Thursday, August 27, 2020
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Monday, August 24, 2020
Murtaza Hussain at The Intercept: "Civilian Deaths in U.S. Wars Are Skyrocketing Under Trump" (10/9/2019)
Since his emergence as a political figure, Trump has promised that if he ever attained power, he would use the U.S. military to inflict a massive bloodletting on others, including noncombatants. Unlike other campaign promises, Trump has delivered on this one. Since taking office, he has presided over skyrocketing rates of civilian casualties in America’s many foreign conflicts. [...]
IN THE POST-9/11 era, the U.S. military has made a point of not publicizing the civilian death tolls from its operations. But studies by independent researchers and nongovernmental organizations conservatively put the number of civilians killed in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan into the hundreds of thousands. The real figures are likely even higher. Trump, it is worth noting, is not the only one responsible for these deaths. The wars began long before he came into office, after all. But under his watch, and with his assent, they have been waged with more brutality and less apparent regard for innocent life. [...]
Even if Trump never shoots anyone directly, he and his administration are responsible for deaths on a scale that screams at us to take notice.
https://theintercept.com/2019/10/02/trump-impeachment-civilian-casualties-war/
"Trump’s brand of war is killing more civilians than before" (9/8/2019)
After 18 years of grinding wars on distant battlefields, Americans are understandably eager to bring the troops home.
But even if most are pulled out, the Trump administration plans to stay involved in these conflicts — through airstrikes, special operations, intelligence sharing and other aid to “partner forces.” Paradoxical as it may seem, civilian casualties may continue to increase.
We will be tempted to declare that our wars are over. They won’t be.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)