Daily Times

Recently, there is a storm of indignation all around the world because of US airstrike on a Kunduz hospital in the northern part of Afghanistan. From the very beginning it was clear that it was the US that had attacked the hospital. It was also confirmed by various international humanitarian organisations.

The UN immediately reacted, and declared that it would hold an investigation on mass casualties among civilians. According to the UN, at least 32 people were killed and 19 were wounded in the tragedy. The head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto said such civilian casualties are unacceptable, and undermine efforts on strengthening peace and stability in the region. The clarification of the incident’s circumstances is still going on. But the American command has already admitted their air strike resulted in civilian casualties. The attack requires an immediate investigation. The US President Barack Obama expressed condolences over civilians’ deaths while speaking with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. As if that would help.

It should be mentioned here that the US senior officials recently did not hesitate to admit their mistakes and shortcomings. Such auto-criticism becomes clear considering some facts.

First, the US is acting on the basis of the aims and experience of its own errors. State Department’s analytics have analysed numerous instances of destruction of civilian infrastructure and losses of civilian lives, exposing a deep assessment of the international community’s reaction to these incidents. They came to the simple conclusion that in a matter of a few days such events are practically forgotten in the backdrop of many other such incidents. And that the United States should realise the consequences of its ambitions, as just this year, western coalition’s air strikes struck dozens of blows on civilian facilities. All were quickly forgotten.

Let us remember some of the mistakes like the attack at the Doctors Without Borders’ hospital near the town of Maarrat al-Nu’man in Syria killing at least seven and wounding 10 people on February 15. Similarly, the coalition’s planes attacked the city of Manbij on July 18 and 30, causing losses of lives of more than 110 civilians, including 30 children. On July 28, it destroyed the market in the village of Al-Ghandur in the Aleppo province. There were 28 civilians killed there including seven children. The US Air Force’s strike on September 17 in the city of Deir ez-Zor was also a mistake. However there were not any terrorists killed, but members of the Syrian army. It should be remembered that about 60 military personnel were killed and over 100 wounded in the attack. No one has been brought to justice as the result of the investigation so far.

Second, Americans usually investigate incidents in which they have a finger in the pie. There is an interesting article about problems with dispensation of information in the western media written by Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept. He claims that CNN and The New York Times support the interests of their owners, and are often used to manipulate the public opinion and promote propaganda or questionable political projects. In addition, the major Western media is also corrupted.

This is the very scheme used in the case of the last air strike at the hospital in Kunduz. According to White House Press Secretary Josh Ernest, Barack Obama has already contacted the current international president of the Doctors without Borders, Dr Joanne Liu, and assured her that the investigation of the incident would be “comprehensive and objective.” This confirms once again that the United States uses its administrative, military, political, financial and information resources to promote its own interests. Americans have developed an algorithm of actions, which they try to impose on the UN leadership for misrepresentation. Let us hope that the United Nations will not be led by the nose by the United States this time, and not allow suppressing of facts. The investigation must be followed to its logical end, and those responsible must be held accountable to the fullest extent of international law.

The writer is a member of the Inside Syria Media Centre