U.S. soldiers massacre 16 civilians in Afghanistan

[Correction]

Reuters Article here

Highlights:

Western forces shot dead 16 civilians including nine children in southern Kandahar province on Sunday, Afghan officials said, in a rampage that witnesses said was carried out by American soldiers who were laughing and appeared drunk.

The U.S. embassy in Kabul said an American soldier had been detained over the shooting

Haji Samad said 11 of his relatives were killed in one house, including his children. Pictures showed blood-splattered walls where the children were killed.

"They (Americans) poured chemicals over their dead bodies and burned them," a weeping Samad told Reuters at the scene.

Sky News has additional photos.

CNN now has it but they're not adding anything new.

Get ready for another bloodbath and slaps on the wrists for every US serviceman involved.

[hey]

Only 16? Better than i expected.

[Churchill]

I wouldn't take that at face value, although based on choosing to use the word massacre it's pretty obvious you've made up your mind.

[Dimmauk]

Easily faked. Warzone and American soldiers getting the water bottle punishment.

[Odon]

Easily faked. Warzone and American soldiers getting the water bottle punishment.

This.

Those articles contradict themselves, the first one says its a group of people laughing and carrying on and the second one says its a single lone rogue soldier.

[Correction]

I wouldn't take that at face value, although based on choosing to use the word massacre it's pretty obvious you've made up your mind.

The story isn't concrete but it just broke overnight so details are understandably sketchy. Some sources are saying only one soldier was involved but this is improbable unless the guards at his base were completely blind/incompetent. There are dead bodies and a US soldier in custody according to our own embassy, so it's not like he tripped and suddenly his gun accidentally shot 15-16 people.

[Athas]

Drunk soldiers shooting up women and children and burning the corpses is just a bit too far past believable.

[Kanriel]

Well last night I read a BBC article saying a US soldier walked off his base and killed 3 Afghanis, but it has since been updated to have the 16 number...hmm.

[Elvis]

I guess we'll find out soon enough.

[Correction]

Drunk soldiers shooting up women and children and burning the corpses is just a bit too far past believable.

The last time I remember it happening the soldiers involved were completely sober.

The story sounds lurid but not implausible.

[Byrthnoth]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-...of-16-afghans/

Just one dude, get the OP facts straight!

Maybe now they'll hate us enough that we can go home.

[Churchill]

People already pointed out the inconsistencies with the stories, there's even more to see with a more keen/knowledgeable eye.

Some experience related bits:

a) all of the sources are Afghani
b) there is no real comment from the US outside of forced apologies
c) Taliban media already contacted western media, on a story that "just broke overnight"

Could be that a guy walked off base and killed 16 people while drunk in Panjwai, one of the quickest places to find yourself dead as fuck in Afghanistan, or there might be more to the story.

The time they say this occurred is what really makes me think something else happened.

[Elvis]

Also, PFC Steven Green and his buddies raped and murdered a 14 year old Iraqi girl after first killing her parents and little sister.

That story was shocking too and I'm sure people denied it was possible at the time. Then all the facts came in.

[orson]

War is ugly but I doubt we have all the details and unlikely that we ever will. It's obvious they were running some kind of operation if there was a group of soldiers. Soldiers don't just wander around Kandahar aimlessly. The Taliban hide themselves among civilian targets on purpose waiting for this shit to happen.

An occupation war such as we have in modern times don't work, it's been proven time and time again. It's too easy for the Taliban to recruit to fight the foreign infidels when the coalition forces have actually given the populace more freedom. In no way can you condone any intentional killing of civilians but collateral damage is a reality if you want to win a war. It's difficult to know how much of this was a tragic accident vs some lunatic going nuts and sadly no matter which it was the damage is done.

[Correction]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-...of-16-afghans/

Just one dude, get the OP facts straight!

Maybe now they'll hate us enough that we can go home.

FOBs are like prisons, man. You don't just 'wander off' by yourself with a machine gun. The 'lone gunman' theory just doesn't make a lick of sense.

This could be the Afghanistan War's Haditha so I guess we can look forward to a pullout sooner rather than later.

[Churchill]

Byrth's link is more clear, as it has first hand reports from white people in it.

The sort of op-ed conclusion has a lot of truth in it too.

[Churchill]

You could walk off KAF pretty easily

[Talint]

My first thought was why didn't the civilians try to stop the guy.

It's fight or flight response; not fight, flight, or analysis paralysis.

[Indeed]

I'm not a fan of sloppy and confusing journalism. The first article can't decide whether it's one soldier or a group and does nothing to address the obvious discrepancy. I'll be holding onto my opinion until more facts are presented, but with the recent Koran burning, I'm wondering exactly what's going on in the minds of these troops. These individuals have to know that their actions are endangering everyone else there and destroying any trust the Afghani people may have for us.

[Churchill]

Afghans don't actually possess human characteristics.