Kunduz Hospital bombing and Shifting political alliances.

THIS is the Shifting of the Tide!!

I believe that a year from now, we will look back and see this week as the definitive marker that shows us the radical shift in the political alliances and the turning of the Tides against the American Empire.

The Air Strike by the US, against a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, has struck a never before seen chord in the International Community.  Never before have we witnessed this type of response to what in reality is commonplace: ie, the US bombing (whether "by accident" or on purpose) of a Civilian building in the war zones of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, or Syria. 

The outcry by international organizations, Countries, and The United Nations was almost instantaneous, AND the response of US military commanders in the area which show very clearly that they KNEW what they had done AND understood the ramifications, has played out so quickly that my head was literally spinning yesterday.

As I posted on Facebook:

THIS IS A MAJOR PIECE. This is the FIRST time the US has EVER admitted to this type of action, THIS fast. Something MAJOR has happened and the Shift in Politics is PRONOUNCED.
The head of UN human Rights- a Jordanian PRINCE-has said: ‘Inexcusable, possibly even criminal’: UN rights chief says Kunduz bombing may be war crime
A WAR CRIME!!!!!!!

The political shift is Vastly Visible when a Jordanian Prince (Jordan being, albeit unofficially, a vassal creation of the US), in his official position of United Nations Human Rights Chief, uses the words "Criminal" and "War Crimes" to describe the bombing of the hospital:

"This deeply shocking event should be promptly, thoroughly and independently investigated and the results should be made public," al-Hussein said in a statement.
"The seriousness of the incident is underlined by the fact that, if established as deliberate in a court of law, an airstrike on a hospital may amount to a war crime."

More reports and information coming to light about this attack leaves some very big questions Unanswered:

"All parties to the conflict, including in Kabul and Washington, were clearly informed of the precise location (GPS coordinates) of the MSF facilities," the statement added.
MSF said the aerial raid hit the main hospital building housing the intensive care unit and emergency rooms, while the surrounding buildings were left untouched.
NATO conceded US forces may have been behind the strike on MSF, which has long treated the war-wounded from all sides of the conflict.....
"There was a pause, and then more bombs hit. This happened again and again. Those people that could had moved quickly to the building's two bunkers to seek safety. But patients who were unable to escape burned to death as they lay in their beds."
The soot-blackened building was filled with the smell of burning flesh and some bodies were charred beyond recognition

 http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/death-toll-jumps-to-nine-in-kunduz-hospital-bombing-msf/article/445522#ixzz3naiKKqFU

“The Taliban are taking and evacuating their wounded fighters to the hospital for treatment,” said Laghmani, who said the militant group still controls most of the city. “It was the only advanced hospital” in the area.
....Sultan Arab, a local police commander in Kunduz, said the hospital came under an airstrike “because the Taliban had shifted their command center inside the hospital.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/doctors-without-borders-airstrike-hits-afghan-hospital-killing-3-staffers/2015/10/03/2ed13104-b50a-48ec-9eb9-92db8ee3a876_story.html

Ahhhhhhh!  Of course the American's Spin doctor the story as "Terrorists" being INSIDE the hospital, using it as a command outpost....  Which is pure bullshit, and has been vehemently denied by Doctors Without Borders, who ran the hospital. But the greater question that immediately came to my mind, based on all the information that has been put out in the past two days......

MSF’s hospital is the only facility of its kind in the whole northeastern region of Afghanistan, providing free life- and limb-saving trauma care. MSF doctors treat all people according to their medical needs and do not make distinctions based on a patient’s ethnicity, religious beliefs or political affiliation.

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/article/afghanistan-msf-staff-killed-hospital-partially-destroyed-kunduz


Question:  who was being treated in that hospital at the time of the bombing?

Only the ICU and Emergency Rooms were hit... over and over again.  .....the rest of the hospital was left virtually untouched.   THIS was not "Accidental". 


I will be watching this VERY closely.....


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Suspected US airstrike hits hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan Live updates
Published time: 3 Oct, 2015 07:14Edited time: 4 Oct, 2015 01:05
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Fires burn in part of the MSF hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz after it was hit by an air strike on October 3, 2015 © MSF / AFP
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A hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz has been hit and partially destroyed in an overnight “aerial attack” that killed at least 12 Medecins Sans Frontieres staff. NATO has admitted a US airstrike may have caused accidental “collateral damage.”

• 04 October 2015
  07:38 GMT
  MSF has left Kunduz, according to the group’s communications manager, Kate Stegeman, following Saturday’s deadly airstrike. She added that that some of the medical charity’s staff had been working in other health facilities in the city.
  
  
• 00:02 GMT
  In a brief statement released by the White House, President Obama has extended his “deepest condolences” to the victims of the “tragic incident at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz.”
  “The Department of Defense has launched a full investigation, and we will await the results of that inquiry before making a definitive judgment as to the circumstances of this tragedy,” read the statement, notably not featuring the terms “airstrike” or “attack” anywhere in the text.
  
  While the US President expects a full account of the facts and circumstances surrounding the “incident,” he expressed Washington’s intention to continue to “work closely” with the Afghan government as they “work to secure their country.”
  
  
• 03 October 2015
  21:25 GMT
  Ivan Eland from the Center on Peace and Liberty at The Independent Institute told RT that the tragedy in Kanduz should show the US that it needs to pull out all its troops from Afghanistan “once and for all.”
   
  
• 20:25 GMT
  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the airstrikes in Kunduz that resulted in the death and injury of medical workers and patients at a MSF hospital. He called for a thorough and impartial investigation into the attack in order to ensure accountability.
  “The Secretary-General recalls that hospitals and medical personnel are explicitly protected under international humanitarian law,” the statement attributed to Ban said.
  He commended the courageous and dedicated staff of the organization and extended his deepest sympathies to the families of the victims.
  
  
  
• 19:56 GMT
  The World Health Organization (WHO) released a statement extending condolences to the families and colleges of those killed and injured in the bombing.
  
  
• 19:25 GMT
  The US military said in a statement on Saturday that its air forces conducted a strike “in the vicinity” of a Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital in Kunduz.
  “US forces conducted an air strike in Kunduz city at 2:15am [local time], Oct 3, against insurgents who were directly firing upon US servicemembers advising and assisting Afghan Security Forces in the city of Kunduz. The strike was conducted in the vicinity of a Doctors Without Borders medical facility,” said Gen. John F Campbell, commander of US forces in Afghanistan.
  “I am aware of an incident that occurred at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz city today,” he added.
  
  
• 18:42 GMT
  MSF said in a statement that the hospital was bombed by a series of aerial raids at approximately 15 minute intervals. The bombs “very precisely” and “repeatedly” hit the main central hospital building, housing the intensive care unit, emergency rooms, and physiotherapy ward, it added.
  “The bombs hit and then we heard the plane circle round,” said Heman Nagarathnam, MSF’s head of programs in northern Afghanistan.“There was a pause, and then more bombs hit. This happened again and again. When I made it out from the office, the main hospital building was engulfed in flames.
  “Those people that could had moved quickly to the building’s two bunkers to seek safety. But patients who were unable to escape burned to death as they lay in their beds.”
  
  
• 18:24 GMT
  NATO’s Secretary General has expressed his condolences to all those affected by the bombing of the hospital in Kunduz.
  “I am deeply saddened by the tragic incident involving a Doctors without Borders hospital in Kunduz,” Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement on Saturday. “I extend my condolences to all those affected. A US investigation into this tragic incident is underway in coordination with the Afghan government.”
  
  

• 18:24 GMT
  NATO’s Secretary General has expressed his condolences to all those affected by the bombing of the hospital in Kunduz.
  “I am deeply saddened by the tragic incident involving a Doctors without Borders hospital in Kunduz,” Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement on Saturday. “I extend my condolences to all those affected. A US investigation into this tragic incident is underway in coordination with the Afghan government.”
  
  
• 18:03 GMT
  The head of the US-led forces in Afghanistan, General John Campbell, has offered his condolences to Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani after the bombing of the hospital in Kunduz, the Afghan president’s office has reported, as cited by Reuters.
  Reuters previously reported that Campbell had apologized to Ghani. However, it later corrected the statement.
  
  
  
• 16:37 GMT
  MSF said “all indications” suggest US-led forces carried out the bombing.
  "All indications currently point to the bombing being carried out by international Coalition forces," it said in a statement. "MSF demands a full and transparent account from the Coalition regarding its aerial bombing activities over Kunduz on Saturday morning."
  
  
• 16:30 GMT
  The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said two of its medical staff had been helping at the MSF facility in Kunduz, but they weren’t harmed in the bombing.
  
  
• 16:17 GMT
  MSF said the death toll in the bombing has risen to 12 staff members and at least 7 patients. It added that 37 people were injured, including 19 staff members.
  
  
• 15:35 GMT
  The US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter says Washington is still trying to determine what happened in the airstrike that hit the Afghan hospital.
  "A full investigation into the tragic incident is under way in coordination with the Afghan government," Carter said in a statement.
  He said the area around the hospital had been the scene of intense fighting in recent days with US forces supporting Afghan Security Forces against Taliban fighters.
  
  
• 15:33 GMT
  Eltaf Najafizada, a freelance journalist for RT, found out about the death of his friend Aminullah Salarzai on social media. He had worked at the hospital as a doctor.
  
  “It’s a really sad moment concerning the death of my friend. He was in his 20’s and was engaged. He worked as a physician at the Doctors Without Borders hospital. He was loved by all those around him. I really miss him.”
  
  
• 15:29 GMT
  The UN Human Rights chief, Zeid Raad al-Hussein says the bombing of the hospital in Kunduz was “utterly tragic, inexcusable and possibly even criminal.” He has called for an investigation into the incident, Reuters reports.
  "This deeply shocking event should be promptly, thoroughly and independently investigated and the results should be made public," al-Hussein said in a statement.
  "The seriousness of the incident is underlined by the fact that, if established as deliberate in a court of law, an airstrike on a hospital may amount to a war crime."
  
  
• 14:43 GMT
  Medecins Sans Frontieres has tweeted that 16 people were killed: nine staff members, seven patients, and three children. The medical charity adds that 37 people have suffered injuries, including 19 staff members of whom five are in a critical condition.
  
  

• 14:42 GMT
  The head of the US-led forces in Afghanistan, General John Campbell, has apologized to the Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani after the bombing of the hospital in Kunduz, the Afghan president’s office has reported, as cited by Reuters.
  
  Afghan MSF surgeons work in an undamaged part of the MSF hospital in Kunduz after the operating theatres were destroyed in an air strike © MSF / AFP
  
• 14:23 GMT
  An MSF doctor, as cited by the Guardian, is reporting that 20 members of the medical charity have been killed. The doctor told the publication that eight nurses, three doctors, six security guards, two cleaners and a pharmacist were among those killed.
  
  
• 14:22 GMT
  Amnesty International has condemned the bombing of the hospital in Kunduz, saying the loss of life was “deplorable” and that the matter needed to be “urgently and impartially investigated.
  “This bombing of the MSF hospital in Kunduz marks a dark day for humanitarianism. It is sickening to think that doctors and other staff have had to pay with their lives while trying to save others. Hospitals are places of sanctity under international law governing conflict,” said Horia Mosadiq, Afghanistan Researcher at Amnesty International.
  “There must be a full, independent and transparent investigation into how and why this bombing took place. The US military should not be jumping to conclusions without first fully getting to the bottom of how this happened.”
  
  
• 12:59 GMT
  A Medecins Sans Frontiere official has stated the medical charity was frantically trying to phone NATO as Washington bombed the medical hospital for almost an hour, Reuters has reported.
  The official, who asked not to be identified, said the first bomb landed at 2:10am and MSF staff called NATO officials in Kabul at 2:19am and military officials in Washington a few minutes later. The bombing continued until 3:13am.
  The organization said they would release a statement shortly.
  
  
• 12:16 GMT
  A Middle East expert, Willy van Damme, has called on the US to own up to their mistake of allegedly firing a missile at the hospital, saying that no one else could have been responsible.
  “They knew the coordinates very well as they were communicated several times to the US and NATO by Medecins Sans Frontieres. If I was a US General or Barack Obama, I would admit to what has happened and not say ‘we are investigating.’ There is only one air force operating over there. There is no Chinese Air Force or Taliban Air Force,” he told RT.
  
  
• 11:59 GMT
  RT’s London correspondent Eisa Ali has been looking into what the reliance on US airstrikes could mean for the future of Afghanistan, with the country still struggling to hold its own against the Taliban.
  “It was around this time last year that we saw, with much pomp and ceremony, the withdrawal of UK involvement in Afghanistan. After more than a decade of war in Afghanistan, it had been heralded as a so-called victory in nation building. Yet we have now seen a militant group able to take a city of around 300,000 people, while the Afghan forces are only able to push them out with air support.
  “The US are scheduled to leave in 2016, but it raises many concerns amongst observers that if we have situations like this, what will the future be for Afghan forces and will they be able to hold the country together in the face of an organized Taliban onslaught.”
  
  
• 11:16 GMT
  RT’s video agency Ruptly has footage of the hospital, which was allegedly struck by a US airstrike, in which nine members of Medecins Sans Frontieres were killed.
  
  
• 11:12 GMT
  Susan Harrington, a public affairs officer with the United States Air Force, has told RT: “It would be inappropriate for us to comment at this time as we do not want to jeopardize the integrity of the investigation.”
  This followed a questioned posed to NATO from RT, which wanted to know whether the alliance had indeed received the hospital’s GPS location or any other details from MSF before the attack took place, as the agency had claimed.
  
  
• 10:47 GMT
  
  Fighting has been taking place around Kunduz in the north of Afghanistan for the last week, after Taliban militants seized control of the city, which is seen as their biggest victory since the insurgency began 14 years ago.
  Government forces said they have managed to regain control of parts of the city, while the Taliban have sought refuge in local residents’ homes.
  
  
• 10:42 GMT
  The UN’s special representative in Afghanistan, Nicholas Haysom, has condemned the “tragic and devastating airstrike” on the hospital, calling on all parties to “respect and protect medical and humanitarian personnel and facilities.”
  “Hospitals accommodating patients and medical personnel may never be the object of attack, and international humanitarian law also prohibits the use of medical facilities for military purposes. I commend Medecins sans Frontieres for their work. Our condolences are with them, their patients, family and friends,” he said.
  
  

• 10:40 GMT
  MSF has stated that the bombing at the hospital continued 30 minutes after Kabul and Washington were “clearly informed of the precise location” of the organization’s facilities. The agency added that the precise locations had been communicated to all parties “on multiple occasions” over the past months, with the latest update being on September 29.
  “The bombing continued for more than 30 minutes after American and Afghan military officials in Kabul and Washington were first informed. MSF urgently seeks clarity on exactly what took place and how this terrible event could have happened,” a statement from MSF read.
  
  
  Fires burn in part of the MSF hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz after it was hit by an air strike on October 3, 2015 © MSF / AFP
  
• 10:26 GMT
  Meanwhile Neha Thakkar, a media officer for the International Red Cross, has spoken to RT.
  “This is a grave violation of humanitarian law and of course it is going to impact our ability. The MSF and IRC have the ability to reach out to the people of Afghanistan who really need medical attention, especially in Kunduz where of course the crossfire is still ongoing,” she said.
  “If hospitals are being targeted then it makes our work practically impossible,” Thakkar added.
  
  
• 09:43 GMT
  MSF has issued a statement, saying, “It is with deep sadness that we confirm so far the death of nine MSF staff during the bombing last night of MSF’s hospital in Kunduz.”
  “Latest update is that 37 people were seriously wounded during the bombing, of whom 19 are MSF staff,” the organization added.
  “There are many patients and staff who remain unaccounted for. The numbers keep growing as we develop a clearer picture of the aftermath of this horrific bombing,” MSF concluded.
  
  Afghan MSF medical personnel treat civilians injured following an offensive against Taliban militants by Afghan and coalition forces on October 3, 2015 © MSF / AFP
  
• 09:17 GMT
  MSF medical staff are continuing their work, performing emergency surgery on the wounded.
  
  
• 09:03 GMT
  Dominik Stillhart, director of operations at the International Committee of the Red Cross, has expressed his condolences for those who died and suffered in the strike.
  
  
• 
  
  
  
• 08:42 GMT
  Wahidullah Mayar, spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, has posted details on those wounded in the strike on his Twitter account.
  
  
• 07:47 GMT
  The US formally wrapped up its combat mission in Afghanistan at the end 2014, but some 10,000 US troops stay in the country. American forces are supposed to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2016.
  Talat Masood, a retired lieutenant-general of the Pakistan Army, thinks there's a good chance U.S. soldiers will end up staying for longer.
   
  

• 06:34 GMT
  At least sixty people were killed and around 400 wounded in the fighting in Kunduz since Monday, the spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, Wahidullah Mayar, wrote on his Twitter account. The government says 200 Taliban fighters were killed.
  
  
• 05:53 GMT
  Dr Masood Nasim, who was leading the MSF medical team at trauma hospital in Kunduz, said on Thursday that his facility has been at the front line since the hostilities began on September 28.
  “Early on Monday morning, I came to MSF’s hospital here in Kunduz after hearing the sound of shells falling. By midday our hospital was on the frontline, with fighting right outside the gate. You could hear the sound of shelling, rockets and airplanes. Some bullets have come into the hospital, some even through the roof of the intensive care unit,” Nasim said.
  
  
• 05:40 GMT
  Adil Akbar, a doctor at the hospital who was on duty at the time, told AP that the operating theater, emergency room and other parts of the hospital complex had been struck in the bombing.
  "I managed to escape after attack but I know that most of the staff and even some of the patients are missing," he said.
  
  
• 05:36 GMT
  At the time of the attack, there were over 80 personnel, both local and international, inside the building, threating over 105 patients.
   “We do not yet have the final casualty figures, but our medical team are providing first aid and treating the injured patients and MSF personnel and accounting for the deceased,” MSF said.
  
  
• 05:23 GMT
  Three MSF staff have been confirmed dead, while more than 30 are unaccounted for, according to the organization’s official statement.
  
  
  
• 05:07 GMT
  Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) said they were “deeply shocked by the attack, the killing of our staff and patients and the heavy toll it has inflicted on healthcare in Kunduz”.
  
  
• 05:00 GMT
  The airstrike happened in Kunduz at 2:15am on Saturday, according to NATO coalition spokesman Colonel Brian Tribus.
  “The strike may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility,” he said. “This incident is under investigation.”
  
  

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