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http://theredphoenixapl.org/2010/10/07/on-the-ninth-anniversary-of-the-afghanistan-war/
Afghan War 2001
On the Ninth Anniversary of the Afghanistan War
By The Red Phoenix on October 7, 2010
Today, the war and military occupation in Afghanistan continues onwards for its tenth year, marking the ninth anniversary of the invasion on October 7th, 2001. The so-called “Global War on Terror” has escalated into a full-scale invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq as well as the bombing and terrorization of Somalia, Pakistan, Yemen and other countries. Since then, the financial costs of the Afghanistan War have trampled that of the Iraq War. In February 2010, the monthly cost for Afghanistan was $6.7 billion, while the Iraq War was $5.5 billion. Costs aside, let us take a look at where the Afghan War has taken the Afghan population nine years down the line. “Operation Enduring Freedom” (OEF) has brought nothing but destruction, a military dictatorship, legalized rape and the re-opening of Afghanistan’s poppy and opium fields to fuel the global drug trade. [comment: I thought the figure in the billions per month was a typo, but a check indicates monthly figures in the BILLIONS is correct & the figures given in this 2010 article are correct - here]
In addition, NATO airstrikes and ground operations have not ceased for a moment. Even pro-US Afghan President Hamid Karzai is calling on the US to withdraw. The death tolls for both the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars have independently claimed thousands of lives. Some civilian death estimates for Afghanistan say between 11,443 and 14,240 deaths have been recorded total as “direct deaths,” with 6982 since 2007. Some estimates go as high as over a million dead in Iraq alone. The recent escalation of the war in Afghanistan by the US imperialists is the beginning of President Barack Obama’s plan to send 30,000 more troops in the coming months before a supposed gradual drawdown of troops (much like the recent Iraq “drawdown” no doubt) in 2011. The CIA remains poised and ready to borrow armed bomber drones from the US military in order to expand their covert assassination campaign, which has been known to violate the borders of Pakistan in North Waziristan and commit political assassinations.
Current State of Afghanistan [at 2010]
A global public opinion survey involving 47 nations conducted in 2007 found that only 2 out of the 47 countries possessed a majority that supported the continued US/NATO occupation of Afghanistan. These two were Israel (59%) and Kenya (60%) (1). More breaking news included that “The Taliban issued a statement marking the invasion anniversary, claiming 75 percent of Afghanistan was now under its control. ‘The strongholds of jihad and resistance against the invading Americans and their allies are as strong as ever,’ it said. ‘The invading Americans spent hundreds of billions of dollars in order to continue this illegitimate war, lost thousands of soldiers — with tens of thousands of them being injured — and faced heavy losses in terms of military hardware.’ The Taliban urged the U.S. and its allies to immediately leave the country” (2). A report by the Open Society Foundations, a think-tank, said that “Afghans are increasingly angry and resentful about the international presence in Afghanistan and do not believe insurgents are responsible for most attacks and civilian deaths” (2).
Just to give our readers an idea of just how bad the drug trade in Afghanistan has gotten since the US occupation, on Wednesday a “joint patrol […] seized a vehicle with 1,700 pounds (760 kilograms) of heroin, 550 pounds (250 kilograms) of hashish, 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of wet opium, five anti-personal mines, and bomb-making materials in Kandahar […]” (2).
As Afghanistan was getting ravaged with bombs, the U.S. government enlisted the help of the Northern Alliance led by warlord Rashid Dostum to do their bidding on the ground. In a U.S. orchestrated operation, the Northern Alliance captured the Taliban stronghold of Mazar-i-Sharif. Thousands of Taliban fighters were taken prisoner in the nearby town of Kunduz. Kunduz fell in November of that year, and in December, New York Times correspondent Carlotta Gall reported, “dozens…of prisoners asphyxiated in shipping containers used to transport them to [the] prison in Shibarghan, a journey that took two or three days” (3). The NA needed to transport thousands of “potentially dangerous men” and as such they were stuffed into sealed containers that often line the roads of Afghanistan and are used to transport prisoners. This figure of “dozens” comes from the prison commander who admitted that 43 had died during the journey, most from combat injuries. However, inquiry with inmates held in Shibarghan lead Gall to believe that the actual number of deaths may be much higher.
The following May, Gall offered a follow-up report, offering the news, “A tangle of abandoned clothes, half-covered in sand, lies just off the desert track. Pieces of white bone are strewn among the mess and the smell of decaying bodies drifts over the site” (4). She then went on to offer some background information on what she had discovered: The desert outside Shibarghan “hides what are suspected to be large-scale killings committed five months ago by Afghan allies of the US” (3).
“Kill Team” in Afghanistan Exposed for War Crimes
As for a more recent event, rogue members of a platoon from the fifth Stryker Combat Brigade, second infantry division were charged with killing civilians for sport and for dismembering and photographing corpses. According to the army’s own charge documents, an Afghan man approached the platoon in the small village of La Mohammed Kalay. One soldier, falling back on the excuse that they were under attack, threw a fragmentary grenade and ordered others to open fire. This unprovoked attack, taking place on January 15th, was the beginning of a wide-reaching shooting spree against civilians. The subsequent investigation has pressured the belief that the military ignored warnings of the rouge soldiers and what they were doing.
One of the soldiers facing charges, Spc. Adam Winfield, wrote home to his parents after he was notified of the killings done by his fellow soldiers, “I’m not sure what to do about something that happened out here, but I need to be secretive about this” (5). He wrote this on a Facebook message to his parents, dated January 15th, 2009. About a month later, he was able to present his family with the details. Soldiers in his unit were on patrol and killed, “some innocent guy about my age, just farming” (5). He then added that those who had committed the murder suggested that he “get one of his own.” The soldier’s father, Christopher Winfield, went to contact the Army through a hotline in order to prompt an investigation. However, his efforts were all for none. Months later, two more Afghan civilians were killed.
Spc. Winfield later told his parents that he had “proof that they [the soldiers in his unit] are planning another one in the form of an AK-47 they want to drop on a guy” (6). He added that he felt a strong concern for his personal safety if he made the decision to report the killings to the authorities. “Should I do the right thing and put myself in danger for it? Or just shut up and deal with it,” adding, “There are no more good men left here. It eats away at my conscience every day” (7). Winfield had good reason to worry. Another soldier in the same unit, Pfc. Justin Stoner, who told superiors about hashish-smoking among soldiers, was savagely beaten by several members of the platoon. Staff Sgt. Gibbs and another soldier further intimidated Stoner by displaying on the floor a set of severed fingers, telling Stoner that “if I don’t want to end up like that guy…shut the hell up” (6). This led Stoner to tell investigators about the murders of the three Afghan civilians.
Spec. Jeremy N. Morlock, 22, and a member of the 5th Stryker Combat Brigade admitted to taking place in the killings, which took place in the Kandahar province between January and May 2009. He attempted to shift the blame entirely on Gibbs, claiming that he was the one that planted the idea with their unit to kill innocent Afghans. “Gibbs had pure hatred for all Afghanis and constantly referred to them as savages,” Morlock said in one statement, details of which were first reported by the Associated Press (8).
Morlock, Gibbs and three other U.S. soldiers have been charged with murder in the deaths of the three Afghan civilians. In some of the most gruesome allegations against American military personnel since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, they and other soldiers from their platoon also face charges of using hashish, dismembering and photographing corpses, and possessing human bones. Morlock’s defense attorney sought to toss out his client’s statements by arguing that he was on heavy medication at the time of his discussion with Army investigators in May of that year.
http://theredphoenixapl.org/2010/10/07/on-the-ninth-anniversary-of-the-afghanistan-war/
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/11/kill-team-calvin-gibbs-convicted
The Guardian - 2011
'Kill team' US platoon commander guilty of Afghan murders
Calvin Gibbs, who made soldiers help him kill civilians and take body part 'trophies', could be out in less than 10 years
Chris McGreal in Washington
Friday 11 November 2011 14.36 AEDT
A US military court has convicted an army squad commander of leading a "kill team" in Afghanistan that murdered unarmed civilians and collected body parts as war trophies.
But Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs, 26, could be freed in less than 10 years after receiving a life sentence with the possibility of early parole for murder, assault and conspiracy over the killings of three Afghans in separate incidents staged to look as if the victims were combatants.
In one of the most serious accusations of war crimes to emerge from the Afghan conflict, Gibbs recruited other soldiers to murder civilians he called "savages" after he took over command of a US army squad in Afghanistan's Kandahar province in November 2009. Prosecutors described Gibbs as hunting innocent Afghans "for sport", a view reinforced by the staff sergeant's statement likening the amputation of body parts as trophies to collecting antlers from a deer.
The military prosecutor, Major Rob Stelle, told the court: "Sergeant Gibbs had a charisma, he had a 'follow me' personality. But it was all a bunch of crap, he had his own mission: murder and depravity. No one died before Sergeant Gibbs showed up."
Gibbs was convicted of murder for inciting two soldiers to kill 15-year-old Gul Mudin as he worked in a field. The platoon commander gave a grenade to one of the soldiers, Jeremy Morlock, who threw it at Mudin. A second soldier, Andrew Holmes, then shot the boy. Gibbs played with the corpse of the teenager "as if it was a puppet", Morlock told the trial.
The staff sergeant was also convicted of shooting dead Marach Agha, a man sleeping by a roadside, and then planting a Kalashnikov next to the corpse to make it look as if he was a fighter. He kept part of the victim's skull as a trophy.
Gibbs was convicted on a third count of murder for killing a Muslim cleric, Mullah Adahdad, with a grenade and then shooting him. Two other soldiers, Morlock and Adam Winfield, have already pleaded guilty over their roles in the killing.
Gibbs and other soldiers collected fingers, teeth and other body parts as trophies. They also took photographs of themselves posing next to their dead victims. In one of the pictures Morlock is seen lifting Mudin's [teenager's] head by its hair for the camera and smiling. The soldiers also took ghoulish pictures of themselves with dead combatants.
The jury of five soldiers was shown pages of Facebook messages sent by Winfield to his parents in which he described how Gibbs led the killings. In one exchange with his father Winfield recounted Mudin's killing.
"An innocent dude. They planned and went through with it. I knew about it. Didn't believe they were going to do it. Then it happened. Pretty much the whole platoon knows about it. It's OK with all of them pretty much. Except me. I want to do something about it. The only problem is I don't feel safe here telling anyone. The guy who did it is the golden boy in the company who can never do anything wrong and it's my word against theirs," Winfield wrote.
Winfield later told investigators: "[Gibbs] likes to kill things. He is pretty much evil incarnate. I mean, I have never met a man who can go from one minute joking around, then mindless killings."
The court martial was told that Gibbs had six skull tattoos on his leg to mark up each of his "kills" from tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In his testimony Gibbs denied responsibility for the killings, saying the victims all died in legitimate combat. But he did admit slicing off body parts from Afghans, including the fingers of a man, and keeping them or giving them to other soldiers as trophies.
"In my mind I was there to take the antlers off the deer. You have to come to terms with what you're doing. Shooting people is not an easy thing to do," said Gibbs.
The prosecution witnesses against Gibbs included members of his army unit who were also involved in the atrocities. Morlock and Holmes have pleaded guilty to murder and received prison sentences of 24 years and seven years respectively. Winfield pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for failing to prevent other soldiers from attacking Afghan civilians. He was jailed for three years.
Another soldier, Michael Wagnon, is awaiting trial over the killings and collecting human body parts.
The killings came to light in May after the army began investigating an assault on a soldier, Justin Stoner, after he reported to superiors that members of his unit were smoking hashish. Gibbs, Morlock and other members of the platoon are alleged to have beaten Stoner and told him to keep his mouth shut. Stoner reported the beating and told investigators what he knew of the "kill team".
Prosecutors called Gibbs "monstrous" and "savage" and told the military jury he should never be released from prison. But the jurors acceded to the convicted soldier's plea to have the hope of being reunited with his son and sentenced him to life with the possibility of parole after less than 10 years.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/11/kill-team-calvin-gibbs-convicted
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SUMMARY
February 2010
Cost of War to USA Taxpayers
- Afghanistan - $6.7 billion per month
- Iraq - $5.5 billion per month
est. civilians killed Afghanistan
*other estimates as high as over 1-million dead, Iraq alone
➭ CIA covert political assassination program
2007 Survey
only majority support for US/NATO occupation of Afghanistan
➭ Drug trade booming
➭ Taliban claims 75% control of Afghan territory
http://theredphoenixapl.org/2010/10/07/on-the-ninth-anniversary-of-the-afghanistan-war/
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WAR CRIMES - Afghanistan
Northern Alliance
USA orchestrated op
take town of: Mazar-i-Sharif
1,000s Taliban fighters taken prisoner (Kunduz)
transport to prison in Shibarghan
3-day journey
➭ dozens captives suffocated in sealed shipping containers
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COMMENT
Checking some old stories, as I was having a look at some old photos to get a feel for 2010 wars. I missed out on what was going on in Afghanistan and Iraq, because I wasn't interested at the time.
On reading of the random killings of civilians and body parts collection, the initial feeling was horror and disgust.
It makes no sense to kill civilians for nothing and it's sick to play around with dead things, glorifying the slaughter and glorifying one's role in committing the slaughter.
While you want people in the military (esp. the army) that can kill and aren't at all squeamish, you don't want sickos targeting civilians or killing unjustly and randomly, and certainly not sickos with a fetish for body parts.
But I'm not sure why that's so offensive. As in, when people are dead, they're dead.
I guess because it goes beyond maybe taking a photograph of someone killed in combat (but this wasn't even combat, it was civilians randomly targeted), and it's taking disgusting trophies -- which is a lot like playing around with and treasuring decay.
[I'm eating toast at the moment & my stomach's sort of unhappy with that imagery.]
It's sick to be that hung up on dead things, and the entire thing was staged to pump up this guy's ego and self-image as 'killer.'
It didn't even matter to him that the whole thing was a fraud (in the sense that his victims weren't even combatants) and that he was therefore no great combatant.
Odds are that the Staff Sergeant, Calvin Gibbs, is a psychopath.
That it was a US military commander, that it was planned in advance, and that the platoon (15-30 soldiers) were OK with this, is damning of the US military.
The Winfield guy getting 3 years prison seems harsh, seeing he wasn't involved and wasn't into what his unit was doing, and seeing he expressed fear about speaking up about what was going on.
*I can't believe they're going to free the sicko commander & let him loose in US society.
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EU-NATO IMPERIALISM ❌ 