(The following article is from the June 1-15, 2009, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

     Malalai Joya, an elected member of the Afghan National Assembly, is well known to Canadians for her criticism of both the occupation of Afghanistan and the warlords who are kept in power by NATO military forces. At a May 14 news conference, Joya condemned the ongoing toll of civilian lives caused by NATO warplanes. While Canadian troops do not use the fighter-bombers responsible for the recent deaths in Farah province, these planes are called in by Canadian troops for back up. Canadian Forces have also used attack helicopters and the type of phosphorous shells which reportedly caused significant injuries during the May 4 battle the Bala Baluk district of Farah, near the Iranian border.

     The U.S. military continues to claim that "only 30" civilians were killed on May 4, along with 65 Taliban soldiers. But Afghan and independent sources put the civilian deaths as high as 164, most killed in bombing attacks after the Taliban had already left the area. Red Cross officials who visited Bala Baluk saw dozens of bodies in each of two different villages.

     Here is the statement by Malalai Joya:

     As an elected representative for Farah, Afghanistan, I add my voice to those condemning the NATO bombing that claimed over 150 civilian lives in my province earlier this month. This latest massacre offers the world a glimpse of the horrors faced by our people.

     However, as I explained at a May 11 press conference in Kabul, the U.S. military authorities do not want you to see this reality. As usual, they have tried to downplay the number of civilian casualties, but I have information that as many as 164 civilians were killed in the bombings. One grief stricken man from the village of Geranai explained at the press conference that he had lost 20 members of his family in the massacre.

     The Afghan government commission, furthermore, appears to have failed to list infants under the age of three who were killed. The government commission that went to the village after three days - when all the victims had been buried in mass graves by the villagers - is not willing to make their list public. How can the precious lives of Afghans be treated with such disrespect?

     The news last week is that the U.S. has replaced their top military commander in Afghanistan, but I think this is just a trick to deceive our people and put off responsibility for their disastrous overall strategy in Afghanistan on the shoulders of one person.

     The Afghan ambassador in the U.S. said in an interview with Al Jazeera that if a "proper apology" is made, then "people will understand" the civilian deaths. But the Afghan people do not just want to hear "sorry." We ask for an end to the occupation of Afghanistan and a stop to such tragic war crimes.