Phil Dickinson
Photos of dead Afghan civilians, killed by a US military kill team who slaughtered innocent people for fun in Afghanistan reveal the dark heart of this so-called humanitarian mission, writes Phil Dickinson (from workerspower.net)
According to the results of an investigative report issued by the military, from January to May 2010, members of the 5th Stryker Brigade stationed in and around Kandahar Province murdered innocent Afghan civilians for sport and systematically colluded to frame each killing as a justifiable act of self-defense.
As it stands, only a few dozens of what was described to be several thousand photographs have surfaced depicting the inhuman actions of the “Kill Team” in the field. Of the photos that have been published – the most media-friendly, as far as “blood and guts” go – are stomach churning, to say the least. Many of the more candid photographs depict several of the soldiers posed as hunters, displaying their freshly killed game with the accused smiling and kneeling behind the slain corpse, holding up the bloodied head for the camera to see.
Photographic mementos were not enough for some of the 12 members of the “Kill Team”, though. On several occasions, it is alleged that Corporal Jeremy Morlock, of Wasilla, Alaska and others used a pair or surgical scissors to cut off the fingers of some of the victims of the group in order to save as macabre souvenirs.
A psychological portrait of the members of the “Kill Team,” as well as the 5th Stryker Brigade, revealed a clear antipathy toward the Afghani people, so much so they considered them savages and routinely referred to the local population as “hajis,” a racial epithet. This general disdain, combined with a lack of military progress and consistent inability to identify combatants within the local population seems to have pushed the men toward a conjunctural turning point: if the enemy couldn’t be found amongst the people, then why not treat the people as the enemy. They concluded using manufactured threats as a means to justify the use of deadly force as per the military’s “rules of engagement.”
The approach they employed was simple: trigger an explosion using unaccounted ordinance or weaponry, like a Russian hand grenade or an AK-47 rifle, as a pretense for attack and then open fire at the perceived “target.” After the victim was killed, an unaccounted “drop” weapon was placed in close proximity to the body. This, as reported by the men, “virtually guaranteed” that the shooting would be considered a legitimate kill in the eyes of the military. Their first such victim, Gul Mudin, an unarmed 15-year old farmer boy was killed in this fashion only a few dozen meters from his home.
According to Der Spiegel, “one of those who allegedly participated in the attack, Adam Winfield, 21, described the incident to his father in a chat on Facebook. As Winfield recounted, ‘they made it look like the guy threw a grenade at them and mowed him down.’ Winfield’s father, disturbed by the details given to him by his son, contacted the command center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and relayed the information to the sergeant on duty. The sergeant, as Winfield recalled, did nothing, stating in a nonchalant manner that ‘stuff like that happens’ from time to time.”
Prior to the leak of the team’s photos to the press, the collection made its way digitally to a number of soldiers, many of whom had little actual contact with the 5th Stryker Brigade. In a desperate effort to suppress the evidence for fear of a scandal of Abu Ghraib proportions, US military investigators systematically combed through the hard drives of any soldiers suspected of possessing the photos in Afghanistan. In all, investigators confiscated the computers of more than a dozen soldiers, ordering them to delete any damning images. The Army Criminal Investigation Command also sent agents across America to the homes of soldiers and their relatives in order to retrieve any photos of the events that could be found. The sheer depth and breadth of the operation left no doubt in the minds of those that were involved that any atrocities committed in Afghanistan in the name of the US military were to be kept quiet at all costs: no exceptions.
Although the military brass has written off the actions of the “Kill Team” as an isolated incident, the facts surrounding the imperialist occupation of Afghanistan by US forces say otherwise. Just a few weeks ago, 9 children were torn apart by machine gun fire from US helicopters in the Kunar Province while gathering firewood. To the gunship crew, they were mistaken as Taliban combatants. In February alone, 65 Afghani civilians were killed by US forces, most of whom were women and children.
Socialists condemn all these heinous attacks of unconscionable murder, support the right of the Afghani people to hold justice trials against those accused of imperialist butchery, and call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all US forces from Afghanistan – including active-duty soldiers, support staff, contractors, and “consultants” – and the closure of all US bases.