US Airstrike on Afghan Hospital Leads to International Investigation

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photo courtesy of GETTY: MSF

medical staff treat patients and staff wounded in the aftermath of the airstrike

Anna Landre, Staff Writer

On the morning of October 3rd, twenty-two people were killed when a US airstrike hit the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. Jason Cone, US executive of the charity, reported that in an apparent violation of the Pentagon’s own instructions on the rules of war, the hospital was given no prior warning of the strike. On Tuesday, President Obama called Doctors Without Borders President Joanne Liu to apologize for the fatal mistake.

Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médicins sans Frontières (MSF), has called for an investigation into what could have gone wrong to result in such a large operational blunder. American Military commander John F. Campbell now believes that there was little justification for the airstrikes, which are only authorized to either target terrorists, protect American troops, or assist Afghans who request support in battles. With no American or Afghan lives in immediate danger, the commander states, Special Operations Forces who authorized the strikes likely did not meet any of the necessary criteria. Regardless of whether or not a sufficient analysis of the situation was made, General Campbell told a Senate committee on Tuesday that the action was “a US decision made within the US chain of command.”

President Obama promised full cooperation with investigations being made by NATO and the Afghan government, even assuring MSF President Liu that, if necessary, structural changes would be made to prevent future incidents. Still, Liu and MSF intensified their pressure upon the US, demanding that a transparent investigation be conducted “to establish what happened in Kunduz, how it happened, and why it happened,” even saying that the US had made an “admission of a war crime.” The critical question of whether or not the US has truly committed a war crime will likely be determined based upon whether they had notified the hospital ahead of the strike.

“While I would love to believe that it was an honest mistake, it’s pathetic that a lethal airstrike was not better planned, especially in an area with medical facilities and civilians,” notes Emily Baum, a CGI student and junior at FTHS. “A simple apology may speak volumes on the international scale, but it does nothing to alleviate the loss Doctors Without Borders is experiencing. It makes logical sense that Doctors Without Borders is demanding independent investigations, and I hope they get them.”

This airstrike is among the most significant and widely reported cases of civilian deaths caused by US forces during the war in Afghanistan. Those killed were 12 MSF staff members and 10 patients who were seeking medical treatment after the Taliban attacked their homes last week.