US forces bomb another hospital

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34440965

22 dead, as the hospital was hit repeatedly over a period of 90 minutes.

Initially going with the usual "mistake" rhetoric, the attackers now apparently admit that this was deliberate, based on a belief that Taliban members were inside.

If a protected site is being used for military purposes that, according to the Geneva Convention, it loses all protections. Fact.

Now, the only question is were they correct in their belief that the Taliban were using it for military purposes?

Oh, and it often takes time for sit reps to get written and info to go from the battle field up the chain of command. So it isn't surprising that information would trickle in.

It is instructive that your reflexive reaction is to seek to justify the incident rather than to seek accountability. Link to where this fact is established.

There's certainly no evidence of any military activity in the area. I would speculate that perhaps Taliban were being treated in the hospital, and the US wanted to send a message that they wouldn't tolerate that.

This is why it's hard to take your proclamations seriously. You start with the idea that the US intentionally bombed a hospital to send a message. I may not know what happened, but I can pretty much guarantee that your interpretation is wrong.

I didn't "start with" it. I said that that that's a speculation.

The incident needs to be investigated without presumption either way.

I'm bothered by this and the fact there is not more concern in the media this side of the ocean.

However on National Public Radio, a decidedly moderate if not left leaning news source, the report this morning is that Afghan forces radioed for air support against Taliban forces in the hospital compound. Afghan officials are not condemning the strike so perhaps this is more than speculation.

Whether it was known to the US at the time that the requested strike area was a hospital wasn't revealed.

I am not seeking to justify the incident but am stating a fact about what the Geneva Convention says. If, and this has yet to be established, but if it was being used for military purposes then the Geneva Convention states a protected site loses its protected status. That is a fact.

Now, it appears Afghan Forces were telling the US that the hospital was being used as a Taliban firing position and requested US Air support. So the question becomes were the Afghan Forces correct?

Why doesn't Rick post these threads when there's a Taliban suicide bombing? Or is this just another offering as part of his "Americans are just as evil as Islamists" agenda?

My guess is he is knee jerk anti-American probably because he considers Americans pro-British. Either way it is a sorry way to go through life.

He might benefit from living in a muslim country for a while so he could learn who the real bad guys are. His pseudo-Communist beliefs seem to blind him. Hell, the Russians mass bombed whole towns in Afghanistan while the Taliban goes into a town and kills all males between 16-65 yet in Rick's mind it is the US who is evil for following the Geneva Convention. He probably didn't even know what the Geneva Convention says about misused protected sites though and instead just went with his knee jerk anti-Americanism.

Provide a link to the fact. Your record for dissembling of late is not good.

This is asked and answered on every occasion. We all agree that the Taliban are scumbags, so there's little debate to be had in it. And none of us elect the political bodies that control the Taliban.

I wasn't aware you elected the US President.

Learn something new every day.....

Your lack of reading comprehension is disappointing.

Oh, I don't think it is. You said nobody controlled the Taliban therefore there's no point in discussing it. But you, as an Irishman, don't control the Americans either.

Horse shit. How can you be so ignorant? Do you think western soldiers are not educated on the laws of war? Do you think I have not been a soldier who has served in war? You ponce.

I did not. For fuck sake, pay attention.

Provide a link or STFU.

The facts are there for all to see who wish to see. It is a long established fact so I will not waste much time looking for it. As I must get ready for work I will let you stew in your ignorance and come back around lunch if I feel like it. You might as well ask someone to prove the sky is blue, you ponce, but just to be nice I will link to the appropriate section, you ignoramus.

This is the relevant provision.

My bolding. Is this what you are referring to? If so, it's clear that the US did not meet that condition here and that your bullshit is just that.

Again.

If the U.S. was called in to conduct an airstrike by allied Afghan forces it was not our job to issue a warning. It was the obligation of the Afghan forces on site wasn't it?

Don't blame us.

Indeed, we get bombarded (no pun intended) with Law Of Land Warfare/Geneva Convention rules beginning with basic training.

It's a pity then that you so often fail to follow it, or even to give a shit when incidents such as this one occur.

Really now? When have I not followed the Geneva Convention? If by "you" you mean the military in general, that makes no sense - I can't control what the rest of the military does. And maybe I do give a shit - but that would be once I get all the facts. And let's jump ahead to me giving a shit - I can't do shit about it.

When a hospital is subject to a sustained aerial assault by your military, killing many innocent people, giving a shit ought not to come with pre-conditions - even if it was a genuine mistake.
The response here from you and others is predictable hand-wringing.

US forces are responsible for their own actions. They conducted the attack, having been made fully aware repeatedly in advance of the location of the hospital.

And you know this to be the case, how exactly?

MSF (doctors without borders) made this statement:

MSF wishes to clarify that all parties to the conflict, including in Kabul and Washington, were clearly informed of the precise location (GPS Coordinates) of the MSF facilities – hospital, guest-house, office and an outreach stabilization unit in Chardara (to the north-west of Kunduz). As MSF does in all conflict contexts, these precise locations were communicated to all parties on multiple occasions over the past months, including most recently on 29 September.​

Legally speaking, yes, it does. Just as, legally speaking, if the only two possible suspects in a crime are the meth dealer with a mile-long rap sheet and the little old lady next door, the police need to question both of them.

But for the purposes of an online discussion, the possibility that the Taliban, an organization well known for its barbarism, decided to seek a tactical or PR advantage by setting up shop in a hospital ... and the possibility that an American general said "Hey, you know what, let's bomb the fuck out of some kids in a hospital, it'll be a barrel of laughs" ... are not equally likely.