Greenwald: "The facially ludicrous announcement by the State Department that
the Pentagon will investigate itself produced almost no domestic outrage. A
religious-like belief in American exceptionalism and tribal superiority is
potent indeed, and easily overrides evidence or facts. It blissfully renders
the need for investigations obsolete."
Doctors Without Borders president Joanne Liu (right) is calling for an
international fact-finding investigation into a U.S. airstrike on one of the
charity's hospitals. (photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty)
Why Is the US Stonewalling the Afghan Hospital Bombing Investigation?
By Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept
08 October 15
In Geneva this morning, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) demanded a formal,
independent investigation into the U.S. airstrike on its hospital in Kunduz.
The groups international president, Dr. Joanne Liu (pictured above,
center), specified that the inquiry should be convened pursuant to war
crime-investigating procedures established by the Geneva Conventions and
conducted by The International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission. Even
war has rules, Liu said. This was just not an attack on our hospital. It
was an attack on the Geneva Conventions. This cannot be tolerated.
Liu emphasized that the need for an independent, impartial investigation
is now particularly compelling given what she called the inconsistency in
the U.S. and Afghan accounts of what happened over the recent days. On
Monday, we documented the multiple conflicting accounts offered in the first
three days by the U.S. military and its media allies, but the story
continued to change even further after that. As The Guardians headline
yesterday noted, the U.S. admission that its own personnel called in the
airstrike not Afghan forces as it claimed the day before meant that
U.S. alters story for fourth time in four days. All of this led Liu to
state the obvious today: We cannot rely on internal military investigations
by the U.S., NATO and Afghan forces.
An independent, impartial investigation into what happened here should be
something everyone can immediately agree is necessary. But at its daily
press briefing on Monday, the U.S. State Department, through its
spokesperson Mark Toner, insisted that no such independent investigation was
needed on the ground that the U.S. government is already investigating
itself and everyone knows how trustworthy and reliable this process is:
QUESTION: The so MSF is calling for an independent investigation of this
incident by a neutral international body. Is that something the
administration would support?
MR TONER: Well, weve got three investigations underway. Certainly, weve
got our own DOD-led investigation. We obviously strongly believe that can be
a very transparent and accountable investigation. Lets let these three
investigations run their course and see what the results are.
I would say and I know the White House spoke about this earlier we have
reached out to some of the leadership in Médecins Sans Frontières to express
our condolences over this tragic incident. But as to whether there needs to
be an independent fourth investigation, were satisfied, I think, at this
point that enough investigations are underway that well get to the truth.
QUESTION: You dont think that with the U.S., which is which has an
interest in how this investigation proceeds and what the outcome is, and
being involved in all three investigations somehow affects the legitimacy of
it?
MR TONER: I mean, frankly, I think weve proven over time that we can
investigate incidents like these like this, and as I said, hold anyone
accountable who needs to be held accountable, and do it in such a way thats
transparent and, I think, credible.
QUESTION: Just along those lines
MR TONER: Please.
QUESTION: MSF has said that this is a clear presumption of a war crime
thats been committed here. Some have suggested that the ICC take it up. Is
it a safe bet that the U.S. would vote against/veto any attempt in the
Security Council to bring this incident for up for an ICC investigation?
MR TONER: I dont want to answer a hypothetical. On the war crime question
itself, were just not there yet, and I dont want to prejudge any outcome
of any investigation.
Please, sir.
QUESTION: What do you mean, Were just not there yet?
MR TONER: I mean were conducting investigations, were looking at this very
closely, and were going to, as multiple folks have said including the
president over the weekend that were going to hold those accountable and
its going to be a credible investigation.
QUESTION: Does that mean
QUESTION: So its conceivable to you that this could have been a war crime?
MR TONER: I said were not were letting the investigations run their
course.
QUESTION: Well, regardless of whether or not you
MR TONER: Im not going to Im not even yeah, please, Matt.
QUESTION: No, but I want to
MR TONER: Sure, go ahead. Sorry.
QUESTION: Is it not I mean, its always been assumed, I think and I just
want to know if this assumption is still safe that the U.S. would oppose
an attempt to refer an incident involving U.S. troops to the International
Criminal Court.
MR TONER: Thats
QUESTION: I mean, as its as it was being formed, you guys ran around
signing these Article 98
MR TONER: Thats a perfectly sound assumption.
Can anyone justify that? So predictably, American journalists have announced
without even waiting for any investigation that this was all a terrible
accident, nothing intentional about it. Those U.S.-defending journalists
should be the angriest about their governments refusal to allow an
independent, impartial investigation since that would be the most effective
path for exonerating them and proving their innocent, noble intentions.
Many Americans, and especially a large percentage of the nations
journalists, need no investigation to know that this was nothing more than a
terrible, tragic mistake. They believe that Americans, and especially their
military, are so inherently good and noble and well-intentioned that none
would ever knowingly damage a hospital. John McCain expressed this common
American view and the primary excuse now accompanying it stuff happens
on NPR this morning:
Quote from Sen. John McCain. (photo: The Intercept)
Theyre certain of this despite how consistent MSF has been that this was a
war crime. Theyre certain of it despite how many times, and how recently,
MSF notified the U.S. military of the exact GPS coordinates of this
hospital. Theyre certain of it even though bombing continued for 30 minutes
after MSF pleaded with them to stop. Theyre certain of it despite the
substantial evidence that their Afghan allies long viewed this exact
hospital with hostility because true to its name and purpose the group
treated all wounded human beings, including Taliban. Theyre certain of it
even though Afghan officials have explicitly defended the airstrike against
the hospital on the ground that Taliban were inside. Theyre certain of it
despite how many times the U.S. has radically changed its story about what
happened as facts emerged that proved its latest claims false. Theyre
certain of it despite how many times the U.S. has attacked and destroyed
civilian targets under extremely suspicious circumstances.
But they are not apparently so certain that they desire an independent,
impartial investigation into what actually happened here. The facially
ludicrous announcement by the State Department that the Pentagon will
investigate itself produced almost no domestic outrage. A religious-like
belief in American exceptionalism and tribal superiority is potent indeed,
and easily overrides evidence or facts. It blissfully renders the need for
investigations obsolete. In their minds, knowing that it was Americans who
did this suffices to know what happened, at least on the level of motive: It
could not possibly be the case that there was any intentionality here at
all. As McCain said, its only the Bad People not Americans who do such
things deliberately.
But those who already know that this was all a terrible mistake, that no
U.S. personnel would ever purposely call for a strike on a hospital even if
they thought there were Taliban inside, should be the ones most eager for
the most credible investigation possible: namely, the one under the Geneva
Conventions, which MSF this morning demanded, by the tribunal created
exactly for such atrocities.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Doctors Without Borders president Joanne Liu (right) is calling for an
international fact-finding investigation into a U.S. airstrike on one of the
charity's hospitals. (photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty)
https://theintercept.com/2015/10/07/why-is-u-s-refusing-an-independent-inves
tigation-if-its-so-clear-its-hospital-airstrike-was-an-accident/https://thei
ntercept.com/2015/10/07/why-is-u-s-refusing-an-independent-investigation-if-
its-so-clear-its-hospital-airstrike-was-an-accident/
Why Is the US Stonewalling the Afghan Hospital Bombing Investigation?
By Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept
08 October 15
n Geneva this morning, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) demanded a formal,
independent investigation into the U.S. airstrike on its hospital in Kunduz.
The groups international president, Dr. Joanne Liu (pictured above,
center), specified that the inquiry should be convened pursuant to war
crime-investigating procedures established by the Geneva Conventions and
conducted by The International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission. Even
war has rules, Liu said. This was just not an attack on our hospital. It
was an attack on the Geneva Conventions. This cannot be tolerated.
Liu emphasized that the need for an independent, impartial investigation
is now particularly compelling given what she called the inconsistency in
the U.S. and Afghan accounts of what happened over the recent days. On
Monday, we documented the multiple conflicting accounts offered in the first
three days by the U.S. military and its media allies, but the story
continued to change even further after that. As The Guardians headline
yesterday noted, the U.S. admission that its own personnel called in the
airstrike not Afghan forces as it claimed the day before meant that
U.S. alters story for fourth time in four days. All of this led Liu to
state the obvious today: We cannot rely on internal military investigations
by the U.S., NATO and Afghan forces.
An independent, impartial investigation into what happened here should be
something everyone can immediately agree is necessary. But at its daily
press briefing on Monday, the U.S. State Department, through its
spokesperson Mark Toner, insisted that no such independent investigation was
needed on the ground that the U.S. government is already investigating
itself and everyone knows how trustworthy and reliable this process is:
QUESTION: The so MSF is calling for an independent investigation of this
incident by a neutral international body. Is that something the
administration would support?
MR TONER: Well, weve got three investigations underway. Certainly, weve
got our own DOD-led investigation. We obviously strongly believe that can be
a very transparent and accountable investigation. Lets let these three
investigations run their course and see what the results are.
I would say and I know the White House spoke about this earlier we have
reached out to some of the leadership in Médecins Sans Frontières to express
our condolences over this tragic incident. But as to whether there needs to
be an independent fourth investigation, were satisfied, I think, at this
point that enough investigations are underway that well get to the truth.
QUESTION: You dont think that with the U.S., which is which has an
interest in how this investigation proceeds and what the outcome is, and
being involved in all three investigations somehow affects the legitimacy of
it?
MR TONER: I mean, frankly, I think weve proven over time that we can
investigate incidents like these like this, and as I said, hold anyone
accountable who needs to be held accountable, and do it in such a way thats
transparent and, I think, credible.
QUESTION: Just along those lines
MR TONER: Please.
QUESTION: MSF has said that this is a clear presumption of a war crime
thats been committed here. Some have suggested that the ICC take it up. Is
it a safe bet that the U.S. would vote against/veto any attempt in the
Security Council to bring this incident for up for an ICC investigation?
MR TONER: I dont want to answer a hypothetical. On the war crime question
itself, were just not there yet, and I dont want to prejudge any outcome
of any investigation.
Please, sir.
QUESTION: What do you mean, Were just not there yet?
MR TONER: I mean were conducting investigations, were looking at this very
closely, and were going to, as multiple folks have said including the
president over the weekend that were going to hold those accountable and
its going to be a credible investigation.
QUESTION: Does that mean
QUESTION: So its conceivable to you that this could have been a war crime?
MR TONER: I said were not were letting the investigations run their
course.
QUESTION: Well, regardless of whether or not you
MR TONER: Im not going to Im not even yeah, please, Matt.
QUESTION: No, but I want to
MR TONER: Sure, go ahead. Sorry.
QUESTION: Is it not I mean, its always been assumed, I think and I just
want to know if this assumption is still safe that the U.S. would oppose
an attempt to refer an incident involving U.S. troops to the International
Criminal Court.
MR TONER: Thats
QUESTION: I mean, as its as it was being formed, you guys ran around
signing these Article 98
MR TONER: Thats a perfectly sound assumption.
Can anyone justify that? So predictably, American journalists have announced
without even waiting for any investigation that this was all a terrible
accident, nothing intentional about it. Those U.S.-defending journalists
should be the angriest about their governments refusal to allow an
independent, impartial investigation since that would be the most effective
path for exonerating them and proving their innocent, noble intentions.
Many Americans, and especially a large percentage of the nations
journalists, need no investigation to know that this was nothing more than a
terrible, tragic mistake. They believe that Americans, and especially their
military, are so inherently good and noble and well-intentioned that none
would ever knowingly damage a hospital. John McCain expressed this common
American view and the primary excuse now accompanying it stuff happens
on NPR this morning:
Quote from Sen. John McCain. (photo: The Intercept)
Theyre certain of this despite how consistent MSF has been that this was a
war crime. Theyre certain of it despite how many times, and how recently,
MSF notified the U.S. military of the exact GPS coordinates of this
hospital. Theyre certain of it even though bombing continued for 30 minutes
after MSF pleaded with them to stop. Theyre certain of it despite the
substantial evidence that their Afghan allies long viewed this exact
hospital with hostility because true to its name and purpose the group
treated all wounded human beings, including Taliban. Theyre certain of it
even though Afghan officials have explicitly defended the airstrike against
the hospital on the ground that Taliban were inside. Theyre certain of it
despite how many times the U.S. has radically changed its story about what
happened as facts emerged that proved its latest claims false. Theyre
certain of it despite how many times the U.S. has attacked and destroyed
civilian targets under extremely suspicious circumstances.
But they are not apparently so certain that they desire an independent,
impartial investigation into what actually happened here. The facially
ludicrous announcement by the State Department that the Pentagon will
investigate itself produced almost no domestic outrage. A religious-like
belief in American exceptionalism and tribal superiority is potent indeed,
and easily overrides evidence or facts. It blissfully renders the need for
investigations obsolete. In their minds, knowing that it was Americans who
did this suffices to know what happened, at least on the level of motive: It
could not possibly be the case that there was any intentionality here at
all. As McCain said, its only the Bad People not Americans who do such
things deliberately.
But those who already know that this was all a terrible mistake, that no
U.S. personnel would ever purposely call for a strike on a hospital even if
they thought there were Taliban inside, should be the ones most eager for
the most credible investigation possible: namely, the one under the Geneva
Conventions, which MSF this morning demanded, by the tribunal created
exactly for such atrocities.
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http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize