The Human Rights Foundation (HRF), a South African organization that seeks to end wars around the globe, issued a press release on December 5, 2001, entitled “War Crimes in Afghanistan.”

HRF contends that the government of the United States is guilty of war crimes under the Geneva Convention by its actions in Afghanistan, which they say has and will unnecessarily end a large number of human lives. The report claims the actions of our government are excessive, unnecessary, and have deliberately promulgated war. We Hold These Truths is airing these statements because we believe many of HRF’s charges are irrefutable, though we may not know about or agree with all aspects and interpretations of the press release.

The report states:

“Let us review the current war in Afghanistan and go back in time to the events of the 11th September 2001. Within an hour of the WTC attacks, CNN had already named Osama Bin Laden as the prime suspect.“

The Foundation believes the Taliban attempted in good faith to negotiate a reasonable alternative to war. We do not know if the Taliban was in good faith, but we agree that there could have been no way to know that their offer to turn Osama bin Laden over to an agreed upon third party was not in good faith without testing it. We also know the Bush Administration did not consider the offer because they said so, and they refused to discuss such a negotiation. We agree that this is strong evidence of bad faith on the part of the Administration in a decision that predictably has ended the live of many innocent people, and will starve and freeze to death many more.

The Foundation also pointed out the Administration publicly refused to offer the Taliban, or anyone else, any concrete evidence that bin Laden was guilty of anything, and still has not done so. It believes that such an agreement, if negotiated to a conclusion, would have averted the present war and the destruction of the Afghan People. We agree, and we note that it also might have saved Americans the financial cost of a war and the death of some American citizens as well. There is no way to know what the result of such negotiation might have been without trying. With thousands, perhaps millions of lives in the balance, the innocent people of Afghanistan, and the American taxpayers, deserve better. The Bush Administration instead played to, took advantage of, and inflamed the public’s understandable demand for revenge for Day911.

We note the views of the Foundation, while strongly expressed, are not atypical of that growing sentiment in countries around the world. Huge anti-war rallies were being staged in London on November 18, and elsewhere, including Washington. On December 5, according to Juli Stahl of CNS, the US and Israel announced a boycott of the 4th annual Geneva Convention, an obvious protest against the war civilities of the two parties. The 122 nations, no small number, voted to hold the convention and apparently consider Israel‘s occupation of Palestine to be a violation of the Convention’s International Law.

The Foundation of Human Rights states

“The Taliban made a second offer 10 days into the bombing to hand over Osama Bin Laden to an International Court which was neutral [this was a fair request in terms of international norms and ensuring justice]. This offer was also rejected out of hand. Bush declared that he would not negotiate with the Taliban. In fact, Bush changed the goal posts when the Taliban offered to hand over Osama Bin Laden. He wanted the surrender of the entire Al Quada Network together with all their supporters. This statement was so vague and all encompassing that it virtually meant anything that George Bush wanted it to mean, making it impossible for the Taliban to comply.”

We Hold These Truths add the observation that prior to the Operation Desert Storm, George H.W. Bush refused to negotiate with Saddam Hussein for a peaceful pull out of Kuwait after the latter had entrapped himself there. The Iraqi dictator clearly realized his mistake and wanted to negotiate a save face withdrawal, but Sr. Bush would not allow it and continued with the bombardment of Iraq. The loss of life has now exceeded 500,000 in Iraq, mostly civilians, and American loss of life was a modest hundred or so. It all sounds too familiar to be an accident. It is clear to us that both Bush Presidents wanted the war, for their respective reasons.

The press release goes on to contend that:

“The war on Afghanistan which has not been authorized by the UN Security Council and is in clear violation of International Law, being conducted without any regard for the norms which would apply in a conventional war was unjustified. Remember this war is unjustified and is also not conventional. It is an act of aggression that is totally contrary to the founding principles of the UN Charter and the principles of the United Nations.”

We would respond to Foundation query, that, while the US actions are often not approved by a majority of the UN member nations, the US taxpayers still pay the bills, therefore on major issues; the UN is usually a rubber stamp for the Administration. To understand why not, that the UN building also stands on ground contributed by the Rockefeller family next to the East River.

The Foundation alleges massive abuses of human rights against the Afghan population and asks

“If the UN Security Council has not specifically authorized the use of force in Afghanistan, why is the United Nations silent on this flagrant violation of International Law? Aside from various Human Rights Organizations and informed intellectuals and some progressive journalists, the mainstream media seems to be largely silent about the massacres and daily mass murder rape and slaughter taking place in Afghanistan.”

The press release states

“The continuous aerial bombardment in Afghanistan has seriously disrupted the supply of food aid to Afghanistan. It is widely accepted that 7.5 million Afghans are in danger of starvation as a direct result of the interruption of food supplies which have to be stock piled before the onset of winter.” We can only agree, and we add that Afghanistan has no railroads or navigable rivers, few airports and only 1700 miles of paved road in a country almost as big a Texas. Distributing food in the winter in this country means dumping it out the doors of cargo planes into the snow, and under that same snow are thousands of unexploded cluster7bombs the same planes have recently dropped.

The Foundation also claims the US has used cluster bombs

“These are composite bombs that upon explosion release a further 200 bomb lets over the area of five football fields. They say this demonstrates the lack of respect the US has for civilian lives. Various human rights organizations have called for an immediate International Moratorium on the use of cluster bombs that kill indiscriminately.” Further, “Other weapons of mass destruction that have been used and are known to be uncontrollable include the use of Daisy Cutters. The use of this weapon of mass destruction adds more conclusive evidence that the US is in clear violation of the Geneva Convention regarding its prohibition of attacks on civilians.“

The report ascribes The Daisy Cutter as the most powerful bomb just short of a nuclear weapon. It destroys every living thing in a 3km radius destroying everything in its path, causing instant devastation, destruction and a plume in the Sky.

We also note that the so-called Daisy Cutter is not actually a bomb, but a bulky device that must be pushed out the gate of a transport plane manually, thereby being almost uncontrollable as to where it might land. The likelihood of killing civilians is a near certainty compared to “smart bombs.” Like its nuclear big brother, the Daisy Cutter incinerates the evidence of the crime. We join the HRF in asking “Why is the media silent about this usage of a weapon of mass destruction?”

The Foundation further alleges that 7.5 million Afghans are in danger of dying of starvation and exposure “if the bombs do not kill them first.” And, “the US destroys a country and creates total chaos when the entire population is in a state of panic and millions of innocent people have nowhere to go because the borders are sealed. With no food to eat, they are slowly starving to death.” We can readily agree with HRF because we like many world-wide have observed the unprecedented, forced, 10-year starvation of Iraq.

The Human Rights Foundation concludes, “The US and its allies are politically accountable for the actions of the Northern Alliance. Bush and Blair have the blood of thousands of innocent civilians, who have died from either the bombing campaign, the starvation due to disruption of food supply or summary executions and rape committed by their new allies the Northern Alliance. The NA has a history of being responsible for the deaths of up to 50, 000 people the last time they controlled parts of Afghanistan.” The full text of Human Rights Foundation Press release (http://www.eislam.com)