pass a Qatar gas pipeline under Syria, even if it means crushing the nation, destroying its economy, and unleashing the worst refugee wave in European history, one thing is clear: the US has just lost any US credibility when it comes to criticizing Putin's or anyone else's "attacks on civilians."
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I am actually astounded and the depth and breadth of stupidity. What goes hand in hand is the ready willingness to just believe the "Americans purposely killed French doctors" narrative. Not even a nanosecond of thought in there.
I used to think ZH had better quality comments than say Yahoo with it's teen keyboard tough-guys but I am rethinking that.
Stick to your guns and at least let the idiots know they do not have the field to themselves.
Only true retards listen to Alex Jones
The guy is a lying POS and gatekeeper for the Zios.
David Duke proved that.
I bet you send that fat fuck money also. LOL
aljazeera dumbfuck ... gezus christ
therefore the right thing to do was blowing the whole thing in the sky, right?
Then don't cry when this logic comes back at home.
How long before having American, or even Canadian, accent will be a major risk factor for personal violence / assault??
With the very effective "progress" of those troublesome (but very legal) Russian forces in Syria, how much longer can the US hang on by the fingernails??
USA is great at killing civilians.
Everyone knows it.
But Russia isn't impressed.
American hypocrisy knows no bounds. It is America that must change and it is America that must end its empire and reconcile itself to being just one of many nations and no longer an empire. The idea within the greater American public of American exceptional-ism must die or the nation will die from both the self inflicted wounds of American narcissism and American propaganda, but also by those who will stand up to American hegemony and fight.
Winning hearts & minds.
Or something.
More blowback coming our way. Of course it won't be the u.s governments fault! We're trying to show them the light of democracy.
It's that these backward brown people just don't understand our kindly ways that we have to blow them to kingdom come. If they would just bow down and pray to Washington,,, sort of like u.s citizens,,, everything would be peachy.
But it wasn't some guy with some guns shooting up a school in America so it is no biggie to the sheeple and idiots like Lebron James.
Fuck the U.S. Biggest plague the world has seen.
Do not give the USAF these coordinates...
Jason Cone Retweeted Doctors w/o Borders @MSF_USA 4h4 hours agoSome of most critically injured being transferred for stabilization to hospital in Puli Khumri. Many patients, staff remain unaccounted for.
102 retweets41 favoritesThe same apologist were crying out loud against Russia's help to Syrian govt. Now for them they are terrorists but few days nack they were moderate. Hahahaha ignorant bellends.
Im going to go burn the US flag and some US currency now
When a US citizen/Western is killed...it is called Terrorism
When a Non US /Western is killed...it is called Collateral Damage
How many wars are currently going on in Western countries? How many are going on in Muslim countries? One is easy to count and the other is impossilbe, moron.
"Terrorist": Any combatant who lacks air support.
Universe has cynical sense of humor.
Russian general reveals truth about 9 11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OncBdtnPMU
When the US forces were clearly and admittedly fully aware
of the gps coordinates of the hospital, and still bombed it
with precision-aimed weapons, the only conclusion possible
is that the attackon the MSF hospital was deliberate
and intentional and no possible way "collateral damage".
there are no "accidents" or "miscalculations" in this situation
Some hotshot trigger-happy US commander must have decided
that there must be Taliban in the hospital.
Will he be promoted for this action??
<Overheard Obama> "Oh Hell! Yellen. I'm still trying to figure out how to pay for those $350,000 bombs we used to kill those two bearded guys in the 1964 datsun pickup truck, and now this."
That's a fucking war crime.
From who's perspective? The bomber?
"The Ugly American" didn't come out of thin air ! How many countries hate our guts? Is that the plan? To keep us here because we have a target on our backs anywhere else?
Due to the mind-numbing incompetence of its awards committee, the Nobel peace prize should be eliminated.
2 nuts kill multiple innocents.
It's Obama justification for Obamacare Premium increases, there are less doctors in the network... However you can keep your doctor...if he survived.
So Obama, the Peace's Nobel Price, bombs Hospitals (among other pearls) and Putin bombs terrorists. And Putin is the bad guy?
Dang It ! Product of Core Curriculum Math Graduate at the targeting center...oopS!
Copied from a comment on another article, but entirely relevant here:
I'm very sorry for whatever maladies are leading the dreadfully misguided folks who slaughter innocents in an Oregon School, a South Carolina Church, etc.
However, there must be some way to re-direct these vulnerable people to start firing at the psychopaths who are destroying our country and trashing nations around the world. Surely, they could recognize a more powerful, ideologically coherent version of their own kind as a legitimate target.
First of all - deepest condolences to the innocent people who died in this atrocity. What is even more shocking though is this:
How sick is that?! WTF, are these people completely bonkers?! USSA foreign policy since the collapse of USSR and especially after 9/11 has been a complete and utter disaster. How can anyone actually support this policy is truly beyond my comprehension. It's getting from bad to worse and there are still people out there who support these policies! USSA has turned every country they got involved in into a failed state basket case - look at Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Yemen, Syria - and when the "horrible" Russians actually start doing SOMETHING to stop this madness they go on a hissy fit and accuse them of facilitating terror...
Just like the US dollar, all this evil will come flooding back into the US......are we seriously witnessing the end of the empire like no empure before it.....god damn, the ricochet for the US us going to be awrsome
#MSF nurse, Kunduz: "There are no words for how terrible it was. In the ICU, 6 patients were burning in their beds" http://bit.ly/1PW2Iix
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"They had just been working in the hospital to help people and now they are dead" #MSF nurse recounts #Kunduz attack http://bit.ly/1PW2Iix
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Hospital bombing: "We cannot accept that this horrific loss of life will simply be dismissed as 'collateral damage'." http://bit.ly/1FOxr0r
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Gates of .@MSF hospital compound in #Kunduz were closed all night. Only staff, patients & caretakers were inside when bombing occurred
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#MSF President: "This attack is abhorrent & a grave violation of International Humanitarian Law" #Kunduz http://bit.ly/1j6y6ka
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Death count has now risen to 12 #MSF staff, and at least 7 patients. #Kunduz http://bit.ly/1FOt4T5
Intentional payback of #MEF for treating Taliban
Collateral damage as define by US ...
Another United States Department of Defense document uses "unintentional or incidental injury or damage to persons or objects that would not be lawful military targets in the circumstances ruling at the time. Such damage is not unlawful so long as it is not excessive in light of the overall military advantage anticipated from the attack."
Quick, call Obama's Ebola czar. He'll save the day...unless, of course, he's decided to take the day off.
Quick, call Obama. He'll save the day...unless, of course, he's decided to spend the day at the golf course.
Quick, call.... Oh, screw it. Just don't believe anything the government says. Then you can avoid taking the bait Sandy Hook, line, and sinker.
Just a couple of days ago I read of a US infantryman being kicked out of the US army for stopping homosexual rape of a small boy.
Today, this story. And the USA is still claiming the moral high ground?
Talk about the inmates running the asylum.
I don't give a flying rats ass if Taliban were hiding anywhere near there. There are some things that aren't done unless you're a WAR CRIMINAL! At least under the Taliban the country wasn't growing poppies for the US to destabilize Irans' stupider young people as well as perpetuate the "War On Drugs" right here in North America. Every single person who uses heroin is a BIG contributer to the war criminal profiteers and I hate you. Our own son came back from that shit hole of a country and he'll never be the same again, in a bad way.
I'm on Social Security with very little other income but each and every month MSF gets a donation. I feel grief for everyone hurt and killed and you have my continued support and love.
I can't begin to say how sick and angry I am about this. How ashamed I am for America. Somebody needs to stop the US in it's bloody tracks.
Bravo Bravo Bravo
Thumbs up to American Bravery
(Or is it soul harvesting by their cabal masters)