By: John Vibes (The Free Thought Project) According to numbers released by the United Nations this week, the US military is murdering innocent civilians at ever-increasing rates and is killing more innocent people each year. In fact, recent reports have indicated that the US military breaks its record for civilian casualties every single year in Afghanistan, for the past seven years.
The UN report revealed that 3,545 innocent civilians were killed and another 7,457 were injured in the past year of the US military’s occupation of Afghanistan. These numbers showed a 4% increase from the number of deaths the year before.
Since the United Nations began keeping track of civilian casualties in Afghanistan in 2009, they have documented roughly 59,000 deaths and injuries, and it is expected that there were many other cases that were not on record.
Ironically, the same year the UN began keeping track of civilian deaths, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to President Barack Obama for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people.”
Danielle Bell, director of the U.N. human rights program in Afghanistan, pointed out that fighters on neither side seem to have any concern for innocent civilians.
“The report references commitments made by all parties to the conflict to protect civilians, however, the figures documented in 2015 reflect a disconnect between commitments made and the harsh reality on the ground,” Bell said.
“The expectation of continued fighting in the coming months combined with the current levels of civilian casualties, demonstrate the critical need for immediate steps to be taken by all parties to the conflict to prevent harm to civilians,” she added.
The situation has become even more complex now that the US is funding and arming various rebel groups who are constantly changing in structure and motive. Sadly, the innocent civilians who are just attempting to live out their everyday lives are the ones who are caught up in the crossfire.
Throughout the Obama presidency, the White House has continually promised to end the wars and has even pretended to do so on numerous occasions.
In 2014, it was announced that the war in Afghanistan was over and that US troops would be coming home. However, while the troop numbers may have diminished slightly, the occupation continued, and death and destruction in the area has continued to escalate on behalf of the US military and their proxy armies.
Years prior in 2011, Obama also said that the war in Iraq was “over,” but in that instance as well, the troops remained, proxy armies were expanded, and the occupation continued.
War continues to roll across the middle east to the point where there are now millions fleeing the region for safer areas every single day. Despite this massive loss and disruption of life, war, and foreign policy continues to be an afterthought for American media and political candidates.
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