President Obama Condemns ‘Murder’ of Innocent Afghans
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Official White House Photo by Pete Souza(WASHINGTON) — “The United States takes this as seriously as if it was our own citizens and our own children who were murdered,” President Obama said Tuesday in the White House Rose Garden, speaking of the 16 Afghans, nine of them children, killed over the weekend by an unnamed U.S. Army staff sergeant. “We’re heartbroken over the loss of innocent life.”
It was the first time the president had used the word “murder” in relation to the killings, though White House officials said the word choice was not intended as any sort of escalation of language.
“The killing of innocent civilians is outrageous, and it’s unacceptable,” the president said. “It’s not who we are as a country, and it does not represent our military.”
The president said that he had directed leaders at the Pentagon “to make sure that we spare no effort in conducting a full investigation. I can assure the American people and the Afghan people that we will follow the facts wherever they lead us, and we will make sure that anybody who was involved is held fully accountable with the full force of the law.”
President Obama emphasized that the war is coming to a close. “Make no mistake,” he said, “We have a strategy that will allow us to responsibly wind down this war. We’re steadily transitioning to the Afghans, who are moving into the lead. And that’s going to allow us to bring our troops home.” Ten thousand U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 2011, and 23,000 are scheduled to leave by the end of the summer.
“There’s no question that we face a difficult challenge in Afghanistan. But I am — I am confident that we can continue the work of meeting our objectives, protecting our country and responsibly bringing this war to a close,” he continued.
The president noted that on Monday he met with ISAF Commander General John Allen and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker – in whom he said he had “extraordinary confidence” as well as “in the many Americans who are serving in Afghanistan who…have made extraordinary sacrifices to be there.”
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