Tragedy in Afghanistan; a maternity ward under attack

Michel H · 15th May 2020, 03:23 PM

I (mostly) quote the BBC:

The number of people who were killed in a militant attack on a maternity ward in Kabul, a few days ago, has risen to 24. Mothers, newborn babies and nurses were among the victims. At least 16 people were injured, the health ministry said. In a second incident on the same day, a suicide bomber killed at least 32 people at a funeral in Nangarhar, in the east of the country.

The Islamic State (IS) group said it was behind the attack on the police commander's funeral in Nangarhar.

It is still not clear who carried out the attack at the Dasht-e-Barchi hospital in Kabul, and the Taliban have denied any involvement. However, US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has blamed IS for the hospital attack, saying the jihadists want to undermine recent peace efforts and fan a sectarian war.

Little Amina (one of the injured babies) is now recovering in a different hospital. She has already had one round of surgery, with at least two more to go. The doctors hope they can save the leg shattered by a bullet, but they don't know yet.

The family fear for her future if they do have to amputate - life is not likely to be easy for a disabled girl in Afghanistan.

But right now, they are just trying to understand why, as the country supposedly moves towards peace, this happened.

(https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52673563 , https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52642503)

Why are things like that happening?

It seems to me that at least one of the reasons is the very brutal and violent way the Islamic State militants are being dealt with (and killed) themselves by the U.S. mostly (but also by its allies). I suspect the extraordinary violence by Isis is a reaction to the violence that they suffer themselves, after they created a pseudo-state in Iraq and Syria, following the illegal U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003:

Quote:

According to the Pentagon, by December 2017 over 80,000 ISIL fighters had been killed in Iraq and Syria by CJTF-OIR airstrikes.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islami...and_the_Levant)

Something similar happened during WWII: Nazi violence against the Jews enormously increased after the UK and France (joined later by the U.S., after Pearl Harbor) declared war to them.

In other words, if you want real progress (in Afghanistan and elsewhere), and not just more of the same, the U.S. should (in my opinion) learn to treat the members of the Islamic State like human beings, as opposed to some kind of infected rats that would need to be eliminated.

theprestige · 15th May 2020, 03:53 PM

Me reading OP:

That does sound tragic. I bet the anti-American spin will practically write itself.

Wait, it was ISIS? Never min-

Oh. There it is.

Oh! Oh my.

This is pretty repugnant, even by anti-semitic standards, Michel.

Michel H · 15th May 2020, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by theprestige

Me reading OP:

That does sound tragic. I bet the anti-American spin will practically write itself.

Wait, it was ISIS? Never min-

Oh. There it is.

Oh! Oh my.

This is pretty repugnant, even by anti-semitic standards, Michel.

I do agree (though not claiming to be a political expert) with the U.S. analysis, that ISIS was probably behind this attack (from what we know about ISIS). However, my (little) agreement with U.S. authorities stops at that point, I am afraid.

theprestige · 15th May 2020, 04:08 PM

Originally Posted by Michel H

I do agree (though not claiming to be a political expert) with the U.S. analysis, that ISIS was probably behind this attack (from what we know about ISIS). However, my (little) agreement with U.S. authorities stops at that point, I am afraid.

We know, Michel. You don't have to explain that your anti-semitic rants are anti-semitic rants, rather than comments on US policy. We know.

Jack by the hedge · 15th May 2020, 04:14 PM

So the takeaway lesson from this event, in which some people decided their best course of action was to murder babies (Afghan babies, not the babies of the people who bombed them) is that perhaps if we had just let the Nazis have Poland we wouldn't have annoyed them so much that they murdered all those millions of Jews.

Is that what you're arguing?

Agatha · 31st May 2020, 09:42 AM

The pages of posts that discuss WWII have been split to a new thread here: http://www.internationalskeptics.com...d.php?t=344120.

Posted By:Agatha

15th May 2020, 03:23 PM	#1
Michel H Master Poster Join Date: May 2012 Location: Belgium Posts: 2,047	Tragedy in Afghanistan; a maternity ward under attack I (mostly) quote the BBC: The number of people who were killed in a militant attack on a maternity ward in Kabul, a few days ago, has risen to 24. Mothers, newborn babies and nurses were among the victims. At least 16 people were injured, the health ministry said. In a second incident on the same day, a suicide bomber killed at least 32 people at a funeral in Nangarhar, in the east of the country. The Islamic State (IS) group said it was behind the attack on the police commander's funeral in Nangarhar. It is still not clear who carried out the attack at the Dasht-e-Barchi hospital in Kabul, and the Taliban have denied any involvement. However, US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has blamed IS for the hospital attack, saying the jihadists want to undermine recent peace efforts and fan a sectarian war. Little Amina (one of the injured babies) is now recovering in a different hospital. She has already had one round of surgery, with at least two more to go. The doctors hope they can save the leg shattered by a bullet, but they don't know yet. The family fear for her future if they do have to amputate - life is not likely to be easy for a disabled girl in Afghanistan. But right now, they are just trying to understand why, as the country supposedly moves towards peace, this happened. (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52673563 , https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52642503) Why are things like that happening? It seems to me that at least one of the reasons is the very brutal and violent way the Islamic State militants are being dealt with (and killed) themselves by the U.S. mostly (but also by its allies). I suspect the extraordinary violence by Isis is a reaction to the violence that they suffer themselves, after they created a pseudo-state in Iraq and Syria, following the illegal U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003: Quote: According to the Pentagon, by December 2017 over 80,000 ISIL fighters had been killed in Iraq and Syria by CJTF-OIR airstrikes. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islami...and_the_Levant) Something similar happened during WWII: Nazi violence against the Jews enormously increased after the UK and France (joined later by the U.S., after Pearl Harbor) declared war to them. In other words, if you want real progress (in Afghanistan and elsewhere), and not just more of the same, the U.S. should (in my opinion) learn to treat the members of the Islamic State like human beings, as opposed to some kind of infected rats that would need to be eliminated.
	Last edited by Michel H; 15th May 2020 at 03:25 PM.

15th May 2020, 03:53 PM	#2
theprestige Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 48,591	Me reading OP: That does sound tragic. I bet the anti-American spin will practically write itself. Wait, it was ISIS? Never min- Oh. There it is. Oh! Oh my. This is pretty repugnant, even by anti-semitic standards, Michel.

15th May 2020, 04:02 PM	#3
Michel H Master Poster Join Date: May 2012 Location: Belgium Posts: 2,047	Originally Posted by theprestige Me reading OP: That does sound tragic. I bet the anti-American spin will practically write itself. Wait, it was ISIS? Never min- Oh. There it is. Oh! Oh my. This is pretty repugnant, even by anti-semitic standards, Michel. I do agree (though not claiming to be a political expert) with the U.S. analysis, that ISIS was probably behind this attack (from what we know about ISIS). However, my (little) agreement with U.S. authorities stops at that point, I am afraid.

15th May 2020, 04:08 PM	#4
theprestige Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 48,591	Originally Posted by Michel H I do agree (though not claiming to be a political expert) with the U.S. analysis, that ISIS was probably behind this attack (from what we know about ISIS). However, my (little) agreement with U.S. authorities stops at that point, I am afraid. We know, Michel. You don't have to explain that your anti-semitic rants are anti-semitic rants, rather than comments on US policy. We know.

15th May 2020, 04:14 PM	#5
Jack by the hedge Safely Ignored Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 10,780	So the takeaway lesson from this event, in which some people decided their best course of action was to murder babies (Afghan babies, not the babies of the people who bombed them) is that perhaps if we had just let the Nazis have Poland we wouldn't have annoyed them so much that they murdered all those millions of Jews. Is that what you're arguing?