US Planes Fired On Fleeing Civilians, Doctors Without Borders Says by 1kiki

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US Planes Fired On Fleeing Civilians, Doctors Without Borders Says

POSTED BY: 1KIKI
UPDATED: Friday, November 13, 2015 15:20
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Thursday, November 12, 2015 9:02 PM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

US Planes Fired On Fleeing Civilians, Doctors Without Borders Says
Tyler Durden's picture
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 11/05/2015 18:00 -0500

Just a few days ago, the Saudis followed in the footsteps of their counterparts in Washington when the kingdom’s warplanes “accidentally” bombed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Yemen.

The “incident” came less than a month after the Green Berets - who were battling for control of Kunduz in Afghanistan in an effort to beat back a Taliban advance - apparently decided that in order to rid an MSF hospital of some “insurgents” who were apparently hanging out inside (and by “hanging out” we mean “were injured and that’s why they were in the hospital in the first place”), they needed to call in an AC-130 gunship which proceeded to make five passes and engage the building for an hour, eventually killing dozens of people as tends to happen when advanced air assault technology squares off against unarmed people lying on gurneys.

Here are some of the visuals for anyone who missed it:

And here's a look inside the building courtesy of BBC:

Now, in a revelation that likely won't surprise those who frequent these pages, MSF says the US fired on civilans who were running from the building. Here's Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/05/us-afghanistan-attack-msf-id
USKCN0SU27J20151105:

Medical aid group Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Thursday it was hard to believe a U.S. strike on an Afghan hospital last month was a mistake, as it had reports of fleeing people being shot from an aircraft.

At least 30 people were killed when the hospital in Kunduz was hit by the strike on Oct. 3 while Afghan government forces were battling to regain control of the northern city from Taliban forces who had seized it days earlier.

The United States has said the hospital was hit by accident and two separate investigations by the U.S. and NATO are underway but the circumstances of the incident, one of the worst of its kind during the 14-year conflict, are still unclear.

MSF General Director Christopher Stokes told reporters the organization was still awaiting an explanation from the U.S. military.

"All the information that we've provided so far shows that a mistake is quite hard to understand and believe at this stage," he said while presenting an MSF internal report on the incident.

The report said many staff described "seeing people being shot, most likely from the plane" as they tried to flee the main hospital building.

Let's just be clear so that it doesn't appear we're being bombastic for the sheer hell of it: MSF is now accusing the US of firing on civilians fleeing a hospital.

And in case you have any questions as to whether US Spec Ops knew this was a hospital, recall the following http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/10/26/troops-who-sought
-strike-thought-taliban-had-hospital:

In the days before the attack, "an official in Washington" asked Doctors without Borders "whether our hospital had a large group of Taliban fighters in it," spokesman Tim Shenk said in an email. "We replied that this was not the case. We also stated that we were very clear with both sides to the conflict about the need to respect medical structures."

Taken together, the revelations raise the possibility that U.S. forces destroyed what they knew was a functioning hospital, which would be a violation of the international rules of war.

MSF went on to say that there were 20 wounded Taliban fighters at the facility, which shouldn't surprise anyone because i) it's a hospital, and ii) "treating wounded combatants is not a crime" (that's a quote from MSF General Director Christopher Stokes). Back to Reuters:

MSF says the site's location had been clearly communicated to both Afghan forces and the Taliban and it was clearly identifiable as a hospital.

"That night, it was one of the few buildings with electrical power, it was fully lit up," Stokes said.

He also said that inspections of the area around the hospital since the Taliban withdrew from Kunduz last month did not reveal signs of heavy fighting.

So, while the Western media is busy accusing the Russians of accidentally hitting hospitals in Syria, MSF itself is now out accusing the US of gunning down fleeing civilians after engaging what Washington absolutely knew was a functioning medical facility. Here, for what it's worth, is Washington's excuse:

"Several Afghan officials have suggested Taliban fighters were using the hospital as a base."

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Thursday, November 12, 2015 9:15 PM

THGRRI

Russia’s entry into Syria worsens killings of medical workers on war’s front lines

"As global talks on Syria take place in Vienna, we look at the dangers to medical workers on the front lines of the world’s deadliest conflict. Nearly 700 medical personnel have been killed in Syria since the war erupted in March 2011. The group Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) says there have been more than 300 attacks on health facilities—with the Syrian regime responsible 90 percent of the time. According to Doctors Without Borders, airstrikes in Syria have killed at least 35 patients and medical staff since an escalation in bombings late last month. Russian airstrikes have damaged six Syrian health facilities this month, killing at least four civilians and wounding six medical staffers. We are joined by PHR’s Widney Brown and a Syrian doctor who fled his country under the cover of night."

"DR. CONRAD FISCHER: Various people and various groups are specifically targeting hospitals, because they know that if they wipe out the first responders and the doctors, all the injured will die. If you injure—one of the things people don’t know about an explosive device is that the actual number of people injured, for each person killed, is actually 20 to one. So when you hear on the news that one person died, you have to multiply it by 20. You get rid of the doctors, then those 20 people don’t make it."

http://www.pressenza.com/2015/10/russias-entry-into-syria-worsens-kill
ings-of-medical-workers-on-wars-front-lines/

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Thursday, November 12, 2015 9:22 PM

THGRRI

Unlike you and SIG 1kiki. I won't post the disgusting pictures.

— A barrage of missiles slammed into an overcrowded suburb of the Syrian capital, killing at least 45 people on Friday, activists said, as world powers convened in Vienna for talks on how to resolve the country's conflict.

"The Syrian National Council, the main Western-backed opposition group in exile, blamed Russian airstrikes for the "massacre" in Douma, saying 55 civilians were killed. It said it was the second deadly attack in the past 24 hours after Russian airstrikes bombed the main Douma hospital the previous day."

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Attack-kills-dozens-in-Syria-
as-talks-begin-in-6600222.php

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Friday, November 13, 2015 2:26 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Russian airstrikes have damaged six Syrian health facilities this month, killing at least four civilians and wounding six medical staffers.

As far as I can tell, this particular allegation is as phony as the "Iraqi soldiers ripping babies out of incubators and leaving them on the cold tile floor to die".

--------------
You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.

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Friday, November 13, 2015 10:08 AM

THGRRI

Quote:
Originally posted by G:
Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:
US Planes Fired On Fleeing Civilians, Doctors Without Borders Says

I wish I could say I doubted this. All I can think is why and for what? Hoping to kill a couple Taliban? They got bored? It makes no sense. There's nothing there worth shooting someone over.

I agree that it looks like it happened. The jury is still out as to why but that won't help those affected by the attack. That said there is a big difference of America having this happen on occasion, and Russia doing it as a matter of policy.

No surprise SIG is engineering the propaganda and denial train on behalf of Russia and Syria.

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Friday, November 13, 2015 12:08 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Horrific - killing aid workers to make sure the wounded will die

The militarily smart thing to do is to let the enemy continue to expend their resources on treating the wounded. A dead soldier is no longer a problem, a wounded soldier saps the enemy for a long time.

--------------
You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.

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Friday, November 13, 2015 3:20 PM

RAHLMACLAREN

"Damn yokels, can't even tell a transport ship ain't got no guns on it." - Jayne Cobb

Quote:
Originally posted by G:
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Horrific - killing aid workers to make sure the wounded will die
The militarily smart thing to do is to let the enemy continue to expend their resources on treating the wounded. A dead soldier is no longer a problem, a wounded soldier saps the enemy for a long time.

I disagree, but whatever. A fixed wounded soldier can come back to fight again and the resources used are minimal - Dr's are working or not. Militarily the smart thing to do is kill your enemy. Militarily it's pretty damn stupid to risk hearts and minds over a few Talibs.

Another "war" the higher ups have no intention of ending. They can't turn a profit on an "armed conflict" that doesn't exist. They have to piss people off so their side will continue to be attacked. If they don't have that part of it, then they're just murdering civilians, armed or not.

(^This paragraph can be used about ANY country that does this shit.)

Find here the Serenity you seek. -Tara Maclay

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