9-11 Families Lobby for Afghan Victims of US Bombs

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Tuesday January 22 8:52 PM ET (via Yahoo)

Sept. 11 Families Lobby for Afghan Victims of US Bombing

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Two American women who lost loved ones in
the Sept. 11 terror attacks petitioned the United States on Tuesday
for compensation to Afghan families whose relatives were killed and
property destroyed by U.S. bombing.

Before handing petitions through the closed gates of the embassy to a
U.S. Marine guard, the women and representatives of a U.S. advocacy
group held a news conference to appeal for the creation of a
compensation fund for those who died in the bombing campaign.

The air assault was launched Oct. 7 after the Taliban refused to hand
over Osama bin Laden, blamed for masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks
on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The Taliban were driven
from power but bin Laden has not been found.

`I've come to this country to meet with other innocent victims,''
said Rita Laser, 70, of New York City, whose brother Abe Zelmanowitz
died in the World Trade Center.

She said of the Afghan bombing victims her group had met over the
past week: `They are all very happy that we've gotten rid of the
Taliban, but they are suffering tremendously.''

Kelly Campbell, 29, of Oakland, Calif., whose brother-in-law Craig
Amundson was killed in the attack on the Pentagon, showed pictures of
Afghan families the group had met in recent days, saying some were
left destitute by airstrikes that wrecked their homes, and others
were maimed and disabled.

`The U.S. government needs to take responsibility for the direct
effect on people's lives,'' Campbell said. `We have cried with them -
we feel the same grief, but these people have nothing.''

The Sept. 11 families' visit, which began Jan. 15, was organized by
the San Francisco-based group Global Exchange, a peace and human
rights organization. The group said it would continue to collect
petitions on behalf of the victims and present them to the Kabul
embassy.

No plans have been announced for the setting up of a compensation
fund for Afghan victims, although the United States has in the past
paid compensation to civilians who suffered injuries, bereavement and
loss of property during U.S. military actions.

The Pentagon said civilians were never deliberately targeted during
the bombing in Afghanistan, but has acknowledged that some bombs went
astray.

On Monday, the United States pledged $296 billion [sic; probably 2.96
$billion] during the current fiscal year to help Afghanistan
rebuild from decades of war. The aid is part of a $4.5 billion,
multiyear package pledged at a conference of nearly 60 donor nations
and international organizations in Tokyo.

The pledges fell short of the five-year, $10 billion goal set by
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to rebuild everything
from bridges to schools to education and health care systems in the
war-devastated country.
 
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