On Tue, Mar 13, 2012 at 9:00 PM, Javed Iqbal Kaleem <javediqbalkaleem@yahoo.com> wrote:
Obama Says Afghan Killings Were "Outrageous and Unacceptable"
The president vows that anyone found to have been involved in the shooting spree will be held accountable for their actions.
By Daniel Politi, Abby Ohlheiser, and Rachael Levy | Posted Tuesday, March 13, 2012, at 3:11 PM ETA mourner cries over the bodies of Afghan civilians, allegedly shot by a rogue U.S. soldier, seen loaded into the back of a truck in Alkozai village of Panjwayi district, Kandahar province on March 11, 2012Photo by Jangir/AFP/Getty Images.UPDATE: President Obama said Tuesday that an investigation into the weekend shooting spree that killed 16 Afghan civilians would be thorough and hold anyone involved "fully accountable," the Associated Press reports.
Speaking at the White House before an unrelated event, the president addressed the situation that has dominated international news since Sunday, when a U.S. soldier allegedly went on a rampage that left nine children among the dead. Obama called the apparent massacre "outrageous and unacceptable.""The United States takes this as seriously as if it was our own citizens, and our children, who were murdered," the president said. "We're heartbroken over the loss of innocent life."Pentagon officials have rebuffed calls from Afghan leaders for a public trial for the Army sergeant accused of the killings, maintaining that the U.S. government would be responsible for prosecuting the wayward soldier. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has suggested that the death penalty could be an option.Elsewhere in Slate: Fred Kaplan takes a look at the U.S. military's current role in Afghanistan, and makes the case that an American presence can no longer serve any purpose. Read that here.
Tuesday, March 13: U.S. officials are considering an accelerated withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in the wake of an alleged weekend rampage by an American Army sergeant that killed 16 civilians, the New York Times reports.President Obama stressed Monday that there won't be a "rush for the exits" following the incident but administration officials tell the paper that talks—which they say had begun before the weekend killings—to increase the drawdown there by at least an additional 20,000 troops by 2013 have heated up in recent days, as tensions continue to worsen since U.S. personnel mistakenly burned several Qurans last month.
According to the Times, any plans for an accelerated withdrawal would face strong opposition from military leaders, who favor keeping most of the remaining American troops in the country until 2014, when the NATO mission there is slated to end.Meanwhile, Taliban militants attacked an Afghan government delegation on Tuesday that was visiting villages in the southern Kandahar province where the weekend killings took place, the Associated Press reports. The delegation included two of President Hamid Karzai's brothers.An Afghan soldier serving as a bodyguard for the delegation was killed and another soldier and a military prosecutor were wounded, according to the Kandahar police chief.The Taliban had vowed revenge on Monday after an American soldier reportedly opened fire on villagers in southern Afghanistan, killing nine children and seven other civilians.Monday, March 12, 4:55 p.m.: The Pentagon on Monday rejected calls by the Afghan government for the U.S. Army sergeant accused of killing 16 civilians to face a public trial in Afghanistan, the AFP reports.A military spokesman said that the United States will be responsible for prosecuting the wayward soldier, emphasizing that investigations and prosecutions are already normally handed over to U.S. authorities pursuant to "agreements in place with the government of Afghanistan."The news comes amid growing tension over the U.S. presence in Afghanistan, unrest that was fueled in recent weeks by other diplomatic fiascoes like last month's Quran burnings. Many observers say that current Afghan-American relations are at their lowest since the U.S. invasion took place 10 years ago.Politico, meanwhile, reports that Hillary Clinton echoed other U.S. officials in offering her condolences to the people of Afghanistan on Monday. "This is not who we are, and the United States is committed to seeing that those responsible are held accountable," the secretary of state said in a speech at the U.N.Monday, March 12: As the U.S. apologizes for an American soldier's deadly attacks on two villages in Afghanistan over the weekend, the Taliban on Monday vowed revenge.As NPR reports, both U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and President Obama have called Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai to apologize for the attacks on Sunday, which, despite earlier reports, seem to be the work of a single U.S. Army sergeant. Panetta promised to "bring those responsible to justice." Obama echoed the defense secretary's remarks, offering his condolences to the families of the dead, and to the people of Afghanistan.The Taliban, which almost immediately condemned the attacks as "genocide," promised in a statement on their website to avenge the deaths of Afghanistan villagers at the hands of "sick-minded American savages." As the Associated Press reports, the Taliban have claimed responsibility for several attacks following the burning of several Muslim holy books by NATO soldiers last month.On Sunday, a U.S. Army sergeant killed 16 villagers (nine of whom were children) in southern Afghanistan. According to the New York Times, village residents say that the soldier went door-to-door, then broke into three homes, killing most of those inside. He then attempted to burn the bodies before surrendering at his base more than one mile away.Sunday, March 11: A U.S. service member left his southern Afghanistan base before dawn Sunday and seems to have indiscriminately opened fire on houses in two nearby villages, killing 16. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said nine children and three women were among the dead and called the attack in Panjwayi district an "assassination" reports the Associated Press. One soldier has been detained over the shooting, and theBBC hears word he is a staff sergeant.Even though several reports talk of a lone U.S. soldier, Reuters hears from Afghan officials that the attack was actually carried out by a group of Western forces. Witnesses claim a group of American soldiers appeared drunk and were laughing as they went on a shooting spree, later burning the bodies.The incident takes place following weeks of rioting sparked last month by news that Qurans were burned at a U.S. base, killing some 30 people. Days earlier, though, there were signs that relations were finally starting to improve as Washington and Kabul officials managed to make progress on a long-delayed strategic partnership deal, writes the New York Times.Now NATO officials are bracing themselves for the fallout of what could very well be "the worst atrocity of the 10-year war to be deliberately carried out by a single member of the Western military," as the Los Angeles Times puts it. The Taliban quickly released a statement saying that 50 civilians had been killed as part of a "genocide" that was the result of a U.S. night raid."This is a deeply regrettable incident and we extend our thoughts and concerns to the families involved," the U.S. military said in a statement, according to the Washington Post.Reuters talks to an Afghan official who says the soldier appears to have entered three homes, killing 11 people in the first one. Panjawi is around 22 miles from the provincial capital, Kandahar City.The shooting Sunday was not the first time U.S. soldiers have been accused of killing Afghans in Kandahar province for no reason, notes the Wall Street Journal. Four U.S. Army soldiers were convicted last year of murdering Afghans and collecting body parts for trophies.Visit My blogs for a no nonsense, serious discussion of
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