Scores of children killed, crippled by explosives left by US, NATO in Afghanistan
58 replies, posted
[url]http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/9927430/US-explosives-killing-more-Afghan-kids[/url]
[IMG]http://static2.stuff.co.nz/1397101023/384/9927384_600x400.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE]As the United States military withdraws from Afghanistan, it is leaving behind a deadly legacy - about 2072 square kilometres of land littered with undetonated grenades, rockets and mortar shells.
The military has vacated scores of firing ranges pocked with the explosives. Dozens of children have been killed or wounded as they have stumbled upon the ordnance at the sites, which are often poorly marked.
Casualties are likely to increase sharply - the US military has removed the munitions from only 3 per cent of the territory covered by its sprawling ranges, officials said.
Clearing the rest of the contaminated land, which in total is nearly one and a half times the size of Christchurch, could take two to five years. US military officials say they intend to clean up the ranges, but because of a lack of planning, officials say, funding has not yet been approved for the monumental effort, which is expected to cost $250 million.[/QUOTE]
Children are always innocent and should never have to suffer like this. More thought should have been put into just how to deal with the explosives.
[quote] US military officials say they intend to clean up the ranges, but because of a lack of planning, officials say, funding has not yet been approved for the monumental effort[/quote]
That's disgraceful.
There's also an issue with unexploded ordnance in desert areas - if the ground is mainly sand and/or gravel, when it shifts it can move mines and other explosives with it out of the marked areas. My old man did medical cover for people clearing ordnance at the end of and after the First Gulf War, in really bad cases stuff had moved like a quarter of a mile or more out of minefields.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;44518673]That's disgraceful.[/QUOTE]
Too busy buying billion dollar jets
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;44518673]That's disgraceful.[/QUOTE]
but there's always room in the budget for more tanks and extremely expensive planes
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;44518673]That's disgraceful.[/QUOTE]
Gotta cut that defense budget somewhere. That probably was close to the logic behind this choice.
Messed up stuff, Afghanistan's had a big problem with left-over explosives ever since the Soviet incursion, this is tossing even more on the pile.
[QUOTE=asteroidrules;44521086]Gotta cut that defense budget somewhere. That probably was close to the logic behind this choice.
Messed up stuff, Afghanistan's had a big problem with left-over explosives ever since the Soviet incursion, this is tossing even more on the pile.[/QUOTE]
I think it's more a matter of the brass not [I]thinking[/I].
i dont mean to offend anyone but a few dead children is worth all the freedom that we've brung to their country, as hard as it is to say
HAAHHHAHAHA! You think they would learn from Russia. Oh, sorry moderators. IM drunk. Woops. DrunkenDuncan on the prowl. Ban me if you want. sorry again. :suicide:
Stuff like this tends to happen when we rush leaving.
[QUOTE=Camundongo;44519675]There's also an issue with unexploded ordnance in desert areas - if the ground is mainly sand and/or gravel, when it shifts it can move mines and other explosives with it out of the marked areas. My old man did medical cover for people clearing ordnance at the end of and after the First Gulf War, in really bad cases stuff had moved like a quarter of a mile or more out of minefields.[/QUOTE]
And to think there were plans to develop robotic land-mines that could move on their own.
Because we're the first and only country to leave mines lying around...
Totally aren't any still going off in Vietnam.
Poor kids, though.
[QUOTE=Robman8908;44523152]Because we're the first and only country to leave mines lying around...
[B]Totally aren't any still going off in Vietnam.[/B]
Poor kids, though.[/QUOTE]
Jee I wonder what country could've put them there.
[quote]SOVIET OCCUPATION ALSO TO BLAME
Even before the US military arrived in 2001, Afghanistan was the most heavily mined country in the world.
When the Soviets withdrew in 1989 after a 10-year occupation, they left about 20 million pieces of unexploded ordnance scattered nationwide.
The munitions have killed and wounded thousands of children.
The US government has helped fund efforts to clear those devices, a massive project expected to be completed in 2023.[/quote]
Uhh, not only is the US not entirely to blame, but it is trying to clean up after the Soviets.
I feel good that at least I feel sorry on an internet forum
Friendly rating should do it.
Taliban also left a lot of mines. Just saying. It's everyone using mines.
[QUOTE=Paul McCartney;44524710]Taliban also left a lot of mines. Just saying. It's everyone using mines.[/QUOTE]
Doesn't mean NATO shouldn't clean up after themselves.
[QUOTE=maxumym;44523328]Jee I wonder what country could've put them there.[/QUOTE]
Really? North/South Vietnamese, French, and U.S. forces all laid tons of explosive traps. One side isn't innocent in any way. Since '89, the U.S. has poured $46 million into helping clear the mines leftover from the Vietnam War.
[QUOTE=imhighasfuc;44522261]i dont mean to offend anyone but a few dead children is worth all the freedom that we've brung to their country, as hard as it is to say[/QUOTE]
Knowing that you helped maim or kill a kid by training with your 203 is a terrible pang.
[QUOTE=imhighasfuc;44522261]i dont mean to offend anyone but a few dead children is worth all the freedom that we've brung to their country, as hard as it is to say[/QUOTE]
you dont even know what ur saying
[QUOTE=imhighasfuc;44522261]i dont mean to offend anyone but a few dead children is worth all the freedom that we've brung to their country, as hard as it is to say[/QUOTE]
Please tell me this is sarcasm...
One of my ROTC instructors told me the story about how on his first day in Afghanistan, he saw a farmer get blown up. The guy was driving a tractor through his field, and it ran over an old anti-tank mine. Wasn't much left of the poor bastard.
Crazy place, Afghanistan.
[QUOTE=imhighasfuc;44522261]i dont mean to offend anyone but a few dead children is worth all the freedom that we've brung to their country, as hard as it is to say[/QUOTE]
Thanks America for spreading the red white and blue flag of freedom!!!!!
[QUOTE=CrumbleShake;44525312]Thanks America for spreading the red white and blue flag of freedom!!!!![/QUOTE]
The Taliban were so much better right?
[QUOTE=anis;44517706][url]http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/9927430/US-explosives-killing-more-Afghan-kids[/url][/QUOTE]
this will be the next generation of extremist who hate america
[QUOTE=pajarojamal;44525415]this will be the next generation of extremist who hate america[/QUOTE]
Well not if they're all blowing up.
what did Afghanistan do to deserve constant war since the 80's?
If I were born there, I'd start voting with my feet(if they weren't blown off by mines by the time I became an adult)
oh but wait; as someone born there, you need a visa practically everywhere else you went...damn
[img_thumb]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Visa_requirements_for_Afghan_citizens.png[/img_thumb]
US doesn't care. If they want the will drop some carpet bombs and still the public won't give a shit.
[QUOTE=ZyreHD;44525783]US doesn't care. If they want the will drop some carpet bombs and still the public won't give a shit.[/QUOTE]
What a hilariously uninformed thing to say.
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