Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Nine Afghan Boys Collecting Firewood Killed by Two NATO Helicopters

March 2, 2011

When two US Air Force servicemen were killed by a gunman who opened fire on their bus at Frankfurt Airport, the world was outraged and US President Barack Obama condemned it as an “outrageous act.” But only a day before that, on Tuesday, nine Afghan boys aged nine to 15 were killed by NATO helicopter gunships while they were out collecting firewood. This incident didn’t provoke global outrage and wasn’t condemned as an “outrageous act.”

A tenth boy who managed to survive tells the story:

“We were almost done collecting the wood when suddenly we saw the helicopters come,” said Hemad, who, like many Afghans, has only one name. “There were two of them. The helicopters hovered over us, scanned us and we saw a green flash from the helicopters. Then they flew back high up, and in a second round they hovered over us and started shooting. They fired a rocket which landed on a tree. The tree branches fell over me and shrapnel hit my right hand and my side.”

The tree, Hemad said, saved his life by covering him so that he could not be seen by the helicopters, which, he said, “shot the boys one after another.”

All the families of these children got was a simple excuse by the commander of the NATO forces in Afghanistan, Gen. David H. Petraeus.

“We are deeply sorry for this tragedy and apologize to the members of the Afghan government, the people of Afghanistan and, most importantly, the surviving family members of those killed by our actions. These deaths should have never happened.”

An excuse very similar to the one below, in both effectiveness and honesty:



If the 9 children would have been killed in any Western country, everyone would have known their names by now, they’d have streets named after them, songs written in their memory and maybe even a feature film dedicated to them to show what they’ve been through. But they’re just Afghan children and will be forgotten in a few days, with nothing more than a generic excuse offered for their deaths.


Sad.


The worst thing about this, though, is that nothing perpetuates the endless “war on terror” like slaughtering innocent children.

No comments: