U.S. officials wash their hands of Farah massacre

James Circello is an Iraq war veteran and a founding member of March Forward!

Afghanis take to the street to protest the Farah massacre carried out by U.S. airplanes.

U.S. Central Command officials announced with a straight face May 20 that recent airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Farah province killed only “20 to 30” civilians despite massive evidence to the contrary. Afghan figures indicate that more than 140 innocent civilians were killed in what may be the single deadliest U.S. attack in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion.

A member of Farah’s provincial council, Abdul Basir Khan, said he collected the names of the 147 individuals who died in the May 5 slaughter. “They were pointing to graves and saying, ‘This is my son, this is my daughter,’” Khan said. (Associated Press, May 8)

Mourning relatives of the victims showed mass graves to investigators, along with the remains of bombed-out buildings and homes. The International Red Cross reported that women and children were among the dozens of dead in two of the villages, and that numerous houses lay in ruin following bombings by U.S. warplanes.

Anger at the massacre quickly spilled over into the streets of Farah city, with thousands of Afghan villagers shouting, “Death to America!” and “Death to the government!” Residents hurled stones at police as they vented their fury at American airstrikes and tried to storm a government building. (The Independent, May 5)

According to Belqiz Rosha, a provincial council member, police fired at the demonstrators, pushing them back and wounding four. (Associated Press, May 7)

At a time when the Obama administration is looking to nearly double the troop levels in Afghanistan, the deaths of innocent civilians is bound to rise.

Military officials claim they ordered airstrikes on suspected militants after a firefight, but Afghan officials say the bombs killed civilians who were hiding in their homes. Villagers reportedly gathered women, children and the elderly in several compounds near the village of Garani to hide from the battle, but those compounds were destroyed by U.S. planes.

Washington’s official line has been that the air raid was a brief attack, using a few aircraft acting on mistaken intelligence. But survivors have exposed this as a lie, revealing that bombs fell for at least two hours. Some reports claimed the airstrikes continued later in the night. For U.S. officials to deny responsibility for these deaths is absurd.

The Pentagon officials who ordered the bombs to be dropped on three Afghan villages have cynically laid the blame for these deaths on those who have taken up arms against U.S. and NATO forces in a struggle against occupation and neocolonialism. They continue to suggest that militants are responsible for the deaths by “hiding among civilians.”

During a two-day visit to Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates offered a token statement of regret for the deaths but refused to accept responsibility. “The United States and coalition partners do everything we can to avoid civilian casualties,” Gates said as he visited the site of the massacre. “We regret any, even one, innocent civilian casualty and will make whatever amends are necessary.”

Civilian casualties will only end with the full withdrawal of occupation forces from Afghanistan. Amends should include reparations to the victims of U.S. war. But Gates, predictably, announced neither.

The war on the people of Afghanistan is now in its eighth year. Millions of Afghans are suffering while the U.S. lawmakers and Pentagon brass debate tactics to subjugate this nation. Workers in the United States have nothing to gain from this war. More than ever, we must stand against the continued war and occupation of the Afghan people and demand an immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces.

This is not our war!