The legacy of George Bush’s two “wars of liberation” may already be judged as foreign policy blunders, but the real costs of war remain even after the truism of failed empire. In Afghanistan, acid attacks on at least 15 female students mark a worrisome trend in womens’ rights there. And in Iraq, an Iraqi soldier opened fire on a patrol of U.S. troops, killing two.

Furthermore, the apparent BBC policy to tout the war-effort line in every article about violence in Iraq — by never failing to detail how, overall, there have been “significant improvements” in security even while death and despair are daily occurrences — in effect diminishes the real tragedy of these events. Is it possible that the BBC believes there is an acceptable level of violence in Afghanistan and Iraq, or that there is some sort of fabricated notion of objectivity that requires such a backhanded defense of the war?

The BBC:

Iraq:

An Iraqi soldier has shot dead at least two US soldiers and wounded six others in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, officials say.

The incident happened in the impoverished Zanjili district of the city when the group was carrying out a joint afternoon patrol.

The Iraqi trooper turned his gun on patrol members, the US military said, before being shot dead himself.

Read more

Afghanistan:

Attackers in Afghanistan have sprayed acid in the faces of at least 15 girls near a school in Kandahar, police say.

They say that the attack happened shortly before at least six people were killed in a bomb blast near a government building in the city.

Read more

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#afghanistan#bbc#death#empire#george w bush#imperialism#iraq#journalism#legacy#objectivity#policy#rights#security#taliban#troops#violence#war