Afghans "Understand" Why US Soldiers Kill Their Children

Afghan men pray at graves of nine children killed in U.S. air strike

We have found the solution to our troubled military occupation of Iraq: understanding.

What we need is more “understanding” Iraqis. Why can’t they be as understanding as the Afghans?

Yesterday, the US military carried out an airstrike against the central Afghan village of Hutala. Afterwards, one man and nine children lay dead.

An Associated Press reporter described “dozens of small craters from the U.S. plane's guns and pools of blood and articles of childrens' clothing strewn around.”

"They were just playing ball and then the shots came down," one villager who lost his eight-year-old son Habibullah said to reporters.

Habibullah means “Beloved of God,” and indeed the boy has returned to his beloved, with a little help from President Bush.

In the aftermath, US military spokesman Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty described today how “understanding” the Afghan villagers were about losing their children.

“They’re pretty understanding,” said Hilferty. “They’ve been through years of war. They're not happy, but I think it meant a great deal to them that my commander, Gen. [Lloyd] Austin, came out and personally expressed his condolences.”

If only Iraqis can be a bit more understanding. Perhaps they need a few more years of military occupation, home demolitions, military checkpoints, and more dead kids before they can “understand” us better.

We belong to God, and to Him is our return. (Qur’an 2:156)
[Contributed by Ahmed Nassef, MWU]