Red alert at Army base over Afghan corpse photos

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Salon

Thursday, Sep 30, 2010 11:01 ET
Red alert at Army base over Afghan corpse photos
Documents obtained by Salon show military brass in panic over release of grisly pictures in murder case
By Justin Elliott

Earlier this month a dramatic standoff between Army officials and defense attorneys unfolded at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state when officials invoking national security demanded that defense attorneys surrender CDs containing grisly pictures of U.S. soldiers posing with the corpses of Afghan civilians they allegedly killed.

At one point during the Sept. 9 episode, goverment officials were even posted outside the building of the main defense attorneys' office on the base to stop one attorney from leaving with the pictures, according to a memo written by the senior defense counsel at the base and obtained by Salon.

Five soldiers from the 5th Stryker Brigade have been charged with murder in the case, and some are alleged to have killed for fun -- and while high -- and then kept body parts of dead Afghan civilians as souvenirs.

The pictures in question show "three dead Afghans with three different Soldiers posing, holding up the decedent’s head. (Each photo was one Afghan, one Soldier)," according to an email by Benjamin Grimes, senior defense counsel at Base Lewis-McChord. Others showed what appeared to be severed fingers and a bone.


Read more: http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/09/30/military_panic_afghan_photos

[Demeter]

1. Well, What Did They THINK Was Going to Happen?

Do they think the Muslim world doesn't have Internet access, cell phones with cameras, etc, etc? Do they think we are all Dick Cheney now? The colonies ran a revolution without anything more sophisticated than moveable type and word-of-mouth.

The armed forces are slow learners and fundamentally anti-American in spirit, even when it isn't their intent, which is seldom the case any longer. We really have to reduce and redefine and maybe even re-educate them, and get them out of the illegal wars and occupations business.

[Mnpaul]

2. Winning the hearts and minds

Fail

[pasto76]

3. what happens when we lower the recruitment standards to pad our numbers

lack of good oversight, leadership. I mean how many psych experiments are there about putting people in positions of absolute power, and they all start doing crazy shit?

The real crime though, is that the entire chain of command - squad leader, platoon sergeant, platoon leader, 1SG, Company commnander, maybe even the battalion CO and SGM - will not be punished.

One of the key tenets of leadership is being responsible for what subordinates do.

I know for a fact that none of my troops would ever have done anything like this. Nothing like murder, but when they were tasked to other units, they had the opportunities to do things prohibited in my company, and they declined every time. I also know for a fact that their motivation was not fear of me.

SecDef Gates' speech yesterday had some good lines in it. I literally stopped my car, got out and danced when I heard Rummy had resigned back then. Even though Gates is a Bush appointee, Ive always liked what he has done.

A sobering reality is crimes like this will only stop when we leave afghanistan.

SGT PASTO

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. We're America, the good guys, and we never do anything wrong!

:sarcasm:

[aggiesal]

5. Extra Long Line getting into Camp Pendleton ...

this morning.

Backed up so much, it was starting to affect traffic on I-5 North.

[WinkyDink]

6. "Panic over" photos, NOT the original WAR-CRIMES, though.

[gratuitous]

8. They're apparently not proud of their handiwork

But they still expect a little genuflection and a "Thank you for your service" at every turn. In addition to all the tax revenue devoured and taken away from health care or education or safe bridges and roads. What a bargain!

[truth2power]

10. Not worried about the actual crime...just that they might be found out. eom

[Blue_Tires]

13. exactly...

[COLGATE4]

7. WE'RE NUMBER ONE! WE'RE NUMBER ONE!

Rinse and repeat.:sarcasm:

[Solly Mack]

9. k/r

[earcandle]

11. Are we crying yet? Are we kicking these people out yet?

Atlas Wept

Get Out

Are we finished with frightening the children yet?

Lullaby For Hamza.swf(Robert Wyatt cover)

[DirkGently]

12. More of the Bush-ian notion that U.S. embarassment = "National Security."