(TFC Op-Ed) While the world reels from another attack in London, it overlooks attacks elsewhere. Pundits on western TV, who are unknowingly collaborating with Islamic State forces, are asking where “the good Muslims” are, who they feel should be condemning the attack in London. There is no question about the location of the ‘good Americans’ who should be condemning airstrikes on civilian targets in Syria.
Yesterday, the US-led coalition was blamed for an airstrike on a school sheltering 50 refugee families. 33 people have been confirmed killed, and an untold number are still missing and suspected to be in the rubble. These victims were comprised of men, women, and children who were attempting to stay out of the fight. They were noncombatants by any definition of the word. The US has issued a denial of involvement. The denial is worthless, as it has become standard practice to deny involvement in attacks on civilians until public outcry fades. Of course, now there is no public outcry. The US statement includes the expected phrase:
“…we have conducted several strikes near Raqqa we will provide this information to our civilian casualty team for further investigation.”
This is similar to statements issued in relation to the recent bombing of a mosque occupied by civilians, in which 46 were killed.
The US had admitted killing at least 220 civilians in airstrikes in Syria, a country we are not at war with. NGOs on the ground report the number is more than ten times the admitted figure, and place it at above 2400.
Many of the civilians have been related to oil production in the area. President Trump promised to conduct attacks on civilian targets during his campaign, but backed away from the statement when he was advised it would possibly constitute a war crime. He said,
“Here’s what I would do. And I’ve been saying this for a long time, I have been saying it to you. I would have — and now they’re just starting — if you remember when I said, attack the oil, because that’s their primary source of wealth. Attack the oil.”
It apparently never occurred to Trump or Obama, who enacted Trump’s plan, that targeting oil fields means targeting oil field workers. Those workers are civilians forced into working for the Islamic State at gunpoint.
As Americans wonder yet again how someone could attack innocents, they should remember this quote:
“They, they care about their lives. Don’t kid yourself. But they say they don’t care about their lives. You have to take out their families.”
This is the man they elected. This is President Donald Trump. Americans can’t act as if there isn’t blood on their hands. They didn’t condemn those advocating terrorism, they elected one as their leader.
Opinion by Justin King / Creative Commons / The Fifth Column
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