OBAMA: THE KILLER?

It did not take long for Obama to put his stamp on what might be laughingly called American foreign policy.

The merciless and indiscriminate drone attacks on Pashtun civilians were continued from Day One. The latest instance of 100 civilians dead was due to airstrikes

After all how dare anybody question the imperial edict of the greatest power on earth? Killer Obama was up to showing his mettle, or perhaps the military-industrial systems overwhelmed him, or blindsided him. >Nonetheless the Killer has blood oozing from every pore and stenching every unctuous statement.

The BBC reports:

Washington “deeply, deeply” regrets the death of Afghan civilians killed by an air strike, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.
Red Cross officials believe dozens of civilians including women and children died in the strike which targeted Taleban fighters in Farah Province.
The civilians are said to have been sheltering from fighting at the time.
Mrs Clinton was speaking alongside the Afghan and Pakistani presidents who are in Washington to meet Barack Obama.

The pretense is that this outcome is an accident, but such accidents keep on happening. Murder is not an accident. It is policy. The underlying message is something like, “we show these non-persons they have to bend to our imperial will, and we will go on killing them until they do.”

So here is a round up of the state of play, via AlterNet:

Killer Obama does not get it. He believes, or at least his advisers who lead him, believe that overwhelming force and murder is always the answer, as in Iraq, oblivious as befits imperialists to the damage and suffering they are causing (and to themselves as well).

Try to imagine if you can what you would feel if the situation was reversed. Suppose someone was sending drones to kill people in the United States. Murderers always have their justifications. In that case, on one would find it acceptable to suggest that thirty known enemies and 700 civilians. Ipso facto, it is wrong. Obama is a murderer by ordering their deaths.

The names and stories of the dead are never recorded. How convenient for their anonymous killers the people who fired the “hellfire” missiles. How convenient that Nuremberg is as dead as those hanged, silent and guilty Nazis. Much like Saddam Hussein – and his crime was the invasion of Kuwait, never mind the Iraq-Iran War.

If Obama is not responsible, then who is? What seems to be the case is that Afghan civilians, including children, do not matter, so the killing can continue unimpeded. Does Obama approve? Will he act to stop it?

ELSEWHERE:

As reported by The Sydney Morning Herald, Obama is not taking responsibility for the deaths of the civilians and children, nor is he apparently especially remorseful:

President Barack Obama on Wednesday said the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan had forged a new front against extremists, but Afghan deaths in US raids cast a pall over a high-stakes summit here.

Obama gathered Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani leader Asif Ali Zardari for one-on-one talks, and a trilateral summit, hoping to ease years of mistrust between the neighbours in the name of defeating the Taliban.

“I’m pleased that these two men, elected leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan, fully appreciate the seriousness of the threat that we face, and have reaffirmed their commitment to confronting it,” Obama said.

. . . “I made it clear that the United States will work with our Afghan and international partners to make every effort to avoid civilian casualties,” Obama said after talks with the two presidents.

Clinton, who met the two leaders before Obama, also added condolences.

“I wish to express my personal regret and certainly the sympathy of our administration on the loss of civilian life in Afghanistan,” she said.

“We deeply regret it. We don’t know all of the circumstances or causes. And there will be a joint investigation by your government and ours,” Clinton told Karzai.

But Clinton also expressed hope the Washington talks would renew the battered joint effort to combat extremism.

The murder is set to continue – and therefore it is us who are responsible, not the killers.

Patrick Cockburn reports on “120 die as US Bombs village” in The Independent. The killers showed no remorse, only promised more of the same. One has to suspect they are quite proud of themselves – they are now fulled winged terrorists.

The BBC reports that hundreds of people took to the streets in Farah chanting, “death to America” and “death to the invaders”. Since when do Imperialists listen to public opinion!

The perennial question:What is to be done? Obama has been noticeably inactive with regard to the Gaza slaughter and now the murder in Afghanistan. The political calculation that these lives do not matter does no credit to Obama if that is how he is thinking. It is true that Obama was seen as a person of great potential. It is true that he has inherited the military regime of the former president. It is true that he has inherited enormous problems. That said, it now looks like he is going to be a failure. If any of us cannot defend human life we are not good for anything.

The problem with calling Obama a killer is that it is a violent thought and a step on the path of violence. Even if, as seems likely personal abuse, won’t work, something has to be done to save the lives of people due to bombed or missiled in the future, which Obama has disgracefully cast from his mind. We are the ones to keep them alive, because Obama has shown himself to be irresponsible.

If you think that I am alone on this case, consider Rethink Afghanistan:

Remember all those promises from US commanders in Afghanistan, the promises made after each killing of large numbers of Afghan civilians, sometimes by air strikes, sometimes by ground forces during raids? After each incident – at least as far back as July 2007 – the commanders issue new pledges that US forces will change their rules of engagement, will take more care, will be more cautious to avoid more murders of Afghan civilians.

. . . Afghan President Karzai, who is in the US to meet with Congress and President Obama, has ordered an investigation, and a US commander has been sent to investigate. We know what comes next: a statement of regret, some condolence money, and yet another promise to be more careful in the future—a promise which recent history tells us will once again be broken.

Update: The broken record plays on. This time the statement of regret comes from Secretary of State Clinton as seen above.

This behavior has got to stop. It is intolerable, as it is potentially criminal, as it is inhuman.

Tom Engelhardt gets into the detail.

Chris Floyd mentions in passing the attempt at blame shifting. Not some accident this, but sustained and intentional murder. Expect more of the same. If not a killer, Obama is a moral cripple – and so are we, if we do nothing.

Obama carries the ultimate responsibility, but the day to day activities in the field, are not necessarily under his direct control. No doubt Obama has agreed to the grand strategy, conceived by Brzezenski or his like, and does not have operational experience as Eisenhower did. Furthermore there are not the experienced world leaders. such as De Guall, that Kennedy could be given advice. Then again there is almost no president that has faced the problems that Obama has on assuming office. Like everybody else he has to learn on the job.

Associated Press, via Truthdig,duly reported the incident and the higher death toll of 147 people. Of course, the Americans blamed “the Taleban”. The murder of innocent people including children is not a matter for laughter. The pathetic nature of blame shifting and the thin excuses is risible – it would do credit to the Israeli Army. Poor babies, they did not mean to kill anyone, and they kept on, as though that was the brave warrior, manly thing to do. Everything about this action suggests deliberation.

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