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US
Airstrikes in Syria Killing |
By
Stephen Lendman |
| America has a notorious record of indiscriminately killing civilians
in all its wars of aggression - from aerial attacks and ground operations,
including special ops. Since US warplanes began bombing Syrian infrastructure and government targets last year on the phony pretext of combating ISIS, nearly a thousand civilian deaths were reported, likely many more ignored or forgotten in the fog of war. A September UN report alone said the US-led coalition’s continued “airstrikes against ISIL in Syria on a near-daily basis with reports of some 865 people killed, including 50 civilians, in Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, Hasakeh, Idlib and Raqqa since strikes began” in September 2014. Retired US Army Col. Douglas MacGregor called Washington’s campaign completely unsuccessful from the standpoint of destroying ISIS, but it’s an enormous success story for ISIS. It is actually helping the Sunni Islamists recruit new people - more than a thousand every month from across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. US-led airstrikes claim more civilian casualties daily, nearly always unreported by Western media. Major attacks claiming numerous lives alone at times attract their attention. These incidents though too grave to ignore still get short shrift coverage at best. The latest one occurred on Monday. Surprisingly, the pro-Western, London based, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported it, saying US-led “coalition raids struck the village of Al-Khan, which is held by the Islamic State group. But Daesh is only present on the outskirts of the town, which is why all of the deaths were civilians.” The raid and many others like it provide more evidence of US support for ISIS - claiming they’re combating their forces while targeting Syrian sites along with indiscriminately killing civilians, each incident more proof of horrendous crimes of war and against humanity, how America wages all its wars. At least seven children and four women were killed in Al-Khan. Bodies continue being pulled from rubble. The death and injury toll will likely rise. A dozen or more bodies remain to be recovered. A local source indicated 34 deaths known so far and at least 17 others injured. Lt. General Charles Q. Brown, commander US Air Forces Central Command (Southwest Asia) earlier called US aerial operations “the most precise in the history of warfare.” Civilians targeted were murdered in cold blood, either indiscriminately or as planned - the same way Israeli ground forces extrajudicially execute Palestinians daily, and Gazan communities were ravaged during summer 2014 Operation Protective Edge - on the phony pretext of self-defense. Whenever these incidents occur, follow-up investigations when conducted are routinely whitewashed. The Pentagon never takes responsibility for its high crimes. Nor does Israel’s IDF - partners in the highest of high crimes, genocide against targeted populations. A US military spokesman said he had no information about the Al-Kahn incident, denying US responsibility for mass murder. A Syrian father accused Washington of deliberately covering up the deaths of six of his children, seriously injuring two others, in a US airstrike last summer. Muawaiyaa Al-Amouri’s home was totally destroyed and his children killed by one of the Pentagon’s “most precise in the history of warfare” airstrikes in August. A Pentagon spokesman lied, calling reports of civilian casualties “unfounded.” The incident involved targeting an ISIS “staging area” he claimed. Al-Amouri’s destroyed home as well as his dead and severely injured children speak for themselves - one of many US high crimes in all its wars, civilians paying the biggest price, mostly ignored by Western media. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs. |
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