The US attack on MSF hospital in Kunduz

US admits “mistaken” forced entry into hospital it previously bombed

Off-Guardian,

22 October, 2015

In this Friday, Oct. 16, 2015 photo, Christopher Stokes, the general director of the medical charity, Doctors Without Borders, which is also known by its French abbreviation MSF, stands amid the charred remains of the organization’s hospital, after it was hit by a U.S. airstrike in Kunduz, Afghanistan. Stokes says the “extensive, quite precise destruction” of the bombing raid casts doubt on American military assertions that it was a mistake. (Najim Rahim via AP)

What is going on with the US in Afghanistan right now? If nothing else its PR department should be fired. First, just one day after condemning Russia for allegedly “inaccurate” bombing in Syria, they bomb Médecins Sans Frontières inside a hospital in Kunduz. Then they lie repeatedly in an attempt to deflect or minimise their responsibility. And as if that sorry saga wasn’t enough, they have now admitted that ten days later their armoured vehicles “deliberately” and illegally “crashed through the closed gate” of the compound housing the hospital.

Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Afghan armored vehicle with U.S. personnel inside drove through the gate last Thursday to gain access to the compound, believing incorrectly that no Doctors Without Borders personnel were present.

And what reason did they give for doing this? Assessing the building’s “structural integrity” no less. The move was “part of a process to determine whether to pay a damage claim.”

Yes, that’s right they are saying they drove an armoured vehicle through the front gate in order to ascertain whether they had done enough damage to warrant an insurance pay out.

They also admit they did it at a time they thought MSF was not present. Which is not very good code for “we though it would just be a bunch of locals in there and the media wouldn’t listen to any stories they told.”

MSF says the US Army’s unusual method of damage assessment has had the unforeseen side-effect of “destroy[ing] potential evidence” about the bombing.

Ops.

But it’s ok though guys. The Pentagon has got this. In Captain Davis’ own words…

“They did it. They shouldn’t have…and they’re going to make it right and make sure that that gate is repaired.

Who says the US doesn’t have a moral compass?