Airstrike Kills Women & Children at Wedding in Afghanistan

by Deb Cupples |  Yes, President-Elect Obama will have his hands full -- on both the domestic and international fronts.  The New York Times reports:

"An airstrike by United States-led forces killed 40 civilians and wounded 28 others at a wedding party in Kandahar Province in southern Afghanistan, Afghan officials said Wednesday. The casualties included women and children, the officials said."

If it was a big wedding, I suspect that a lot of women and children were hit.  The Times continues:

"The reports of the strike, in a region that has become a renewed front line in the battle against the Taliban Islamist insurgents who once ruled the country, came within hours of the election of Barack Obama as the next American president. It showed the raw tensions between the United States and Afghanistan over the toll suffered by civilians in the war.

"It follows an assault in August in western Afghanistan that was initially disputed by the United States, in which an American gunship killed 30 civilians. On Wednesday, at a news conference called to congratulate Mr. Obama, President Hamid Karzai said his first request to Mr. Obama would be 'to end the civilian casualties.'"

It's an understandable request.  Truthout posted a heart-wrenching photo of a what looks like a woman or teenager lying in a hospital bed with bloody, rumpled sheets surrounding what might be an absent leg.  The suffering is terrible -- and in some respect grossly unfair.

As I said once before, President-Elect Obama will have his hands full come January.

Comments

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this is so sweet, thanks for sharing the moments