An unexamined life is not worth living. Socrates

Sabado, Oktubre 10, 2015

The Bombing of MSF #Kunduz Hospital - A Criminal Assault on the Principles of International Law

The recent bombing of the MSF #Kunduz, Afghanistan Hospital was a tragedy of epic proportions - first, in that it was a hospital, second, in that MSF actually informed and in fact gave both sides of the conflict the coordinates for the hospital and third and most painful of all, in that the hospital was not merely bombed once, or twice - but repeatedly!

MSF, naturally, has called for an international independent investigation into the circumstances of the bombing and equally naturally, and I would say predictably, the US has been at best mum on the proposal.

The US should pay damages to MSF for such unmitigated disaster and military officials responsible for the attack, including officers and commanders, should be sacked and banished from Afghanistan. The tragedy was purely unacceptable in that in an age of smart bombs, precision guided missiles, GPS, and the like, such mistake is supposed to be at best a thing of the past, not to mention the fact that the bomber is one of the most technologically advanced military force the world has ever seen.

Personally, I could not accept that the US could even remotely make such mistake unless such act was in fact planned and calculated, which in the most probable scenario, is the most likely. It should be noted that MSF provided both sides of the conflict the coordinates for the hospital - repeatedly at that! Therefore, a mistaken act of bombing is most unlikely.

It should further be noted that the bombing was not a case of a wayward  bomb, in fact, the bombs kept falling more than once - definitely not an accident. The hospital was really the target!

The US initially placed the blame on Afghan officials, who supposedly called the attack. Such a lame, immature, childish excuse I would say. Even if in fact the Afghan officials chose the target, shouldn't the US have confirmed first what the target was? Shouldn't have the US, as prudence would dictate, determined first what the place was used for, who were currently using it, how the facility was being used supposedly by the Taliban?

Negligence seems to me a mild description of this criminal fiasco. The US must be held accountable for such blatant violation of the basic principles of international law, not to mention the Geneva Convention on the conduct of war. Indeed, if other nations committed the same act, America would be the first country shouting at the top of its lungs for justice to be meted.

MSF should only accept an apology if a multinational corps of investigators are finally formed and allowed to investigate the case. Only then can true justice for those who died in the incident can truly be vindicated.

The world should insist on a proper investigation of the case so as to prevent similar events in the future from happening again. We cannot allow the US to get away with this despicable act of irresponsibility, we cannot allow a country - even if it be powerful and rich, to slither away from paying a price for such criminal negligence.

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