Afghanistan: civilian deaths tripled posted by Richard Seymour

Human Rights Watch, though hardly adorable, can provide useful data from time to time. According to their latest report on Afghanistan, civilian deaths tripled between 2006 and 2007. We're nine months into 2008, and the use of air strikes has soared dramatically in recent months, and the stats presented suggest that civilian deaths are once more rising dramatically. Now, let's just get one thing straight: the totals they provide are complete fucking bollocks. A total of 321 civilian deaths from air strikes in 2007? This must be based on Admiral Fallon's definition of a civilian. The trends may be accurately reflected, but anyone who thinks you can drop up to three times the tonnage of bombs on Afghanistan as are dropped on Iraq, and end up with less than 0.0001% of the deaths, must be in the military. Meanwhile...

Labels: afghanistan, air strikes, deaths