In memory of and sympathy for

10 dead civilians (5 children and 5 women & men)

Others wounded

On Tuesday, June 9, 2009

in the Shahrak district of Ghor province. This case is a classic exemplar of how the U.S wages a disinformation war. The initial U.S. military version was quickly publicized by Jason Straziuso and Amir Shah of the Associated Press (AP) naturally who headlined, “US Kills Militant Said Linked to Iran’s Quds Force” (5:31 AM, June 10, 2009). They elaborated: the US military on Wednesday said an airstrike in western Afghanistan killed a prominent militant warlord named Mullah Mustafa as well as 16 of his men. Mustafa was “said” to have connections with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard – always a good bogeyman to dredge up for the US general public. But a day later, other reports indicated that Mustafa was alive and that the US air raid had killed five children and five women and men (according to the governor of Ghor who spoke with the independent Afghan Islamic Press) as well as possibly 12 “militants.” Others were injured. For their part, the Taliban denied that commanders “Mostafa and Doctor” had been killed. The independent Pahjwok Afghan News  reported on June 10^th that the air raid was made upon a Russian-made Kamaz truck which had earlier been stolen and was travelling in a desert area. By June 11^th Mullah Mustafa himself was being heard from. He said “Some people went to the US forces and provided them with false information, and then they bombed our area. I am not harmed.” But the US air strike killed two of Mustafa’s sons (aged 6 and 10). The AP had noted that “the strike was likely carried out by an American Special Operations Forces team.” By June 12^th nothing was left of the US military version of events served to the public by the Associated Press.

Killed in an air strike by US Special Operations Forces