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Title: US soldiers 'killed Afghan civilians for sport and collected fingers as trophies' (Support the Troops HOOHAA)
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Published: Sep 9, 2010
Author: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep
Post Date: 2010-09-09 12:20:37 by tom007
Keywords: None
Views: 187
Comments: 10
US soldiers 'killed Afghan civilians for sport and collected fingers as trophies' Soldiers face charges over secret 'kill team' which allegedly murdered at random and collected fingers as trophies of war * Reddit * Buzz up * Share on facebook (3356) * Tweet this (1051) * Chris McGreal in Washington * The Guardian, Thursday 9 September 2010 * Article history Stryker soldiers who allegedly plotted to kill Afghan civilians. Andrew Holmes, Michael Wagnon, Jeremy Morlock and Adam Winfield are four of the five Stryker soldiers who face murder charges. Photograph: Public Domain Twelve American soldiers face charges over a secret "kill team" that allegedly blew up and shot Afghan civilians at random and collected their fingers as trophies. Five of the soldiers are charged with murdering three Afghan men who were allegedly killed for sport in separate attacks this year. Seven others are accused of covering up the killings and assaulting a recruit who exposed the murders when he reported other abuses, including members of the unit smoking hashish stolen from civilians. In one of the most serious accusations of war crimes to emerge from the Afghan conflict, the killings are alleged to have been carried out by members of a Stryker infantry brigade based in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan. According to investigators and legal documents, discussion of killing Afghan civilians began after the arrival of Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs at forward operating base Ramrod last November. Other soldiers told the army's criminal investigation command that Gibbs boasted of the things he got away with while serving in Iraq and said how easy it would be to "toss a grenade at someone and kill them". One soldier said he believed Gibbs was "feeling out the platoon". Investigators said Gibbs, 25, hatched a plan with another soldier, Jeremy Morlock, 22, and other members of the unit to form a "kill team". While on patrol over the following months they allegedly killed at least three Afghan civilians. According to the charge sheet, the first target was Gul Mudin, who was killed "by means of throwing a fragmentary grenade at him and shooting him with a rifle", when the patrol entered the village of La Mohammed Kalay in January. Morlock and another soldier, Andrew Holmes, were on guard at the edge of a poppy field when Mudin emerged and stopped on the other side of a wall from the soldiers. Gibbs allegedly handed Morlock a grenade who armed it and dropped it over the wall next to the Afghan and dived for cover. Holmes, 19, then allegedly fired over the wall. Later in the day, Morlock is alleged to have told Holmes that the killing was for fun and threatened him if he told anyone. The second victim, Marach Agha, was shot and killed the following month. Gibbs is alleged to have shot him and placed a Kalashnikov next to the body to justify the killing. In May Mullah Adadhdad was killed after being shot and attacked with a grenade. The Army Times reported that a least one of the soldiers collected the fingers of the victims as souvenirs and that some of them posed for photographs with the bodies. Five soldiers – Gibbs, Morlock, Holmes, Michael Wagnon and Adam Winfield – are accused of murder and aggravated assault among other charges. All of the soldiers have denied the charges. They face the death penalty or life in prison if convicted. The killings came to light in May after the army began investigating a brutal assault on a soldier who told superiors that members of his unit were smoking hashish. The Army Times reported that members of the unit regularly smoked the drug on duty and sometimes stole it from civilians. The soldier, who was straight out of basic training and has not been named, said he witnessed the smoking of hashish and drinking of smuggled alcohol but initially did not report it out of loyalty to his comrades. But when he returned from an assignment at an army headquarters and discovered soldiers using the shipping container in which he was billeted to smoke hashish he reported it. Two days later members of his platoon, including Gibbs and Morlock, accused him of "snitching", gave him a beating and told him to keep his mouth shut. The soldier reported the beating and threats to his officers and then told investigators what he knew of the "kill team". Following the arrest of the original five accused in June, seven other soldiers were charged last month with attempting to cover up the killings and violent assault on the soldier who reported the smoking of hashish. The charges will be considered by a military grand jury later this month which will decide if there is enough evidence for a court martial. Army investigators say Morlock has admitted his involvement in the killings and given details about the role of others including Gibbs. But his lawyer, Michael Waddington, is seeking to have that confession suppressed because he says his client was interviewed while under the influence of prescription drugs taken for battlefield injuries and that he was also suffering from traumatic brain injury. "Our position is that his statements were incoherent, and taken while he was under a cocktail of drugs that shouldn't have been mixed," Waddington told the Seattle Times. * Print thisPrintable version * Send to a friend * Share * Clip * Contact us * larger | smaller World news * US military · * United States · * Afghanistan More news Related 30 Jul 2010 WikiLeaks data: suspected army source sent back to US 4 Jul 2010 Petraeus formally assumes command of Nato campaign in Afghanistan 24 Jun 2010 US military commander on McChrystal comments: 'I was nearly sick' | Richard Adams 31 Dec 2009 Eight Americans killed in Afghan blast were CIA agents * Print thisPrintable version * Send to a friend * Share * Clip * Contact us * Article history Ads by Google
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#1. To: tom007 (#0)
just a stone cold murderer...
The Waffen SS had more class than our current generation of morons in the military.
__________________________________________________________ I'm not entirely certain that playing a reel to reel of Mozart while disemboweling strapped down humans for medical experiments is really that much more classy dude. Just sayin'.
"The more artificial taboos and restrictions there are in the world, the more the people are impoverished.... The more that laws and regulations are given prominence, the more thieves and robbers there will be." - Lao Tzu, 6th century BC
Americans should forgive the Germans for what they did in WW2. Not that what they did was ok. But if Americans are willing to set no limits as to how low "we" can sink morally and culpably --- then just what IS IT that we've been condemning the Germans for these past generations anyways? If what the Germans did was an abomination, then it is high time Americans look at their own policies and attitudes. Is murdering millions of non-nationals acceptable as long as it isn't under a single administration? Or as long as it is only so many in a given time frame? Could it be that the USA is not the only nation to have its "patriots"? Quiz for "patriots": Was a German who fought or spied against his own government during WW2 a patriot or a traitor? Given the nature of the government of the time, such a question should provoke at least a moment of silence from the respondent.
Democrats don't mind war as long as they can have big government. Republicans don't mind big government as long as they can have war.
Neither is innoculating black American servicemen with STD's, subjecting our Army "volunteers" to mind-altering drug experimentation that leaves them warped for life, and kidnapping/imprisoning/torturing Americans in massive underground facilites under Fort Hood in central Texas.
__________________________________________________________ I don't disagree. I'm just stating that there was no more class with the SS than any other band of murderous thugs.
"The more artificial taboos and restrictions there are in the world, the more the people are impoverished.... The more that laws and regulations are given prominence, the more thieves and robbers there will be." - Lao Tzu, 6th century BC
The SS didn't take sh!t from the jews, that puts them up at least one peg from the U.S. goyim-soldiers. __________________________________________________________ Oh? Heh. Who was their leader again? ;) No matter who you "take shit from" or "take orders from", a thug is a thug is a thug in my eyes.
"The more artificial taboos and restrictions there are in the world, the more the people are impoverished.... The more that laws and regulations are given prominence, the more thieves and robbers there will be." - Lao Tzu, 6th century BC
An Austrian who was a failed artist and an ex-corporal from WWI. You know, a foreign-born upstart, like Obama :-o
__________________________________________________________ during the vietnam war the 173rd airborne would remove ears from the dead vietnamese and wear them around their necks.its hard to believe this was isolated on the 173rd. now obviously no one can say if they were civilians or not,unless one was there.the US is very good at training the military to kill,and thats what they do,and some do it with a grin.being in combat cannot be fun,add the possibility of narcotics and this brutality does not surprise me at all.imo you cannot justify condemning their actions without looking to georgeobamaarieltheveggieclintonwolfowitzbushcarlylegroup.now that group is target rich with crooked appendages
According to investigators and legal documents, discussion of killing Afghan civilians began after the arrival of Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs at forward operating base Ramrod last November. Other soldiers told the army's criminal investigation command that Gibbs boasted of the things he got away with while serving in Iraq and said how easy it would be to "toss a grenade at someone and kill them".
#2. To: tom007 (#0)
"This man is Jesus,” shouted one man, spilling his Guinness as Barack Obama began his inaugural address. “When will he come to Kenya to save us?"
-Schweizerische Schuetzenzeitung (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941
#3. To: X-15 (#2)
#4. To: christine (#1)
#5. To: SonOfLiberty (#3)
"This man is Jesus,” shouted one man, spilling his Guinness as Barack Obama began his inaugural address. “When will he come to Kenya to save us?"
-Schweizerische Schuetzenzeitung (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941
#6. To: X-15 (#5)
#7. To: SonOfLiberty (#6)
"This man is Jesus,” shouted one man, spilling his Guinness as Barack Obama began his inaugural address. “When will he come to Kenya to save us?"
-Schweizerische Schuetzenzeitung (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941
#8. To: X-15 (#7)
#9. To: SonOfLiberty (#8)
Who was their leader again? ;)
"This man is Jesus,” shouted one man, spilling his Guinness as Barack Obama began his inaugural address. “When will he come to Kenya to save us?"
-Schweizerische Schuetzenzeitung (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941
#10. To: tom007 (#0)
(Edited)
collected fingers as trophies
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