A BOMBING IN AFGHANISTAN LED TO THE DEATH OF 22
PEOPLE AT A HOSPITAL THAT WAS EMPLOYED BY DOCTORS FOR
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS.
PEOPLE WERE KILLED, AND 10 PATIENTS WERE KILLED.
NO TERRORIST MEMBERS WERE KILLED OR WERE FOUND IN THE BUILDING.
RIGHT NOW THE WHITE HOUSE IS SAYING THAT THEY ARE
LOOKING FOR ANSWERS AND ARE PLANNING ON INVESTIGATING.
IN THE AFGHAN CITY OF KUNDUZ, THE U.S.
DROPPED BOMBS ON A HOSPITAL RUN BY DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS.
THE AIRSTRIKE KILLED AT LEAST NINE OF THE HOSPITAL'S
MEDICAL STAFF, AND SERIOUSLY INJURED DOZENS OF PATIENTS.
AMONG THE DEAD WAS THE AFGHAN HEAD OF THE HOSPITAL.
THE U.S.
MILITARY IN AFGHANISTAN ISSUED A STATEMENT ACKNOWLEDGING
THAT IT CARRIED OUT AIRSTRIKES, THEY CLAIM THAT THEY WERE
CONDUCTED AGAINST INDIVIDUALS THREATENING THEM FIRST, AND
CONCEDED THAT THIS STRIKE MAY HAVE RESULTED IN COLLATERAL
DAMAGE TO A NEARBY MEDICAL FACILITY.
I THINK IT IS PROBABLY A REALLY BAD IDEA TO REFER TO
CIVILIAN DEATHS AS COLLATERAL DAMAGE.
IF YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR OWN FAMILY MEMBERS AND INNOCENT
PEOPLE YOU KNOW THAT MIGHT BE MURDERED IN A BOMBING, YOU
WOULD BE MORE ANGRY IF THEY WERE JUST REFERRED TO AS
COLLATERAL DAMAGE.
THIS IS ALL PAR FOR THE COURSE.
WHEN THEY KILL CIVILIANS, THEY DO OFTENTIMES WHETHER
IT'S ISIS OR OTHERS, KILL CIVILIANS.
WHEN WE KILL CIVILIANS, OBVIOUSLY WE CAN'T PUT
OURSELVES IN THE SAME CATEGORY SO WE HAVE TO COME UP WITH
A DIFFERENT NAME.
FOR EXAMPLE WHEN THE TALIBAN TORTURE, THEY ARE TORTURERS.
WHEN WE TORTURE PEOPLE WE SAY "ENHANCED INTERROGATIONS".
IF YOUR RELATIVE HAPPENED TO DIE IN THE HOSPITAL, DON'T
FEEL BAD ABOUT IT THEY ARE JUST COLLATERAL DAMAGE.
MY GUESS IS THAT IS NOT GOING TO HELP ANYBODY WHOSE
RELATIVES DIED IN THE HOSPITAL.
THERE WERE NOT ONLY JUST A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO THINK OUR
INTENTIONS ñ THE FACT THAT WE DID NOT INTEND TO KILL
CIVILIANS IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE.
I WOULD ARGUE THAT IT'S NOT JUST SOME PEOPLE, BUT IT'S BY
FAR THE WAY OF CONVENTIONAL WISDOM.
IT'S OKAY WE DID IT BECAUSE WE DIDN'T MEAN TO DO IT.
INTENT MATTERS.
THEY WOULD ARGUE THAT THE INTENT MATTERS.
BUT REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOUR INTENT IS, YOU HAVE TO HAVE
SOME SAFEGUARDS IN PLACE TO ENSURE THAT YOU ARE NOT
CONSTANTLY KILLING CIVILIANS.
YOU ARE BOMBING A HOSPITAL.
WHEN IT COMES TO THE HOSPITAL I
THINK YOU SHOULD TAKE AS MANY PRECAUTIONS AS NECESSARY TO
MAKE SURE YOU ARE GOING AFTER THE RIGHT TARGET.
EVEN IF THERE WERE TALIBAN LEADERS IN THE HOSPITAL,
THEN YOU NEED TO COME UP WITH A BETTER STRATEGY IN GETTING
THOSE TERRORISTS, NOT JUST BOMBING THE HOSPITAL.
ALONG THOSE LINES, LET'S NOTE THAT DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS
SAID THEY WERE VERY CAREFUL TO GIVE THE COORDINATES AND THE GPS
OVER AND OVER AGAIN TO BOTH AMERICANS AND THE TALIBAN.
THEY TREAT EVERYONE AT THE HOSPITAL, NOT JUST OUR
WOUNDED BUT ALSO THE TALIBAN WOUNDED.
YES, THEY MIGHT HAVE GIVEN THE COORDINATES, BUT IN THE
HEAT OF THE BATTLE STUFF HAPPENS.
BUT IN THIS CASE DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS SAID WE TOLD THE
AMERICAN MILITARY FOR OVER AN HOUR AS THEY CONTINUED TO
BOMB THAT THEY WERE BOMBING A HOSPITAL.
WE ARE NOT THE TALIBAN, WE'RE CALLING FROM DOCTORS
WITHOUT BORDERS.
THE BOMBING CONTINUED FOR AN HOUR.
THAT IS WHEN YOU GO, WAIT A MINUTE.
I WOULD ASK SOME VERY SERIOUS QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR INTENT
IF WE ARE BOMBING A HOSPITAL FOR AN HOUR AND WE KNEW THAT WE
WERE DOING THAT.
THAT'S RIGHT.
PRESIDENT OBAMA SAYS THAT HE IS NOT IN FAVOR OF AN
INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION.
HE BELIEVES THAT A NATO INVESTIGATION, A MILITARY
INVESTIGATION, A WHITE HOUSE INVESTIGATION IS ALL THE
INVESTIGATION THAT WE NEED TO ENSURE THAT WE
FIGURE OUT EXACTLY WHAT WENT WRONG IN THIS OPERATION.
THE PEOPLE THAT WENT THROUGH THIS BOMBING WAS NATO, THE
MILITARY, AND THE WHITE HOUSE.
THEY WOULD BASICALLY INVESTIGATE THEMSELVES.
I CAN GUESS WHAT THE ANSWER IS GOING TO BE.
WE OFTEN ACCIDENTALLY BOMB THE WRONG PLACE.
IT REALLY REQUIRES AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION.
I HOPE THAT MOST OF THE TIME THAT IT HAPPENS IT IS BY
ACCIDENT.
SOMETIMES WHEN WE DO IT, AND OUR ALLIES DO IT, IT DOES NOT
APPEAR TO BE BY ACCIDENT.
THERE IS EVEN MORE COMING FROM U.S.
OFFICIALS THAT SHOW THE HUGE DOUBLE STANDARD THAT WE
HAVE WHEN IT COMES TO FOREIGN POLICY.
WHEN IT COMES TO ANY POLICY THAT COMES WITH PEOPLE DYING.
THIS STRIKE ON A HOSPITAL IN
AFGHANISTAN COMES DAYS
AFTER THE SAUDI LED COALITION BOMBED A WEDDING IN YEMEN
THAT KILLED MORE THAN 130 PEOPLE AFTER DAYS OF SILENCE FROM
THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, WHICH IS ACTIVELY PARTICIPATING FROM
THE START IN THE HEINOUS BOMBING OF YEMEN.
AMBASSADOR POWER
FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGED THE WEDDING MASSACRE, BUT TREATED IT LIKE
SOME NATURAL DISASTER THAT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE U.S.
AT THE SAME TIME AFTER RUSSIA MADE THE DECISION TO
INTERFERE WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH SYRIA, SHE SAID THIS,
"WE CALLED ON RUSSIA TO IMMEDIATELY CEASE ATTACKS ON
SYRIAN
OPPOSITION AND CIVILIANS.
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES WOULD ONLY FUEL MORE EXTREMISM AND
RADICALIZATION."
THAT IS FASCINATING, SAMANTHA POWER.
PEOPLE CRITICIZE RUSSIA FOR GOING INTO SYRIA, I AGREE
WITH THAT.
THEY ARE USING ISIS AS A COVER STORY FOR THAT.
IF THEY ARE NOT ACTUALLY BOMBING ISIS, THEY ARE BOMBING
OTHER SUNNIS THAT ARE FIGHTING AGAINST THE ASSAD GOVERNMENT.
I DON'T KNOW IF RUSSIA IS BOMBING THE AL QAEDA BRANCH.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT OUR OFFICIAL POSITION IS, IT'S PRETTY
COMPLICATED BECAUSE THERE ARE A LOT OF BAD GUYS IN THE
NEIGHBORHOOD AND THEY ARE FIGHTING ONE ANOTHER.
ANOTHER THING, RUSSIA IS MAKING A BIGGER MESS OUT OF IT AND
HELPING A SUPPORTED DICTATOR, AND THAT IS NOT A ROUTE I
WOULD'VE CHOSEN.
DOES THAT MEAN THAT WE ARE THEN HOLIER THAN THOU?
SINCE RUSSIA IS DOING SOMETHING BAD, WHAT WE'RE DOING IS GREAT.
NO.
IT'S NOT THE SAME, AND IF YOU CAN MAKE ARGUMENTS THAT RUSSIA
WANTS TO HELP, WE DO NOT WANT TO HELP ASSAD.
WE'RE FIGHTING ISIS AS WE SEE THEM AS A LEGITIMATE
THREAT.
AGAIN, HOW MUCH YOU CARE ABOUT INTENT AND HOW RELEVANT IT
IS IS A QUESTION EACH INDIVIDUAL HAS TO ANSWER FOR THEMSELVES.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE ISSUE OF WHAT WE'RE DOING IN YEMEN,
THEN REALLY ARE WE ANY BETTER THAN THE RUSSIANS?
IN YEMEN, WE'RE NOT BOMBING TERRORISTS.
SOME OF THE PEOPLE IN OUR COALITION LED BY THE
SAUDI'S COULD BE TERRORISTS, AND PROBABLY ARE.
IT IS A SMALL FRACTION OF PEOPLE THEY ARE BOMBING.
IT'S LARGELY A POLITICAL BOMBING TO HELP SUNNIS IN YEMEN
VERSUS SHIITES IN YEMEN.
WE ARE BEGINNING TO BOMB YEMEN FOR POLITICAL REASONS, KILLING
HUNDREDS IF NOT THOUSANDS OF CIVILIANS ON A FAIRLY
REGULAR BASIS.
WHEN WE HELP THE SAUDI'S DO THAT ñ
IF I HAPPEN TO KILL CIVILIANS IN YEMEN FOR POLITICAL CAUSES,
THAT IS NO DIFFERENT THAN WHAT THEY'RE DOING IN SYRIA.
EVEN IF YOU CARE ABOUT INTENT, YOU BETTER CHECK YOURSELF
BECAUSE IN REALITY IN SOME PARTS OF THE WORLD WE DO THE SAME
EXACT THING.
IT'S EASY FOR US TO CLAIM THAT WE ARE EXCEPTIONAL, WE ARE THE
ONE GREAT MORAL COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.
BUT OUR ACTIONS OFTENTIMES ARE NOT INDICATIVE OF THAT.
BY THE WAY, THE WAY THE MEDIA SPINS STORIES LIKE THIS
DRIVES ME CRAZY.
OFTENTIMES WHENEVER THERE ARE TERRORISTIC THREATS AGAINST
THE UNITED STATES, THE MEDIA COVERS IT AS IF THESE PEOPLE ARE
THREATENING US BECAUSE THEY ARE JEALOUS OF HOW GREAT AMERICA IS.
THEY ARE THREATENING US BECAUSE THEY SEE WHAT THE
FOREIGN-POLICY POSITIONS OF OUR COUNTRY ARE DOING TO THEIR
COUNTRIES AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS.
ALL THESE INNOCENT PEOPLE ARE BEING KILLED AT WEDDINGS
AND HOSPITALS BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT WE WOULD RATHER USE SHAKY
INTELLIGENCE THAN FIGURE OUT WHETHER THE INTELLIGENCE IS
RIGHT.
THAT IS THE REASON WHY PEOPLE TARGET THE UNITED STATES.
IT IS NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE JEALOUS OF US.
OUR GUY IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE RUSSIANS BOMBING SYRIA.
HE SAYS, "THAT WE BELIEVE IF YOU INADVERTENTLY KILL INNOCENT
MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN, THEN THERE'S A BACKLASH FROM THAT.
WE MAY KILL THREE AND CREATE 10 TERRORISTS.
IT REALLY GOES BACK TO THE QUESTION OF ARE WE KILLING
MORE THAN WE ARE MAKING?"
YOU CAN CERTAINLY ASK THE RUSSIANS THAT QUESTION IN SYRIA.
YOU CAN DEFINITELY ASK THAT QUESTION OF US IN SYRIA,
AFGHANISTAN, YEMEN, AND UNFORTUNATELY ALL ACROSS
THE WORLD.
OFTENTIMES OUR MILITARY ARE NOT THE BEST CONTRACTORS.
THEY CERTAINLY DON'T MIND IF YOU MAKE MORE TERRORISTS.
OH, MY GOD, WE INADVERTENTLY CREATED MORE ENEMIES.
THEN WE SCREAM AT THEM FROM OUR GLASS HOUSE.