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US Ally Saudi Arabia Bombs Another "Doctors Without Borders" Hospital
Whenever you’re running an air campaign there’s always the possibility of collateral damage. In simpler terms, we you’re dropping bombs on populated areas, you’re invariably going to kill some non-combatants.
Now ideally, you want to keep the number of dead civilians to a minimum, which is why The Intercept’s recent investigative report on America’s drone program was so disturbing - it turns out 90% of people killed aren’t the intended target.
And while that would be bad enough on its own, the US and its regional allies in the Mid-East have recently made a number of “mistakes” while attempting to strike Taliban and Houthi targets in Afghanistan and Yemen, respectively.
The most high profile screw up came earlier this month when US warplanes somehow mistook a hospital run by the medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors without Borders, in the Afghan city of Kunduz for a Taliban hangout.
The aftermath of the US bombing:
A subsequent report by AP suggests US Green Berets and officials in Washington knew full well they were firing on a hospital but believed there was “a large group of Taliban fighters in it.” Here’s more from AP:
The new information adds to a body of evidence that the U.S. military was closely examining the internationally run medical facility site, raising questions about whether the decision to attack it on October 3 violated international law. The attack left a mounting death toll, now up to 30 people. By one account, U.S. troops requested the air strike after coming under fire.
In the days before the attack, "an official in Washington" asked Doctors without Borders "whether our hospital had a large group of Taliban fighters in it," spokesman Tim Shenk said in an email. "We replied that this was not the case. We also stated that we were very clear with both sides to the conflict about the need to respect medical structures."
Taken together, the revelations raise the possibility that U.S. forces destroyed what they knew was a functioning hospital, which would be a violation of the international rules of war. The Pentagon has said Americans would never have intentionally fired on a medical facility. It's unclear why the Green Beret unit requested the strike - and how such an attack was approved by the chain of command - on coordinates widely known to have included a hospital.
Doctors without Borders officials say the hospital was not under Taliban control and that no gunmen were operating from within the compound - about six city blocks square with the one-story hospital situated some two blocks back behind a 12-foot wall - when the AC-130 gunship made five passes, firing for an hour.
Doctors without Borders has said it was frantically calling Kabul and Washington during the attack, trying to make the U.S. aware of what was unfolding as patients died in their beds.
You can draw your own conclusions there and you’re encouraged to read the full AP report.
Of course that’s not the only example of questionable targeting by “coalition” forces. In September, the Saudi-led coalition battling Iran-backed rebels in Yemen struck a wedding party in in the Red Sea village of Al-Wahijah killing dozens upon dozens including “many” women and children. The groom was allegedly affiliated with the Houthis. About a week later, the Saudis bombed another wedding south of Sana'a killing dozens more Yemenis.
Finally, Western media reported last week that Russian warplanes are targeting hospitals in Idlib and Aleppo. Here’s what the Russian foreign ministry had to say about those reports (via Maria Zakharova):
"There are so-called mass media reports which allege that Russian aircraft bombed a field hospital in the Idlib Governorate in northwestern Syria and reportedly killed 13 people. I cannot say that these reports are written by journalists but their ingenuity delights. This information appears with reference to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights based in London. As we all understand, it is very ‘convenient’ to cover and observe what is happening in Syria without leaving London and without the ability to collect information in the field.”
Again, draw your own conclusions.
On Tuesday we learn that yet another Doctors Without Borders facility has been bombed, this time in Saada, Yemen. As Reuters reports, Saudi warplanes apparently “destroyed the entire hospital with all that was inside.” Here’s more:
A Yemeni hospital run by medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) was hit by a Saudi-led air strike, the group said on Tuesday, the latest bombing of a civilian target in the seven-month air campaign in Yemen.
"MSF facility in Saada Yemen was hit by several air strikes last night with patients and staff inside the facility," the group said in a tweet on Tuesday.
Yemen's state news agency Saba, run the Iran-allied Houthi group that is the coalition's enemy, quoted the Heedan hospital director saying that several people were injured in the attack.
"The air raids resulted in the destruction of the entire hospital with all that was inside - devices and medical supplies - and the moderate wounding of several people," Doctor Ali Mughli said.
Saba said other air strikes hit a nearby girls school and damaged several civilian homes.
It was not immediately possible to confirm that report, and a coalition spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
.@MSF facility in #Saada #Yemen was hit by several airstrikes last night with patients & staff inside the facility. pic.twitter.com/MicfUT571V
— ????? ??? ????-????? (@msf_yemen) October 27, 2015
View from the roof of .@MSF hospital in #Saada, #Yemen that was hit by multiple airstrikes last night. pic.twitter.com/a7Hpf14VJM
— MSF UK Press Office (@MSF_Press) October 27, 2015
And so, once more we see the head of the UN Human Rights Council displaying little regard for human life as Riyadh, Doha, and the UAE continue relentless airstrikes in the proxy war against their bitter regional rival Iran.
It's worth noting here that reports of "collateral damage" are par for the proverbial course in Yemen. Since Saudi airstrikes began in March, more than 2,300 civilians have been killed according to the UN. UNICEF estimates some 500 of those were children. Of course the Houthis and Riyadh routinely tell completely different stories when it comes to who's responsible for civilian casualties, but at the end of the day, innocent people are dying as a result of what's become a multi-front sectarian-fueled, regional power struggle - that's pretty much all you need to know.
Expect far more "mistakes" like the ones described above from both sides (that is, from the US and its regional allies and from the Russian-Iran alliance) and expect everyone involved (well, except for the victims) to write it off with prepared statements that approximate the following old idiom: "you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs."
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Yes, this is how terrorists are made. Vengence.
Too bad the doctors are too passive and disorganized to enact an adequate response.
I think I see a new superhero franchise in the making. Anyone got a good name for this guy?
Doctors Without Boundries
Doctor Death
Doctor Doom
Doctor Revenge
Hospitals are infested with priority targets it seems.
Like those ISIS infested Syrian power stations and weddings.
Damn those Magical TerroristsTM with their telekinetic powers, diverting the Peace BombsTM to make the house of Saud look bad!
A million armed Houthis just got an anger boost. Can you say "No prisoners" in Arabic?
Take no prisoners:
??? ????? ?? ?????
edm aittikhadh 'ay sujana'
or, you can just run around screaming, "alliahu akbar!" which can mean anything from, "Holy fuck, the Russians are bombing the living shit out of me!" to "I am soooooo fucking stoned on meth I can't fucking see straight!' or anything in between.
And there is is again, subliminal messaging that "everyone in the middle east" is on meth. Again, who is paying you?
Are we stoning them back into the "bomb age"?
Nicely played.
If there were one million of them packin' heaters, hell even bows&arrows, this thing would be over by noon tomorrow.
Have they caught up with russia's bombed hospital number yet? 3 at last count.
Was among them the IS hospital ran by Erdogan's daughter?
Was that the civilian hospital that ISIS tunnelled under and then blew up with explosives?
Did it collapse in it's own footprint?
What was also totally destroyed was America's moral authority to criticise and threaten Russia for its collateral damage in Syria
I can pretty much safely assume that the US hasn't had moral authority in my lifetime.
tough to transition from riding camels to flying a bomber...giving our nice saudi allies a break
how exactly can Obama lose moral authority to radical muslims....I just don't know how he does it
Just bomb saudi oilfields. the war would stop rather sooner than later
The Iranians are at the Strait of Hormuz, and ostensibly at the Strait of Al Mandeb (Yemen) by proxy. If the oil prices get too low, they can spike the prices at any time by scuttling a tanker, but it will commit them to a war.
They have HUNDREDS of tankers, all filled with oil anchored just offshore, just waiting until prices increase. The world is awash in oil.
SJWs getting bombed is one thing I like to hear.
It's called a war zone for a reason.
That's why they put "Sans Frontiers" in the name, dufus.
It's now Doctors Without Bodies.
It's now Victims Without Meds
They probably thought there was a wedding inside the hospital.
They thought there were enemy combatants inside and didn't give a shit about the civilians and MSF personnel dying with them.
I'd personally love to see the US leave the House of Saud out to dry and we can all watch them get eaten alive by the people they've mistreated (with our express help and permission) for decades, but Americans are addicted to petrol so we have to defend the savages.
I think it's about time for a US military coup. It's got to be blatantly obvious to our Generals/Admirals that their politically and satantically motivated commander in chief is completely out of his fucking mind.
You presume the people with the stars on their shoulders haven't gone just as "Colonel Kurtz" as he.
All ranks above 04 are political. You don't toe the line, and say the right things, you don't get promoted. A megalomaniac like Obama would have some considerable stroke in shaping the officer corps after 7 years in office.
As much as I dislike Obama, I hardly believe that he's calling the shots. That is, he isn't responsible for the BIG PICTURE planning; he's only the one that ensures that the plans are carried through. Remember: Message; Messenger.
Name-calling and such just plain reeks of Party Pussy-ism. There's lots of people running around here who are party folks and are working the angles for their masters.
The US military has been purged over last few years of any officers willing and able to mount a coup.
Here is a link to an article by an RAF pilot who states that he would have refused an order to bomb the hospital.
Says it was a deliberate attack;
http://medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/2015/805-i-would-hav...
One more reason not to heavily arm fanatic troglodytes.
The Saudis are just doing their part to bring back the old epidemic diseases.
The best guess is that the US bombing was deliberate because intel indicated that a high value target was in the hospital.
That is the most simple guess that make sense.
Of course the cover is "there are WMDs there!" Um, oh... I mean, ,"there are 'terrorists' there!"
What's this moral authority shit?
It's war. Carpetbomb the whole country and be home by noon.
End of story.
Monkey see, monkey do.
only all out global war can solve the problems now... that must see Israel, UK, and USA bear the brunt of destruction
time to build ovens
Accidents happen, it's ok as long as you say sorry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqpNQ9AJYgU
Russia should sell Iran all kinds of nice gadgets to be able to easily take out Saudi
The Saudis will get their comeuppance in due time...you can take that petrodollar to the central bank...
NPR this morning had the repeat story that Russia bombed a hospital in Syria - interviewed an anonymous refugee who was certain it was deliberate. I looked online and realized the bombing in question was back on October 6. Nothing on NPR this morning about the Yemen bombing. Sounds like misdirection for faithful NPR listeners?
NPR is total shit like all the media especially TV and Hollywood. NPR's incredibly smug dual shit-i-zen liberals like Terry Gross and other decendents of the Bolsheviks who murdered 25 million Christians in Russia.
Why do you listen to that shit?
I listen to 3 stations in the morning while I'm getting ready for work. Liberal, Conservative, it's all spin. But it is nice to see the difference between what TPTB want us to hear and what is actually missing from the broadcasts. The style of propaganda is informative by itself.
Well look, the brutal dictatorship of Saudi Arabia allied with the Washington Empire brutal dictatorship. Everyone else is the enemy. Wedding parties and hospitals are fair game to them. The American People will soon be fair game for the murders.
Am I really supposed to think it's coincidence the US bombed two hospitals staffed by the same people within a short timeframe? Or that two Malaysian air flights just happened to be involved in a disaster within a short timeframe? Come on. This all stinks to high hell. These don't seem like accidents to me. What the actual fuck is going on here? I mean I get the message, don't fly Malasian Air and don't give medical care to the US's enemies but it's the why that absolutely confounds me.
You MUST BELIEVE! Add "three modern steel structure high-rise buildings collapsing from structural fires, on the SAME day" to the list of things that you MUST BELIEVE!
It was the Malaysian war crimes tribunal that found Bush and company guilty of war crimes. This type of military action is how the fascist (merger of government with monopoly corporations) send the message that they will kill you even if they kill 100 “innocent” people around you. Vengeance is power. Get the message Doctors without Borders?
To the psychopaths, there are no innocent people because they are all guilty by association and the terror of killing one of your relatives makes them feel good. Terrorism and spreading fear among the population is the fascist choice and the USA has a long history of using covert terrorism to terrorize the population. Insane Obama and company is as sick as Hitler
USA, Saudi Arabia and 'moderate' terrorists = Axis of Evil or Murderers Inc.
The Russians did it!!!
I didn't see the tweet picture.. The building still has a roof you can stand on.. I call Bullshit! Or we sold the Sauds some defective bombs...
CNN: Reports of Putin seen running from the scene.
I don't worry about Marxists colluding with Jihadists. It's a war zone. Look at the crap the UN has been up to in Gaza and other places. Bomb them all.
As directed by America
Becuz they oppose CabalA$$LickerObama's TPP & TTIP since that would lead to BIG hike in prices of medicines.
(psst becuz CabalA$$LickerObama took million$ of bribe from pharma & biotech for election funding)