Afghan Massacre: After Losing Homes in NATO Attacks, Victims Moved Near U.S. Base Hoping for Safety

[G_j]

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/14/after_afghan_massacre_grievers_left_to

As President Obama vowed to "spare no effort" to fully investigate the Afghan massacre on Tuesday, hundreds of students in eastern Afghanistan protested against the United States. Many called for an end to the U.S. occupation in their country. We go to Kabul to speak with New York Times correspondent Graham Bowley, who reported on the surviving relatives of victims of the Afghan massacre, including Abdul Samad, who lost his wife, four daughters, four sons and two other relatives. "This is a very war-torn area and very poor," Bowley says. "During the surge in 2009, the coalition forces swept through this area and destroyed many of the villages. [Displaced residents] didn’t want to come back, but they were drawn back under the urging of the Afghan government. ... Abdul Samad and other people came back to this town ... It was only just over a mile from the camp where the American soldier was stationed. He thought it was going to be safe." We also speak with Nancy Youssef, McClatchy’s top Pentagon correspondent, who compares the massacre in Afghanistan with the U.S. killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha in 2005. [Rush transcript to come. Check back soon.]