‘Collateral Damage’ Not Much Different From Targeted Killing

Robert Fisk / Truthdig Oct 11, 2008 When U.S. troops massacre Iraqi civilians in Haditha because their buddy has been murdered, what is the difference between their revenge and that of Saddam? Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Gates Sorry, Continues Dropping Bombs

Staff / Truthdig Sep 17, 2008 It seems that "personal regret" is deemed sufficient to exculpate the U.S military after the deaths of civilians in U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Gates offered his hollow apologies and promised more accurate targeting in future attacks. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Footage of Slain Afghan Civilians Revives Inquiry Into U.S. Raid

Staff / Truthdig Sep 9, 2008 Cell-phone footage shot by a doctor in a makeshift morgue in Azizabad, Afghanistan, showing rows of dead Afghan civilians, including several children, has led to a renewed inquiry into an American-led airstrike that occurred on Aug. 22. American officials had previously insisted that only seven civilians had been killed in the attack, but they're now having to face the possibility that the actual figure could be as high as 90. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

U.S. Keeps Bombing Weddings

Staff / Truthdig Jul 15, 2008 Apparently, the Bush administration is also against straight marriage -- if you live in the desert under U.S. military occupation. Tom Engelhardt details seven years of wedding crashing in Afganistan and Iraq, and the notable lack of remorse on the part of the Pentagon. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Inquiry Finds U.S. Strike Killed Wedding Party

Staff / Truthdig Jul 11, 2008 Imagine this happening in the US: Forty-seven people, including the bride, are killed on their way to a wedding after an airstrike on "militants" goes off course Of course, this happened not in the U but in Afghanistan, and, of course, the attack's civilian toll was initially denied by the U military. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Civilians Caught in Afghan Airstrike

Staff / Truthdig Aug 4, 2007 A U.S.-led airstrike on a meeting of Taliban leaders killed a "large number" of civilians, witnesses said. Roughly 50 people were hospitalized for injuries. NATO has said it is considering the use of smaller bombs in order to curtail civilian casualties. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Carnage From the Air

Tom Engelhardt / Truthdig Jul 9, 2007 Civilian deaths as a result of ground operations (see Haditha) often evoke cries of barbarism from the media, but the killing of innocents in airstrikes is routinely characterized as "collateral damage" and a cold fact of modern warfare. Tom Engelhardt of Tomdispatch proposes that we start to speak honestly about the devastation American military operations have rained down on Afghanistan and Iraq and see "collateral damage" for what it really is: carnage. Dig deeper ( 23 Min. Read )

America’s Birthday Grab Bag

Mr. Fish / Truthdig Jul 6, 2007 Dig deeper

A Culture of Atrocity

Chris Hedges / Truthdig Jun 18, 2007 The veteran foreign correspondent writes that while physical courage is common on the battlefield, moral courage is not. When young men and women are sent to occupy a foreign land -- whether Vietnam, Gaza or Iraq -- and they encounter constant danger, a population hostile to their presence and a faceless but determined enemy, the value of human life inevitably becomes relative and killing all too quickly becomes murder. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )