U.S. Army Torturing and Killing Civilians in Afghanistan. They would have gotten away with it fi not for This Times Special Investigation.
LA Times
James Champion Unit C.O.
Excerpt:
The 10-member Special Forces team, part of the Alabama National Guard, returned to their families in the spring of 2003 with tales to tell of frenzied firefights and narrow escapes.
But the team also had come home with secrets.
Apparently unknown to Army officials, two detainees had died in the team’s custody in separate incidents during the unit’s final month in eastern Afghanistan. Several other detainees allege that they were badly beaten or tortured while held at the base in Gardez.
A member of the Special Forces team told The Times his unit held a meeting after the teen’s death to coordinate their stories should an investigation arise.
“Everybody on the team had knowledge of it,” the soldier said, insisting on anonymity. “You just don’t talk about that stuff in the Special Forces community. What happens downrange stays downrange…. Nobody wants to get anybody in trouble. Just sit back, and hope it will go away.”
What distinguishes these two fatalities from scores of other questionable deaths in U.S. custody is that they were successfully concealed — not just from the American public but from the military’s chain of command and legal authorities.
The deaths came to light only after an investigation by The Times and a nonprofit educational organization, the Crimes of War Project, led the Army to open criminal inquiries on the incidents.
H.L.s Take:
If they would have just reported the killings to the Army they would have probably been told “Hey, stuff happens don’t worry about it” But they tried to hide it. Now they are caught red handed. (with blood) Its not the crime, that gets you, Its the coverup