Borjan, 12; Sardar Wali, 10; Khan Bibi, 8; The War on Children

Dear Mr. President,

Borjan, 12; Sardar Wali, 10; Khan Bibi, 8, are dead, killed Sunday afternoon by “a precision airstrike on three insurgents in Nawa district,” according to a military spokesman in Afghanistan (The New York Times, Oct. 16, 2012, page A10). “None of our reporting shows any civilian casualties or any children.” However, Haji Hayatullah, a member of the tribal council, is quoted in the same article: “When we reached the area I saw the 3 bodies of children… They had been collecting … dung and were heading home. I saw a sack of dung and another sack that was contaminated with their blood, and I saw 3 to 4 holes in the area. It seems the insurgents were digging them to plant mines, but I did not see any men’s bodies.” A follow-up article in today’s Times, “3 Children Die in Afghan Strike by NATO-Led Coalition” reports that the military now confirms that 3 children were killed in the strike, calling their deaths tragic but also “raising the possibility  [all italics mine]. that the Taliban were using them to ‘emplace the I.E.D.’… Aerial images…showed 5 people on the road, with 2 then moving away, presumably to act as an ‘early warning’ for those digging the holes for the bombs…A guided rocket strike was approved against those digging the holes… A few minutes later Afghans from the area arrived at the scene and loaded the bodies onto their truck, and minutes later the coalition forces stopped the vehicle as police officers and others arrived. All 3 diggers were identified as coming from the same family and were 12, 10 and 8 years old,” the official said. Villagers, however, said the children were sent out to gather dung but the military repeats their contention of the possibility that “the children did go out to gather dung but were asked to help [the Taliban] dig the bomb holes, and they complied, unaware of the danger.” I have 3 questions, Mr. President. First, did you authorize the strike? Second, how can a drone “pilot” 8,000 miles away looking at a computer screen that shows only a slice of the landscape, someone unaware of the customs, culture or circumstances, know what and who he is shooting at? whether the target is 3 insurgents planting a bomb or 3 children gathering dung? And third, even if these 3 children were digging holes for I.E.D.’s, is this one of your new rules of engagement? That it is now OK to murder 8-year-olds? This is not just a war crime, Mr. President, it is morally repugnant. We have entered the lowest circle of hell.