President Obama said Tuesday that the United States is "heartbroken" over the Afghan civilians allegedly killed by a U.S. soldier, and takes the deaths as "seriously" as if the victims were from the Unite States.
Obama spoke as violence in Afghanistan began to escalate two days after a U.S. soldier was suspected of killing sixteen Afghan civilians in an apparent rogue attack.
"The United States takes this as seriously as if it was our own citizens and our own children who were murdered," Obama said during brief remarks in the Rose Garden. "We are heartbroken over the loss of innocent life."
Obama, who met earlier on Tuesday with Gen. John Allen and Ambassador Ryan Crocker in Washington, said he's directed the Pentagon to "spare no effort" in conducting a full investigation into the shootings, which occurred early Sunday morning. But Obama sought to ease tensions in the war zone, saying that the "killing of innocent civilians is outrageous, and it's unacceptable."
"It's not who we are as a country and it does not represent our military," Obama said.
To read more on Obama's comments, click here.
