Should We Allow NATO Free Rein to Attack and Kill People?
The airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers is just the latest in a series of mistakes that raise doubts about NATO’s credibility
By PRATAP CHATTERJEE
Commondreams.org
Why did NATO forces kill two dozen Pakistani soldiers at a border post in the Mohmand region, some 300 yards across the frontier from Afghanistan early on Saturday morning? The US military claims the attack was in response to hostile fire, and the Pakistanis are demanding proof of that.
There is a very simple explanation of what happened: the US military makes deadly mistakes all the time, and for all its technological wizardry and tremendous firepower, it has very little intelligence on the ground.
“There are many questions that need to be answered,” an editorial in the New York Times pronounced:
“Who first fired on the American-Afghan force? Pakistan’s army is far too cozy with the Taliban. Were fighters sheltering near the Pakistani outposts? What about Pakistan’s claim that the NATO strikes continued for two hours even after Pakistan alerted allied officials? What needs to be done differently going forward?”
In New York and Washington, this is standard fare. We can’t trust the Pakistanis, they are with the terrorists.
But can we trust NATO or the US military? There are numerous examples of firing on civilians, killing children and even deliberately targeting and assassinating individuals who turn out not to have been the people they were claimed to be. And that is in Afghanistan, a country where the US has easy access..... MORE
Source: Bulatlat.com
URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/12/02/should-we-allow-nato-free-rein-to-attack-and-kill-people/