create your own

Is the US to blame for civilians deaths in Afghanistan air strikes?

64
rate or flag this page

By Coolbreezing


The 2018 bomber
The 2018 bomber
Global strike
Global strike
NASIRIYAH,IRAQ - MARCH 23:United States Marines
NASIRIYAH,IRAQ - MARCH 23:United States Marines

The pilot who pulls the trigger is never the one to blame.

I will begin this debate by declaring that we’re not at war with the Afghan people. To suggest otherwise would be an over statement. We’re fighting Taliban while chasing down Al-Qeada. As far as I understand it to be, the concept behind this conflict is to defend our land against further attack from the Taliban. As a country, we should be well aware of our predecessor’s mistakes as well as the threat we faced.

To assume that our enemy will not retaliate against us is a naïve position to embrace. It doesn’t matter who the president is, we should not presume that the enemy will not retaliate as a mean to revenge past conflict. If we’re convinced that we maybe attack by Taliban or Al-Qeada members than the best defense is an offensive move, because to stay home and wait for another attack would not be a wise idea. It is with this understand that I believed the Obama’s administration have asked our citizens for their patient and support.

I don’t think that they were ever a need to go to war with the Afghan people. The focus was always in favor of protecting the American people from harms. It maybe illogical to some that we had to deployed troops to Afghanistan to insure this safety, but those people might not be looking at the whole picture. The strategy that the Obama’s administration employed focused on discouraging Taliban from organizing. And to accomplish that, member of our military must be present in Afghanistan.

I honestly don’t think this is a conflict that the American people look forward to but some do understand that it is one that is necessary for their safety. We can definitely use the money use to fund the Afghan conflict in our infrastructure and job creation but it’s not possible. If we believe that they are a chance that Taliban or Al-Qeada may retaliate against us than this money has properly been distributed for its cause.

If the above conditions that I have stated satisfy your understanding, then we may proceed to further analysis. A ground target is strike by a bomber, a military precision aircraft design to shoot down the enemy combatant from its altitude to any given point of reference on the ground level. With that in mind, can the aircraft pilot mistakenly hit the wrong target, of course yes? However, we should not assume that in all cases where civilians have die because of a bomber strike, US is to blame.

If our strategy is to prevent civilian casualties at all course, than it could be seen as a weakness from a Taliban or Al-Qaeda point of view. In which case, leaders of Al-Qaeda or Taliban can disguise themselves with civilian’s bodies as a way to avoid air strike against US bomber.

The pilot who pulls the trigger is never the one to blame for air strike attacks. One of his functions is to follow orders conveyed by a higher rank officer. His job is to deliver the bomb at the precise location of which his been instructed to. The only time he is to blame, is when he has disobeyed direct order or delivered more than he was asked to.

Knowing that, if Osama Bin Laden were to be pen pointed among civilian supporters, would the US be wrong for risking civilian lives to take down Bin Laden or should we stand back as a mean to preserve civilian lives. Where this circumstance maybe troublesome to most, to a military bomber pilot, it may not even be a second thought. Sense militants are trained to follow order, they often don’t think of the consequences.

As we all know in war civilian casualties are always a problem. They have never been a war without civilian casualties. Perhaps, using ground forces as an alternative to Air bombers can minimize civilian casualties. But what good would that serve the US military when Afghanistan is a country of many mountains. It would seem to me that both air and ground forces would be necessary.

Come to think of it ground forces is just as dangerous as the air bombers, they both can cause massive civilian death, the different lies in how the weapon is used. Regardless of the weapon used, to minimize civilian death, the US military will have to avoid major landmark where people can be found in abundance. Places such as hospitals, libraries and mosque, places of worships.

To fight Al-Qaeda in a civilize manner, if such thing exit. The US military will have to avoid using weapon that can cause massive civilian death. Those weapons are biological, chemical and unplanned air strike which at time can hit civilians. To prevent civilian death the US military must also obey international laws set forth by the Geneva Convention.

The strategy that can work best in this case would be for the US military to have informers on the ground level among the civilian population, informing the US military on Al – Qaeda’s way about. Having such information at hand would allow the military to make more precise decision on their enemies’ way about. But as some of us know, finding someone who speaks the Afghan language that the US intelligence can trust can be a difficult task.

Those who oppose this conflict believed that they should never have been one. Which is understood because after coming from Iraq, Afghanistan can definitely be seen as a substitute for the war in Iraq. Then again they are those who would argue that this conflict will result to nothing. They believe that Afghanistan has never been defeated and it’s not about to happen now. As for me, that’s not what I see because it’s not a conflict against the Afghan people. This conflict is in place as a mean to minimize the threat we face from terrorist. This conflict is not design to be won but instead to disrupt Al-Qeada and Taliban from organizing.

Comments

RSS for comments on this Hub

LondonGirl profile image

LondonGirl  says:
10 months ago

There isn't an Afghan language at all - which is part of the problem. The main one is Dari (similar to Farsi), the second is Pashtu, then there are tens of others.

Coolbreezing profile image

Coolbreezing  says:
10 months ago

Well, you said it. That is a problem, they understand our language we don't understand theirs. Also would they trust Americans   ...most people in Afghan is against US troops entering their country.  The Russians were not successful in Afghanistan. Why do you think their failed?

LondonGirl profile image

LondonGirl  says:
10 months ago

A whole mixture of reasons - everyone has historically failed in Afghanistan, including the British in the 19th century.

Coolbreezing profile image

Coolbreezing  says:
10 months ago

What is your advice for US in Afghanistan     ....should they stay there or is it a waist of time.

LondonGirl profile image

LondonGirl  says:
10 months ago

Spend, build, leave.

Coolbreezing profile image

Coolbreezing  says:
10 months ago

OK

forlan profile image

forlan  says:
9 months ago

US must responsible for death civilians. they may kill taliban but they do not have to kill civilian

bgamall profile image

bgamall  says:
7 months ago

Coolbreezing, while I like much of your writing, it is clear that we are not in Afghanistan chasing down the Taliban. We are in Afghanistan to build a pipeline to Bush senior's investments in the Caspian Sea. The Taliban stand in the way of that goal.

As unpleasant as those guys are, did you know that they went to Texas in 1997, as guests of UNOCAL, a Texas oil company? They refused a bribe to build the pipeline. Apparently the Unocal Company had supplied weapons to the Taliban when they were fighting Russia or sometime later.

Anyway, if you believe like I do that 9/11 was an inside conspiracy which used Al Qaeda people to accomplish the pipeline goal and the stealing of Iraq oil, then you can see how the whole sordid puzzle fits together.

Submit a Comment

Members and Guests

Sign in or sign up and post using a hubpages account.


optional


  • No HTML is allowed in comments, but URLs will be hyperlinked
  • Comments are not for promoting your hubs or other sites

working