"Photos of killings threaten Afghan ties" March 22, 2011|By Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times
KABUL, Afghanistan — The release of explicit photographs of US soldiers apparently engaged in atrocities against Afghan civilians threatens to ignite tensions between the Afghan and US governments and provide fodder for the Taliban’s efforts to persuade residents that the foreign troops fighting here are a malevolent force....
At this point I don't think the population needs much convincing.
Three photographs, published in the German magazine Der Spiegel, show members of the self-designated “Kill Team’’ comprising US Army soldiers who are accused of making a sport of killing innocent Afghans as they show off one of their victims in a kind of trophy photo....
No one should be surprised by this. It is WHAT WAR BRINGS OUT in people, and was PREDICTED before the thing began.
Der Spiegel, which published the photographs in its March 20 print edition, blurred the victims’ faces so that their expressions could not be seen. Although that makes the photographs somewhat less inflammatory than they might otherwise be, it does not conceal the faces of the soldiers, who look disconcertingly satisfied as they kneel next to an Afghan civilian who appears to be dead....
AmeriKan media got scooped by Der Spiegel?
The pictures bring to mind those of the torture and humiliation of Iraqis at the hands of US troops at the Abu Ghraib prison, which came to light in spring 2004. But there were dozens of those pictures and they clearly showed the victims’ faces, making their pain all the more apparent. That case reverberated across the Muslim world in ways that this case has yet to do, in part because of the absence of photographs. The release of the images threatens to change that.
They are only hiding this from the American people; the VICTIMS of our AGGRESSION and ATROCITIES KNOW DAMN WELL what is going on!
There was little reaction yesterday because it was Nowruz, the Persian New Year, which is a national holiday, and many Afghans go out for picnics. So even those few with Internet access were less likely to see the photos.
I'm glad the Afghans can find some solace and fun.
The Afghan government had no comment about the photos yesterday, nor did the US Embassy, which referred all questions to the US military.
The military and diplomats are hoping to mute public anger by emphasizing that the soldiers in the Afghan case are being brought to justice....
Yeah, we'll see.
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Have they been convicted yet?
"US soldier gets 24 years in slayings of 3 Afghans" by Robin Hindery, Associated Press / March 24, 2011
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. — A US soldier who pleaded guilty yesterday to murdering three Afghan civilians was sentenced to 24 years in prison after saying “the plan was to kill people’’ in a conspiracy with four fellow soldiers.
Military judge Lieutenant Colonel Kwasi Hawks said he initially intended to sentence Specialist Jeremy Morlock to life in prison with possibility of parole but was bound by the plea deal.
Morlock, the first of five soldiers from the Fifth Stryker Brigade to be court-martialed in the case, will receive 352 days off his sentence for time served and could be eligible for parole in about seven years, said his lead attorney, Frank Spinner. He will be dishonorably discharged as part of his sentence.
Morlock, 22, is a key figure in a war crimes probe that has raised some of the most serious criminal allegations to come from the war in Afghanistan....
The WHOLE THING has been ONE LONG WAR CRIME!
Morlock told the judge that he and the other soldiers first began plotting to kill unarmed Afghans in late 2009, several weeks before the first killing took place. To make the killings appear justified, the soldiers planned to plant weapons near the bodies of the victims, he said....
Happens ALL the TIME!
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Also see: Depravity under tough strains
Were they excusing war crimes again?
I'm not; however, once again we have the small fry soldiers being punished while war criminal leaders that ordered it all walk between the raindrops.
