The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
February 22, 2011

Gen. Petraeus Suggests Afghan Parents Intentionally Burned Children 
--------------------------------------------------------------------



Tension is rising between U.S. and Afghan officials after reports that
64 Afghan civilians may have been killed in NATO attacks last week. The
Washington Post reports that U.S. Gen. David H. Petraeus suggested
Sunday in a closed meeting that pro-Taliban Afghans might have burned
their own children or invented stories to exaggerate claims of civilian
casualties. Afghan officials present at the meeting were said to have
been shocked by Petraeus's comment. One Afghan official said, "Killing
60 people, and then blaming the killing on those same people, rather
than apologizing for any deaths? This is inhuman."



.