U.S Marine Medic awarded Silver Star

U.S Marine, Petty Officer 3rd Class Peter Gould, aged 24, has been awarded the Silver Star for his bravery as a medic in Afghanistan. He was in an Afghanistan field hospital in July recovering from severe wounds caused by a roadside bomb when he learned he had been awarded the Silver Star.

Earlier this month, Gould was officially pinned with the star for his bravery during the firefight that took the life of Marine Cpl. Larry Harris Jr., and wounded two other Marines in the unit.

Gould, who suffered severe wounds including crushed facial bones, has undergone a lot of plastic surgery on the right side of his face. Shrapnel hit his carotid artery.

His unit remained in Afghanistan until November. In a company of 89, 17 Marines were killed and about 50 were wounded, during their time in country.

Afghan probe accuses NATO of killing 65 civilians

KABUL (27th February): Afghanistan's government said Sunday that its investigations have found NATO killed 65 civilians, many of them children, during recent operations in a remote northeastern militant stronghold.

The death toll from several days of operations in Kunar province comprised 21 boys, 19 girls, 10 women and 15 adult males, President Hamid Karzai's office said in a statement quoting an official delegation.

Karzai has now ordered his security chiefs to "discuss the issue" with international forces, his office said, without providing further details.

In response, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Lieutenant Colonel John Dorrian, said it was "deeply sorry... for any civilian casualties that have occurred as part of this operation."

But he disputed the death toll, saying ISAF's assessment only found five to seven civilians "may have been injured." Investigations were continuing, he added.

Our comment: Perhaps NATO should "discuss the issue" of 2,000+ foreign military killings and 10,000+ foreign military injuries in Afghanistan with President Hamid Karzai