Death Squads, Porn, Hashish And Killing For Kicks … It’s Not Just A Few “Bad Apples”
Dubhaltach
Guess what? Having done the El Salvador option in El Salvador and in Irak it seems that the death squad option is now being well and truly being exercised by some American troops in Afghanistan. Surely you’re not surprised?
Snip … … …
On the tape, obtained by ABC News, Morlock admits his role in the deaths of three Afghans but claims the plan was organized by his unit’s sergeant, Calvin Gibbs, who is also charged with pre-meditated murder.
Snip … … …
"He pulled out one of his grenades, an American grenade, you know, popped it, throws it, tells me where to go to whack this guy, kill this guy, kill this guy," Morlock told the investigators.
Source: US Soldier Describes Thrill Kill of Innocent Civilians in Afghanistan – ABC News
- WATCH: Army Corporal Describes Alleged Murder
Watch related videos from ABC News:
- WATCH: Soldiers Caught on Tape
- WATCH: ‘It Was to Cover Our Ass’
In some ways there is no comment necessary on the video confessions obtained by ABC News why on earth would anybody be surprised that American troops in Afghanistan plant weapons on corpses to try to justify killing civilians? — They did it in Irak (and in Irak when they couldn’t get hold of a spare weapon they would plant a spade and pretend they’d murdered their victim while he was planting a bomb).
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/74786
Dressed in a t-shirt and Army shorts, a 22-year-old corporal from Wasilla, Alaska casually describes on a video tape made by military investigators how his unit’s "crazy" sergeant randomly chose three unarmed, innocent victims to be murdered in Afghanistan.
Why would anybody be surprised that American soldiers in Afghanistan behaved like a death squad? — They targeted civilians so often in Irak that it is common for Irakis to refer to them as a death squad in uniform.
Why would anybody be surprised that having committed attrocities in Irak that a sergeant in the American army death squad member would boast to his comrades in Afghanistan about getting away with "stuff". Why would anybody be surprised that he went on to discuss possible “scenarios” for killing civilians in Afghanistan? — He had every reason to suppose he was among like-minded people. He had every reason to suppose that his superiors would turn a blind eye just so long as he wasn’t too blatant:
The revelations have led to calls for a credible investigation to establish whether the command environment – which favours full-on engagement with the enemy – encouraged abuses, and what, if anything, senior officers knew about the killings and substance abuse on the base. There are also question marks over whether the army’s whistleblower system failed to act on reports of a death squad.
Perhaps cutting up the bodies of Afghan civilians, photographing them, keeping their bones, skulls, and fingers as ‘trophies’ of war was a little too blatant though.
Or maybe not.
Not only did sergeant death squad leader have reason to suppose he had a sympathetic audience amongst his immedaite comrades. He also had good reason to suppose that at the highest levels of the American command structure that there is at least one general office who publicly relishes killing people as "fun". Remember this?
General: It’s ‘fun to shoot some people’ – CNN:
Lt. Gen. James Mattis, who commanded Marine expeditions in Afghanistan and Iraq, made the comments Tuesday during a panel discussion in San Diego, California.
"Actually it’s quite fun to fight them, you know. It’s a hell of a hoot," Mattis said, prompting laughter from some military members in the audience. "It’s fun to shoot some people. I’ll be right up there with you. I like brawling.
"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil," Mattis said. "You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."
Read in full: General: It’s ‘fun to shoot some people’ – CNN:
I’ve seen far too much of various forms of types of cowardly and vicious behaviour towards innocent and unarmed civilians in Irak to have been even remotely surprised when I saw it in Afghanistan. And, no, it’s not just "a few bad apples".
"A few bad apples" is a comforting lie that people like to tell themselves. I understand why some people might want to lie to themselves by saying that "it’s just a few bad apples" but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it is still a lie and that those telling it , even if it is only to themselves, are still liars. Nobody ever solved a problem by refusing to admit that there was a problem in the first place. It’s definitely not just "a few bad apples". From what I and other Gorilla’s Guides team members have seen day in day out for years I would have to contend that the organisational culture of the American armed forces make death squads and other warcrimes inevitable. To use another food related proverb "fish rot from the head down".
For as long as Americans continue to believe that their country is "the shining city on the hill" that they are the "good guys" and are entitled to do "whatever it takes" this sort of barbarity will take place and Americans, all of them will be associated with it in the minds of Muslims throughout the world. These attrocities are being committed by American troops, who come from American society, with American values and attitudes, amd who have been trained and indoctrinated in America by other American soldiers. The current wave of Islamophobia in America merely serves to underline to Muslims the world over that their suspicion that the soldier who actively demonstrates his hatred for "rag heads" and "muzzies" and "sand niggers" is just being a typical American is correct. That their suspicion that he is doing what other Americans would do if they had the chance is correct. And that the underlying attitude in America towards them is now and always has been that:
“The only thing these sand niggers understand is force and I’m about to introduce them to it.”
Unfortunately they have good reason for their suspicion, and that suspicion is spreading. There’s a reason why America’s allies pulled out of Irak leaving it to fight there alone. There’s a reason America’s allies are pulling out of Afghanistan leaving it to fight there alone. And it’s the same reason in both cases, both wars are being lost by America and for the same reason as America lost in Vietnam:
"So it wasn’t the press that was the problem. The problem was that we were in the wrong place with the wrong tactics."
Source: Robert McNamara: Vietnam war ‘wrong’: The Swamp
Wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time against the wrong people and using deeply wrong tactics. Some empires never learn.
Dubhaltach
Oct. 3, 2010