Monday - March 21, 2011

Here We Go Again

US Army ‘kill team’ in Afghanistan posed for photos of murdered civilians
Commanders brace for backlash of anti-US sentiment that could be more damaging than after the Abu Ghraib scandal


Gosh, do you think they gave their victims funny names and kept a stick figure tally of their kills with chalk? Bragged about their exploits in the newspaper as if killing people was just a game of conkers? Oh wait, that’s normal. This one is over the line. And it is ... by about 3 small steps from behavior the earlier post I’m referring to.

This is going to cause a major stink, and it can’t be blamed on Bush. Cry foul, and call it BS? Uh huh, when Der Speigel claims to have more than 4000 pictures? 12 soldiers from the 5th Stryker Brigade amassed more than 4000 pictures? And videos???

Commanders in Afghanistan are bracing themselves for possible riots and public fury triggered by the publication of “trophy" photographs of US soldiers posing with the dead bodies of defenceless Afghan civilians they killed.

Senior officials at Nato’s International Security Assistance Force in Kabul have compared the pictures published by the German news weekly Der Spiegel to the images of US soldiers abusing prisoners in Abu Ghraib in Iraq which sparked waves of anti-US protests around the world.

They fear that the pictures could be even more damaging as they show the aftermath of the deliberate murders of Afghan civilians by a rogue US Stryker tank unit that operated in the southern province of Kandahar last year.

Some of the activities of the self-styled “kill team” are already public, with 12 men currently on trial in Seattle for their role in the killing of three civilians.

Five of the soldiers are on trial for pre-meditated murder, after they staged killings to make it look like they were defending themselves from Taliban attacks.

Other charges include the mutilation of corpses, the possession of images of human casualties and drug abuse.

All of the soldiers have denied the charges. They face the death penalty or life in prison if convicted.

The case has already created shock around the world, particularly with the revelations that the men cut “trophies” from the bodies of the people they killed.

An investigation by Der Spiegel has unearthed approximately 4,000 photos and videos taken by the men.

And while trying to sweep the story under the rug, the Army is busy apologizing for those pictures left and right? God almighty. Is this what happens when our troops are given an impossible ROE and left off in the armpit of the universe and forgotten about for a decade? Or maybe this happens because they have no respect for their Commander in Chief?

I don’t understand it. I do understand, never myself having been in one, that war is a god-awful horror, and a terrible mess. It’s Bizzaro World with extra blood. And things go on there that seem normal to those involved, but that are beyond the understanding of those on the outside. But somewhere, somehow, there has to be a line.

Despite an overall decline in civilian casualties caused by NATO forces, those episodes have tarnished the coalition campaign and put Mr. Karzai in the awkward position of having to explain why the country’s allies are killing unarmed children and women.

Three photographs, published in the German magazine Der Spiegel, show members of the self-designated “Kill Team” comprised of United States 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; another photograph shows two Afghan civilians who appear to be dead.

NATO, under the leadership of the US Army, has been preparing for possible publication of the photos for close to 100 days. In dozens of high-level talks with their Afghan partners, military leaders have sought to pursue the same strategy used by the US diplomatic corps in the case of the sensitive diplomatic cables released late last year by WikiLeaks. They warned those most directly affected and made preparations for the photos’ appearance in the public sphere. This “strategic communication” was aimed at preventing a major public backlash.

The 12 men are also facing further charges of desecration of corpses, illegal possession of photos of corpses, drug abuse and acts of bodily injury against comrades.

Oh just fucking marvelous. The published pictures are here. They’re a bit grizzly, but you’ve seen worse. Certainly you’ve seen far, far worse from the other side. Daniel Pearl’s beheading, the bridge at Fallujah, any splodey-dope car swarm, etc. But go and look, and then explain picture #3 to me. Yeah, #1 and #2 are a bit odd, and you can’t tell the “innocent civilians” from the enemy because they don’t wear uniforms. I mean, it’s sick enough to take happy trophy pictures with corpses like you snap a pick of a great bass you caught up at the lake. But explain picture #3. Now, what about the 3997 other pictures you aren’t seeing? You think they’re all Happy Little Sally on the swings in the park? Guess again. They’re depraved war porn of the basest kind. For shits and giggles. No? Prove me wrong.

Yes, war is an awful thing. And war without end or purpose or public support or even public awareness or respected leaders or even an attempt at victory and a set of rules forced down your throat designed to get you killed is even more awful. Mind breaking, soul destroying. And that’s Afghanistan, more than TEN YEARS in. And sometimes some people can’t handle it. But a whole squad going rogue, and living in their own Apocalypse Now world, without even the guidance of a Colonel Kurtz? Not even a Lieutenant Calley? And they took FOUR THOUSAND pictures and videos? Great. I can feel the black eye forming even way the hell over here in New Jersey. Babies on spikes and my special private collection of ears. Holy shit. Old men’s arms used to keep the campfire going. Pregnant native women hanging from wires as wind chimes. Get out your umbrellas, because the excrement is about to impact the oscillator once again. I think a dozen uniformed idiots have just shown the world that the US military is made of actual Nazi sadists. Thanks so much. It’s going to take one hell of a chocolate bars, soccer balls, and school building “hearts and minds” PR campaign to counter this one. Fuck. Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

Posted by Drew458     on 03/21/2011 at 10:20 PM   
Filed Under: • Military •  
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