“Air-raiding villages and killing civilians”
EmailIn Nashua, NH, Monday, Obama said that the U.S. has “gotta get the job done” in Afghanistan which “requires us to have enough troops that we’re not just air raiding villages and killing civilians which is causing enormous problems there. It means that we have enough civilian support, agricultural specialists, people who are engineers, people who are building schools and so forth to help the Afghani government do a better job of delivering on behalf of its people.”
The chairman of the RNC, Mike Duncan, is among those trying to fan the flames of any controversy those comments might cause, today issuing a statement decrying “Barack Obama’s offensive statement in New Hampshire that our men and women serving in Afghanistan are just ‘air-raiding villages and killing civilians.’ It is hard to imagine that anyone who aspires to be Commander in Chief would say such a thing about our brave men and women in uniform. Obama owes our armed forces an apology — today.”
What are we to make of this? Clearly the U.S. is not “just” air-raiding villages and killing civilians…
But as the Washington Post pointed out (LINK), “Much of the U.S. military’s emphasis here, however, remains on killing or capturing insurgents, …(b)ut energetic pursuit of insurgents has produced another problem — a mounting toll of civilian casualties, mostly in bombing raids. The deaths have inflamed public opinion, turned many Afghans against the foreign forces and further strained (Afghan president Hamid) Karzai’s credibility. ‘Sooner or later, every liberating force becomes an occupying force,’ said one Western analyst here. ‘A majority of Afghans were glad to see the coalition arrive in 2001, and most of them still are, but collateral damage and cultural insensitivity are key issues here. Even if the Taliban are using civilians as human shields, in the court of public opinion it is still the foreign forces that killed them.”
This was addressed by President Bush during his visit with Karzai earlier this month (LINK).
“Let me comment on the civilian casualties, if I might,” said the president. First, I fully understand the angst, the agony and the sorrow that Afghan citizens feel when an innocent life is lost. I know that must cause grief in villages and heartbreak in homes.
“Secondly, I can assure the Afghan people, like I assured the President, that we do everything we can to protect the innocent; that our military operations are mindful that innocent life might be exposed to danger, and we adjust accordingly.
“Thirdly, it is the Taliban who surround themselves with innocent life as human shields. The Taliban are the cold-blooded killers. The Taliban are the murderers. The Taliban have no regard for human life. And therefore, we’ve spent some time talking about — as the President rightly expressed his concerns about civilian casualty. And I assured him that we share those concerns.”
Karzai, for his part, said he “had a good discussion with President Bush on civilian casualties. I’m very happy to tell you that President Bush felt very much with the Afghan people, that he calls the Afghan people allies in the war against terror, and friends, and that he is as much concerned as I am, as the Afghan people are. I was very happy with that conversation.”
Did Obama step in it? Or is this much ado about nothing?
– jpt
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Yes, President Karzai, but what has he DONE for you and your people lately?
Posted by: phillygirl64 | August 14, 2007, 5:18 pm 5:18 pm
Keeping feeding him rope …he’s doing fine. The AMERICAN VOTERS are just starting to see what an immature, ignorant, petulant clown obama is. Go democrats! LOL
Posted by: cheesetopping69 | August 14, 2007, 5:49 pm 5:49 pm
Obama has not the COURAGE to TELL THE TRUTH.
We knew Bush was lying; and Hillary’s doing the same thing.
Clinton is Republican-Lite.
Sen. Barack Obama is a TRUE DEMOCRAT.
Posted by: Tommy Ates, Austin, TX | August 14, 2007, 7:47 pm 7:47 pm
Obama job is not to tell you what you wanna hear , his job is telling the truth to americans people. Hillary can not do it because she is affraid , she can not take risk , she just playing politic’s game as usual. When is wrrong is wrong…Obama is right… We need the truth from ours leaders not lies……
Posted by: Alain | August 15, 2007, 4:51 am 4:51 am
Don’t tell people only what they wanna hear, Obama role is not looking for leading on the polls as Hillary. His job is tell the truth to americans people. Tell people the truth they like it or not………….
Posted by: Alain | August 15, 2007, 4:56 am 4:56 am
Hillary voted for the War because she was listening to 911 opinion, but that was not true. She is just doing what people wanna hear, what people wanna listening ,she is not real. Tell tell truth then things can be better not worst. Obama is telling the truth, something is wrong in Afganistan . We have to adjust it ,you like it or not. Are we looking for real change ????
Posted by: Alain | August 15, 2007, 5:06 am 5:06 am
Are we looking for real change ?????????? OBAMA is telling the truth in this story. We need some one who can tell exactly what is going one…..Clinton can not ….Obama is telling the truth , Hillary can not she is a layer …….Hillary is running for the polls, she is running for herself .
Posted by: Alain | August 15, 2007, 5:12 am 5:12 am
Why we know that Hillary is lying and we still supporting her ? She can not tell the truth even say sorry for voting for the WAR ???????? OBAMA represents the real change. Tell people the truth, Obama is telling exactly what our soldires are doing there. Tell people the truth not what they wanna hear. Now is the time for change not only lies,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Posted by: Alain | August 15, 2007, 5:19 am 5:19 am
If you wanna listen nonsens go to Hillary’s meeting. If you wanna know the truth go to Obama meeting. If you need the real change listening to Obama, Clinton can not tell you what you don’t wanna hear, she will tell what is making you feel happy and the end nothing will be done …………
Posted by: Alain | August 15, 2007, 5:21 am 5:21 am
I see that Mr. Duncan wouldn’t recognize the truth of the situation if it came and bit him in the back of his lap. It is Mr. Duncan who owes anyone within earshot an apology for his utterly offensive comments. If the RNC chairman wants to blame anyone, he should start with the President and work his way down from there.
Sen. Obama is absolutely correct in his statement that we simply don’t have enough troops in Afghanistan to effectively pursue the members of AlQuaeda there. Of course, the blame for that is unmistakably the President, whose current “leadership” decided to go to war in Iraq rather than fight the terrorists decisively in Afghanistan, thereby creating a safe haven for terrorist training camps in Iraq.
Posted by: chuck | August 15, 2007, 9:09 am 9:09 am
So Obama says we should invade and destabilize a sovereign nuclear ally to get terrorists that may be hiding in Pakistan, but if the terrorists are deliberately hiding in civilian centers they are off-limits?
Posted by: Retired_subsailor | August 15, 2007, 12:49 pm 12:49 pm
Obama needs to let these dogmas know he’s not their whipping ‘boy’, as they continue coming out against him with whatever he says, only to find, and only for them to know, he was right about he said in the first place. Ironic, they don’t do the same with Guiliani, Romney, McCain, Clinton, etc. any of ‘em. They figure they continue to pummel away at him and he’ll eventually disappear. Don’t think so.
Keep holding your grown, Obama. You’re the ONLY one saying the right thing as they twist and turn your comments!
Posted by: RuthieM | August 15, 2007, 2:17 pm 2:17 pm
Its really not funny that the leader of the RNC would call for an apology from Obama for wanting to stop killing civilians, and completely ignore the first half of the sentance where Obama calls for more ground troops. Anyone who has ever talked to a soldier(not a pilot) from Iraq will tell you the same thing. There are not enough fighters on the ground, period.
I know its common republican propaganda to take statements out of context, but half sentances? Whats next partial words?
Posted by: Aaron | August 15, 2007, 2:26 pm 2:26 pm
Thanks, Mr. Obama, for letting us (and the world) know that the only thing our military is doing in Afghanistan is “just air raiding villages and killing civilians”. Obama’s EXACT words.
All the “oh, but he called for more ground troops” excuse making is pure, unadultered spin. The main thrust of his statement is that US forces are currently doing nothing but air raiding villages and killing civilians.
Good luck with the remainder of your campaign, idiot.
Posted by: Ted | August 15, 2007, 2:38 pm 2:38 pm
First let me say this anyone that wants to be commander and Chief of our Military should NOT be insulting them. Does not Obama know that in Afghanistan there are NATO troops. I am getting tired of these Libs attacking our Military tyo play to their anti-American liberals in the debunked Democrat Party.
Obama is showing his naiveness every time he speaks.
Alain – What truth is it that he says?
Tommy Ates – you got to be kidding the only difference between Hilary and Obama is he is a Stalinist and she is a Marxist. Hilary though is a smarter politician that is better at lying and hiding her true colors. (or attacking anyone that speaks against her)
Posted by: spock | August 15, 2007, 4:25 pm 4:25 pm
It’s a pity that the reading and listening comprehension of the US public leaves so much to be desired. Of course it is catastrophic to keep killing civilians – as previously in Iraq and now in Afghanistan and Western Pakistan, every time another extended family is wiped out, the US and NATO have made more enemies for life, who then “have to” be wiped out in turn, to the last baby, auntie, new bride. It’s self-defeating and counterproductive, and the surviving people at the receiving end are not even better off materially or socially either. If “we” really want to help people, as distinct from just congratulating ourselves how wonderful “we” are and how awful “the others” are, we have to do much better and not be such self-glorification addicts (and covert material self-interest addicts into the bargain. And treat people who are different from us as equals, not as “intrinsically flawed BECAUSE they are different from us”. We do have to learn to work with them with sincerity, without double-crossing them and without creating self-fulfilling prophecies from ignorance and arrogance.
Posted by: Julia Iskandar | October 8, 2008, 1:03 am 1:03 am