Eyewitnesses noted at the hospital where the injured survivors were taken that the strike happened all of a sudden, leaving many dead civilians in its wake. In his message of congratulation to Obama on his election as US president, Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed hope that the new president would put an end to the ongoing situation in his country. The Afghan leader said: "Our hope is that there will be no civilian casualties in Afghanistan. We can't win the war against terror through air strikes. Stopping civilian casualties will be my first request from the new US president." Karzai has often criticized civilian casualties resulting from air strikes in the past.
The US military has announced that 33 civilians were killed in an air strike in Azizabad on Aug. 22. The Afghan government and the United Nations, however, said 90 civilians -- 60 of those being children - were killed in the strikes. The US initially announced seven civilian casualties, subsequently increasing the death toll after publication of cell phone footage. Likewise, 47 civilians were killed in another air strike against a wedding ceremony in Nangarhar in July. Human Rights Watch notes that 116 civilians were killed in air strikes in 2006, 321 in 2007 and 540 in the first eight months of this year.
Obama says he may seek to have unconditional talks with Iran and Syria, if necessary, and gradually withdraw their troops from Iraq over the course of the next 16 months. However, Obama has not made similar hopeful remarks when it comes to Afghanistan; he even stresses they will be decisive in their struggle against the Taliban. Of course, a relative easing and relief in relations with Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq is promising, but it should be remembered that the primary reason for growing anti-American sentiments in the world is the ongoing tragedy in Palestine and undoubtedly, the baseless American occupation of Afghanistan. Even before Obama announced his victory, Israel launched an air strike for no apparent reason, killing six innocent Palestinians. I wonder if Israeli hawks intended to give the message, "The president may change in the US, but it does not matter to us." The truth is, the world community, which holds the US responsible for occupations in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan, has difficulty understanding civilian massacres. Especially in Afghanistan, US warplanes carry out air strikes against civilians on a regular basis, killing people indiscriminately.
Obama was elected president by attracting the support of black people and Hispanics, who were weak, excluded and subject to unfair treatment; and the poor, crushed by liberal markets. The wider political and strategic interests and considerations of Afghanistan are a whole different story. I only am referring to civilian massacres committed by US soldiers. Above all, the whole world is expecting Obama to stop these massacres.
