Afghan Leader Assails Airstrike, 60 Children Killed, Gates Offers Regrets

Marching in sync to fulfill Nostradamus's prophesies - control and protection of the oil regions, wherever they may be, at all costs.....
As common sense in science is lost with the continued stagnation of our energy base and deep troubling theoretical foundational issues in physics, so too, Civilization's Survival Parameters fly out of sight, out of mind, along with the values and morals inherent within new scientific understanding which new energy systems would reveal. The new scientific comprehension would eliminate the caveman 'club/stick' conflict resolution methods still used in the 21st century. Besides, caveman club/stick methods do not work well with nuclear toys, as they threaten all of humanity

Scientific Stagnation bodes an ill wind to evolution, sustainability, and survival as "cycles of humiliation, dumbing us down, violence, and Unrestrained Corporate Greed prompting resource wars with nuclear finality" join hands with global warming and ecological imbalance to precipitate the historical "rise and fall of civilization" - a Tsunami accelerating toward us with a far more spectacular event than the legends and myths of 'Atlantis and Lemuria"........ had more people known that Energy from Corn (or going backwards to a dimwitted concept of radioactive nuclear power application ) sounded a wee bit kindergartenish and senile for the twenty first century......the Future may have had a chance.

The Deadly Dangers of a Mis-informed, Dis-informed & Un-informed Population, Ultimately to Itself, History Provides Ample Evidence.

The Solution: The Promise of New Energy Systems & Beyond Oil Evaporates the Problem: The ill designed "Corporism: The Systemic Disease that Destroys Civilization." when lacking a Bill of Rights for Human Life

Afghan Leader Assails Airstrike, 60 Children Killed, Gates Offers Regrets
Gates Offers Regrets for Afghan Civilian Casualties
Defense secretary Says U.S. Tries to Avoid Civilian Death, but Needs to Do More
By JONATHAN KARL
KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 17, 2008 —
In a solo press conference after a "frank and productive" meeting with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he offered Afghan officials "personal regret" for civilians killed in coalition airstrikes.
Gates said the U.S. takes great effort to avoid civilian casualties, but "it is clear we need to do more."
"I offer all Afghans my sincere condolences and personal regrets for the recent loss of innocent life as a result of coalition air strikes," Gates said. "While no military has ever done more to prevent civilian casualties, it is clear that we have to work even harder."
Gates said he asked for detailed briefings today on the use of coalition air power (close air support) and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).
But Gates said it is the Taliban that intentionally targets civilians.
"All they seek is death and destruction and the power to impose their will. And they will fail," he said.
Gates also met with Air Force pilots along the flight line at Bagram Air Field and heard about the steps the Air Force takes to avoid civilian casualties from Brigadier Gen. Mike Holmes.
Speaking in front of an Air Force A-10 with sharp teeth painted on its nose cone, Gates told reporters that he is changing the way the military deals with incidents involving civilian casualties here. Now, when there are reports of civilian casualties, the military will first apologize, second compensate victims and then conduct an investigation. In the past, they often waited for the investigation before taking those first two steps.
"I think the key for us on those rare occasions when we do make a mistake, when there is an error, is to apologize quickly, to compensate the victims and then to carry out an investigation," he said.
He said he hopes this change in approach will help persuade the Afghan people that the U.S. is serous about avoiding civilian casualties.
2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

NYT August 24, 2008
Afghan Leader Assails Airstrike He Says Killed 95
By CARLOTTA GALL
KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai strongly condemned on Saturday a coalition airstrike that he said killed up to 95 Afghans — including 50 children — in a village in western Afghanistan on Friday, and said his government would be announcing measures to prevent the loss of civilian life in the future.
Government officials who traveled to the village of Azizabad in Herat Province on Saturday said the death toll had risen to 95 from 76, making it one of the deadliest airstrikes on civilians in nearly seven years of war.
The American military said Saturday it was investigating the attack.
The Karzai government has expressed outrage over recent airstrikes that have led to civilian deaths, as popular support for the coalition presence in Afghanistan dwindles. The tension comes at a delicate time for the American-led coalition, which is facing a resurgent Taliban with a perceived shortage of troops, leading it to rely more on air power to battle militants.
Mr. Karzai also denounced the coalition after an airstrike on July 6 killed 27 people in a wedding party — most of them women and children, ... full text