AP tries to bail Obama out of Afghan gaffe--fails
The Captain Quarters noted the gaffe early today where Obama was quoted as suggesting that US forces were bombing civilians in Iraq. He was not clear whether he thought this was deliberate or reckless. Either choice would misstate what we are actually doing in Iraq and what the enemy is doing. His latest post notes the AP's attempt to "fact check" the civilian death claims in Iraq despite there being no official records.
Lets be clear, the AP doesn't have a clue how many civilian deaths have occurred in Afghanistan. At best they have hearsay statements from people who don't have a clue. It has become a common tactic for the Taliban to claim civilian casualties when ever their units are destroyed. So in some regard the AP is just repeating Taliban propaganda.
The reality is that the Taliban don't wear uniforms as required by the Geneva Conventions, nor do they wear dog ties to identify them when killed. They currently are so strapped for fighters that they are bringing young boys with them to do battle. If one is injured they can trot him out as a "civilian" casualty.
This being the case, it is very likely that most of the casualties the AP identified as civilian were very likely Taliban fighters. The others were more than likely human shields taken by the Taliban in a cowardly attempt to avoid destruction. If so, the AP again would have no way of verifying whether women and children were civilians killed as collateral damage or whether they were hostages taken by the Taliban.
The bottom line is that the AP does not have reliable figures from which they can fact check civilian casualties.
Jim Geraghty at National Review Online's Campaign Spot notes my email on this point.
Lets be clear, the AP doesn't have a clue how many civilian deaths have occurred in Afghanistan. At best they have hearsay statements from people who don't have a clue. It has become a common tactic for the Taliban to claim civilian casualties when ever their units are destroyed. So in some regard the AP is just repeating Taliban propaganda.
The reality is that the Taliban don't wear uniforms as required by the Geneva Conventions, nor do they wear dog ties to identify them when killed. They currently are so strapped for fighters that they are bringing young boys with them to do battle. If one is injured they can trot him out as a "civilian" casualty.
This being the case, it is very likely that most of the casualties the AP identified as civilian were very likely Taliban fighters. The others were more than likely human shields taken by the Taliban in a cowardly attempt to avoid destruction. If so, the AP again would have no way of verifying whether women and children were civilians killed as collateral damage or whether they were hostages taken by the Taliban.
The bottom line is that the AP does not have reliable figures from which they can fact check civilian casualties.
Jim Geraghty at National Review Online's Campaign Spot notes my email on this point.
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