Empire Denies Mass Murder Charges

1. Any estimates on number of civilian deaths?
2. Any estimates on the number of refugees?
3. Does anyone know the starvation situation in afghanistan?
4. List your sources please!

Nobody knows how many civilians have died from US bombings, although the foreign press, as of two weeks ago, was estimating around 2,000. The UK Independent has been a pretty good source of news on these matters. Yesterday, 12/2, it reported that as many as 300 civilians were killed by US bombs in Eastern Afghanistan on Friday. Apparently a large number of Northern Alliance combatants were also killed in these attacks.

I read a report (but I can't remember from what source) on the situation in refugee camps in the Kandahar region that were heart-breaking. People are fleeing US bombs and fierce fighting in Kandahar and large numbers are dying of starvation. It reported on an 8 year old Afghan boy rummaging for food in the camp whose 2 year old sister had died from hunger a couple days before.

Remember three weeks ago when the Northern Alliance took Mazar-i-Sharif and the puppets in the US media were trumpeting far and wide that now, because of US bombs, aid can be delivered to the hungry? Well all those reports did the trick. Just as people were starting to voice concerns that US bombs were going to massively intensify starvation we were told to stop worrying, that everything was about to be worked out. Rah! Rah! Rah! USA! types jumped onto indymedia to smugly proclaim that anti-war radicals were way off base in their fears of starvation. They claimed that now that the US proxies had taken control of the North of Afghanistan the food shipments would increase big-time and the threat of large-scale starvation due to US bombs would be averted. Frequent indymedia poster, Jon, saw this "fact" as vindication of the US war.

Well, guess what? Food shipments haven't increased since the Northern Alliance took control. In fact they've declined by more than half since November 9. The New York Times on November 30 reported -- with no particular sense of urgency -- that chaos has enveloped the region since the NA came in and it's more difficult now than a month ago to move food shipments to where they are needed. According to a graph documenting food aid, on November 9 approximately 2,400 metric tons of assistance was getting in. On the last reported day there were less than 1,200 metric tons being distributed.

Mark Bartolini, a spokesman for International Rescue Committee, one of the largest aid groups in Afghanistan is quoted saying: "It's very bad and there are no signs of improvement."

And winter is coming.

Actually it was a clown named Ken that was trumpeting the alleged increase in aid as vindication of the US war, not Jon.

Jon probably shared Ken's views but I don't recall him speaking up.