UNICEF says SEVEN children were killed in Kabul drone strike
that US said targeted ISIS-K terrorists
30 Aug, 2021 18:07
FILE PHOTO. Kabul, Afghanistan. © Reuters / Omar Sobhani
At least seven children were killed in a Kabul drone strike, the UNICEF representative in Afghanistan told reporters. The Pentagon had said the strike eliminated an “imminent threat” by ISIS-K terrorists to the ongoing airlift.
“We have confirmation from open sources that seven children were killed” in the incident, Herve De Lys, UNICEF’s envoy to Afghanistan, told reporters on Monday. “We don’t know who is behind the strike,” he added.
The apparent ignorance from De Lys was puzzling, since the same open sources that reported the deaths clearly attributed the strike to the US – the New York Times, for example.
The US military also said it had carried out the drone strike, saying it was done in self-defense against an “imminent” threat by Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K). The group claimed responsibility for last week’s bombing at the gate of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA), which claimed the lives of 14 US military members and around 170 Afghans.
“We are not in a position to dispute it right now,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday, when asked about reports of civilian casualties in the strike.
US Central Command spokesman Captain Bill Urban said on Sunday that CENTCOM was “aware” of reported civilian casualties and was still “assessing” the outcome of the strike, which he said targeted a car bomb belonging to ISIS-K. Survivors of the drone strike, however, said it killed multiple members of an Afghan family, all civilians.
“We know that there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, indicating a large amount of explosive material inside that may have caused additional casualties,” Urban said. “We would be deeply saddened by any potential loss of innocent life,” he added.
De Lys said UNICEF is continuing its mission in Afghanistan, even though many outside agencies have picked up and left following the Taliban takeover, as some 10 million children remain at risk and at least 200,000 have been displaced.
“It is clearly a child protection crisis in a country that is already one of the worst places on earth to be a child,” he told reporters.
Thanks to US abandoning weapons in Afghanistan,
Taliban fighters now better armed than Ukrainian Army
– Russia’s defense minister
30 Aug, 2021 15:21
FILE PHOTO. Taliban fighters in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. © AP Photo/Rahmat Gul
Russia’s defense minister has claimed that the US left behind more than 100 Javelin portable anti-tank missile systems in Afghanistan. Sergey Shoigu now believes that the militant group is better equipped than the Ukrainian Army.
He told the YouTube channel Solovyov Live that the terrorists’ considerable cache of weapons, and vehicles, is a massive risk for Afghanistan.
“Javelins are supplied to Ukraine from the United States,” Shoigu said. “I don’t remember how many, a few dozen, or so.”
This means that the Taliban now has more of them than the Ukrainian Army.
The Javelin is a portable fire-and-forget anti-tank missile that uses automatic infrared guidance. It has been used extensively in the war in Afghanistan, as well as in Iran, Syria, and Libya.
According to Shoigu, the large number of weapons now in the possession of the Taliban is a huge threat.
As well as Javelins, the militant group now has access to Black Hawk helicopters, Hercules planes, and thousands of Humvees, amongst other vehicles. They also have thousands of guns and a whole host of other firearms.
Last week, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby admitted that the US administration has no idea of the inventory taken by the Taliban.
“Obviously, we don’t want to see any weapons or systems fall into the hands of people that would use them in such a way to harm our interests or those of our partners and allies,” he said.
Soooooo, why did they?
The US has provided at least $1.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine since 2014, providing weapons, vehicles, and other technological support. Earlier this year, President Joe Biden announced an extra boost worth $125 million, including two patrol boats.
When they stand before Jesus in Judgement, I hope America's Generals have a better definition of 'Righteous' than the one they present here.
‘Righteous’ drone strike in Kabul killed ‘at least one’ ISIS-K terrorist,
Pentagon says amid reports of 7 dead CHILDREN
1 Sep, 2021 22:19 / Updated 14 hours ago
Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley speaks at the Pentagon, September 1, 2021.
© REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
The US drone strike in Kabul that allegedly killed seven children was “righteous,” followed proper procedures, and eliminated “at least one” person who was a “facilitator” for ISIS-K terrorists, the top US military officer said.
Sunday’s strike had targeted a vehicle in Kabul, which the US Central Command said represented an “imminent” threat to the evacuation efforts ongoing at Hamid Karzai International Airport at the time.
Local media and the Taliban, however, said that 10 civilians were killed as a result – seven of them children.
Addressing reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley repeated the claim by CENTCOM that “secondary explosions” were evidence that the vehicle was intended to attack the airport.
Or, perhaps the vehicle had a gas tank!
“At this point, we think that the procedures were correctly followed, and it was a righteous strike,” he told reporters, adding that “at least one” person who was killed was a “facilitator” for the terrorist group Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K). It was ISIS-K that claimed responsibility for last Thursday’s suicide bombing outside the airport, which killed an estimated 200 Afghans and 13 US troops.
“Were the others killed? Yes. Who are they? We don’t know,” Milley said, adding there would be an investigation.
Initially, CENTCOM said that there were “no indications” of civilian casualties from the “self-defense” strike. After local reports identified the victims by name, however, CENTCOM spokesman Captain Bill Urban said they would be “deeply saddened by any potential loss of innocent life.” He maintained that the casualties were caused not by the US drone, but by the explosion of the vehicle itself, however.
Which exploded because of the US drone attack!
“We know that there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, indicating a large amount of explosive material inside that may have caused additional casualties,” Urban said on Sunday.
Question: Were there 3 adults and 7 children in the car or were many of them standing near the explosion? If they were all in the car, how much room would there be for bombs?
Asked about the civilian casualties on Monday, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters that they’re “not in a position to dispute it right now.”
Shortly afterwards, the last US planes took off from Kabul, ending the two-week airlift that President Joe Biden would describe on Tuesday as “an extraordinary success.”
Astonishing! Expensive Afghan war ends and military budget goes up! I guess they have to replace the billions of dollars of military equipment that they left for the Taliban.
As Afghan war ends, House approves $24bn bump for Pentagon budget
2 Sep, 2021 08:56
Just after the US military’s wasteful Afghanistan mission came to a close, House legislators marked almost $24 billion in extra defense spending supposedly needed to maintain America’s competitive edge against Russia and China.
The House Armed Services Committee held a marathon session on Wednesday to markup the spending under the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Lawmakers from both parties joined forces to defy President Joe Biden’s intention to keep the Pentagon budget at $715 billion for next year, essentially keeping it at the same level as last year. Instead, an extra $23.9 billion was set to be poured into weapons procurement, research and other areas.
The financial boost was proposed by Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, the ranking Republican member on the committee, who welcomed the passage of his proposal as a snub to Biden from his own party.
“The bipartisan adoption of my amendment sends a clear signal: the president’s budget submission was wholly inadequate to keep pace with a rising China and a re-emerging Russia,” he said.
“I hope this bipartisan, and now bicameral, move is understood by the Biden-Harris administration,” the Republican lawmaker added, referring to last month’s approval of a similar increase in defense spending by the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The increase of topline spending to $740 billion was passed against the objections of Armed Services Committee Chair Adam Smith of Washington. The Democrat argued that the extra money would disincentivize the Pentagon from curbing wastefulness.
The DoD needs to “do a better job of acquisition and procurement, do a better job of anticipating what the threats are now versus what they were 30 years ago,” he said.
If we give them another $23.9 billion, it takes the pressure off. It makes it easier for them to just keep doing what they’ve been doing.
Fourteen Democrats broke party ranks to vote with the GOP on Rogers’ amendment, securing passage 42-17. The cross-aisle supporters represent districts relying on military spending or have served in the military themselves. Provided the House and Senate Appropriations panels sign off on the budget increase, the additional funding will go primarily into shipbuilding, research and military construction.
The House markup session took place just after the US Afghanistan mission was formally ended this week. The pullout left over $6 billion in unspent funds in Pentagon coffers, which were allocated previously for the now-disbanded Afghan Security Forces. Those included some $600 million left unspent since FY2020, $2.3 billion from the current year and $3.3 billion requested for FY2022 and approved in June.
Afghanistan was prominent on the floor, with some of the proposed amendments directed at things like prohibiting US funding of the Taliban and demanding quarterly briefings from the Biden administration on the national security situation. There was also some wrangling over Republican attempts to hold the Democratic president accountable for the humiliatingly hasty and chaotic evacuation from Afghanistan. Chairman Smith pushed back against such voices, arguing that “if we’re going to honestly look at Afghanistan, we need to look at all 20 years.”
The two parties may clash on assigning the blame for the Afghanistan exit and other visible foreign policy blunders. But the bipartisan consensus on grading the Pentagon’s spending wishes remains as strong as ever, despite the department’s notorious inability to pass an audit and explain what the taxpayers are getting out of it.
