Lethal Profiling of Afghan Men

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  • Lethal Profiling of Afghan Men
    http://www.theinvestigativefund.org/dialogs/print/?id=1843

    The evidence suggests that US and coalition forces have not been taking “extraordinary care” in Afghanistan and that, as a result, civilian men and boys have paid a grave price. Hard numbers are impossible to come by, and even anecdotal reports are generally limited to cases in which women and children — who can less readily be cast as dead insurgents — were killed alongside males. “We were always disagreeing with ISAF on the number of civilians killed,” a former UN human rights official told The Nation. “There was the whole question of adult males — for [ISAF], they were always insurgents. And we were getting testimony from the families that they were farmers.”

    From the president of the United States to the troops on the ground in Afghanistan, to the military personnel conducting drone strikes from bases in America, a mindset that equates military-age males with insurgents seems to prevail, making the killing of innocents all but inevitable. Nor is there any evidence that this situation will abate so long as US-led coalition forces remain in the country.

    #drones #victimes_civiles