More atrocities by US forces in Iraq uncovered...Abu Ghraib 2.0 in Fallujah

[Editor`s note: And they dare called Saddam the 'Butcher of Baghdad?' Who has killed more Iraqis, the US or Saddam, and has subjected the Iraqis to cruel and inhumane punishment? If Saddam was truly guilty, why put him through a kangaroo court and hang like a dog for trumped-up charges for responsding to a presidential assassination. Where were the decades of human torture he stood blindingly accused of? The great country of the Tigris and Euphrates has been left in utter shambles, not reminiscent of its past glory and before the war...yet countless Iraqis continue to die like cannon fodder with no end in sight...who is ULTIMATELY responsible and will face justice? Unfortunately, these are things we will never understand till the good Lord above judges...]

Abu Ghraib 2.0? Horrifying images of US Marines burning Iraqis prompt military investigation
RT NEWS
January 15, 2014


[WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT BELOW]

The picture that defined the Abu Ghraib
prisoner torture, credit: wikipedia

The Pentagon confirmed early Wednesday that a formal investigation has been launched after photographs began to surface purportedly showing US troops burning the remains of dead Iraqis.

Those images were published Wednesday morning by website TMZ, which claims to have recently come into possession of 41 photos in all that they believe to have been taken in Fallujah sometime in 2004 amid the US-led Iraq occupation.

The website has only published eight of the images, including ones in which men appearing to be US Marines are seen dousing the dead with chemicals and setting them ablaze. TMZ is withholding the majority of the photographs, however, because many are simply “too gruesome,” they claim, including one alleged to be in their possession showing a human body being devoured by dogs and another covered in flies.

Among the photographs that were published by TMZ is one in which a man in full military garb is shown holding his high-powered firearm to what appears to be the charred remains of a human skull.

According to the website, the photographs were turned over to the US Department of Defense last week. TMZ says that Col. Steve Warren, the Pentagon’s director of press operations, told them the images do seem to show US servicemen engaged in unlawful activity.

Now as authorities begin their probe, the latest leak may uncover the most embarrassing incident of its kind to plague the US military since images taken inside America's now infamous Abu Ghraib prison were published nearly 10 years ago.

When those photographs were first published almost a decade ago, images showed the world horrific instances of abuse and torture that even today remains one of the biggest scars to mar the Iraq War and occupation during its nearly nine-year-long duration. Eleven US troops were convicted for their conduct there.

With regard to the latest leaked images, Col. Warren also confirmed the existence of an investigation to Stars & Stripes, a news outlet carried out as a service of the US Defense Media Activity. That website is refusing to publish the images until more information about them develops.

Warren informed Stars & Stripes that the US Marine Corps is conducting the military’s probe, and Capt. Richard Ulsh, communications director for the Marine Corps, told the Pentagon-affiliated paper that an investigation has indeed been launched to examine the veracity of the photographs, the circumstances involved and possibly the identity of the alleged servicemen caught on film.

“The findings from this investigation will determine whether we are able to move forward with any investigation into possible wrongdoing,” Capt. Ulsh said.

As far as Pentagon spokesman Warren is concerned, though, the Defense Department can’t at this time say for certain that the alleged troops seen in the images engaged in any conduct that without a doubt fails to comply with the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

“On the burning, you know, it’s hard to tell [whether it’s a violation of the UCMJ],” he told Stars & Stripes. “While we don’t routinely burn human remains, there are circumstances when that might be necessary for hygiene, health — things like that.”

Mishandling human remains is a violation of the UCMJ, however, and the results of the just-launched Marine Corps investigation may soon call for a court-martial to convene in order to prosecute anyone thought to be affiliated with unlawful activity uncovered by TMZ.

"The actions that are depicted in these photos are not in any way representative of the honorable, professional service of the two-and-a-half million service members who went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last decade,” Col. Warren told TMZ.

Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Ty Balzer echoed Warren’s remarks when reached for comment by the New York Daily News early Wednesday.

“I can’t stress that enough,” Capt. Balzer said. “Service members go over there and follow the rules, they really do.”

Even taking into consideration the Abu Ghraib incident, the most recent embarrassment suffered by the military is hardly the first as of late. In January 2012, video footage made its way to the web showing US troops urinating on the bodies of what appeared to be slain Afghans, and several months later the Los Angeles Times published photographs depicting US soldiers posing with the gory remains of several Afghan suicide bombers.

A spokesperson at the Pentagon press office’s Iraq desk did not immediately return RT’s request for a comment on TMZ’s alleged Fallujah images.

Horrific: Shocking images depicting U.S. soldiers burning the bodies of what appear to be Iraqi insurgents, have emerged today

Burning: The explosive photographs, reportedly taken in Fallujah in 2004, appear to show U.S. soldier pouring gasoline on the bodies of Iraqi insurgents

Grim: Many of the 41 gag-inducing shots are just too grisly to publish

probe: The gruesome images have already sparked a Marine Corps investigation

Charred: Two more pictures capture the horrifically charred bodies

Pentagon: The sick snaps were exclusively obtained by TMZ, who turned them over to the Pentagon last week, triggering the probe

Posing: Other horrific pictures show a Marine squatting next to a skull to pose for the camera. His U.S. military uniform is clear, on his face he wears a wide grin and he is pointing his gun at the skeleton

Pickpocket: The Department of Defense said the pictures appear to show U.S. soldiers in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The code outlines that it is a crime to mishandle remains

Read more:
Home Pics of Marines Burning Bodies Trigger U.S. Military Investigation [PHOTOS] Iraqi Death Scene Pics of Marines Burning Bodies Trigger U.S. Military Investigation [PHOTOS]

Talk about collateral damage, 11 children and a woman killed in NATO airstrike against Taliban commanders

[Civilians continue to die from wanton aggression of NATO forces and yet we wonder why the Afghan population is against us...]

file photo; credit: huffingtonpost

• Local officials said the strike hit houses in the Kunar province, Afghanistan
• Said the woman and children died when their homes collapsed on them
• Six insurgents, including two senior Taliban leaders, died in the strike
• International Security Assistance Force said it is assessing incident

By DAILY MAIL
April 7, 2013

A Nato airstrike killed at least 11 children yesterday during an operation targeting Taliban commanders. At least one woman also died in the strike and more than six others were injured in the strike on a village in Shigal district in Kunar province, on the Pakistani border. Six insurgents, including two senior Taliban leaders, were killed in the attack, the Interior Ministry said.

The Interior Ministry did not mention any civilian casualties but Wasefullah Wasefi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said civilian homes had been hit during an air attack.
'Eleven children and a woman were killed when an air strike hit their houses,' Wasefi said.
Mohammad Zahir Safai, the Shigal district chief, said the woman and the children were killed when the houses collapsed on them.

A spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said they were aware of reports of civilian casualties and were assessing the incident. He said: 'No Isaf personnel were involved on the ground, but Isaf provided fire support from the air, killing several insurgents.

'We are also aware of reports of several civilians injured from the engagement, but no reports of civilian deaths. Isaf takes all reports of civilian casualties seriously, and we are currently assessing the incident. 'The air support was called in by coalition forces - not Afghans - and was used to engage insurgent forces in areas away from structures, according to our reporting.'

Tribal elder Haji Malika Jan told the BBC that fighting began early on Saturday and lasted for at least seven hours.

A Reuters journalist said they saw the bodies of 11 children when they were taken to Safai's office in protest by their families and other villagers on Sunday. The journalist did not see the body of a women and Safai said residents told him of the death. Women's bodies are not displayed, according to custom.

Wasefi also said an American civilian adviser to the Afghan intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, had also been killed in the operation. He said it had lasted several hours. The Ministry of Interior said the two dead Taliban commanders, Ali Khan and Gul Raouf, planned and organised attacks in Kunar.

Civilian deaths have been a long-running source of friction between Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who banned Afghan troops from calling for air strikes. About ten women and children were killed in February last year in a Nato air strike in the same area of Afghanistan.

The deaths came on the same day that a car bomb killed five Americans, including three U.S. soldiers, a young diplomat and a U.S. Defence Department contractor, in the southern province of Zabul.

Another U.S. military scandal...Soldiers 'posed' with dead Afghan bombers

U.S. troops posed with body parts of Afghan bombers
An American soldier says he released the photos to the Los Angeles Times to draw attention to the safety risk of a breakdown in leadership and discipline. The Army has started a criminal investigation.

By David Zucchino,
Los Angeles Times
April 18, 2012, 4:30 a.m.

A soldier from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division with the body of an Afghan insurgent killed while trying to plant a roadside bomb. The photo is one of 18 provided to The Times of U.S. soldiers posing with corpses. Photo credit: LA Times

[...]

The 82nd Airborne Division soldiers arrived at the police station in Afghanistan's Zabol province in February 2010. They inspected the body parts. Then the mission turned macabre: The paratroopers posed for photos next to Afghan police, grinning while some held — and others squatted beside — the corpse's severed legs.

• U.S. prepares for 'violent backlash' in Afghanistan after photos of American soldiers posing with bodies of suicide bombers sparks outrage

A few months later, the same platoon was dispatched to investigate the remains of three insurgents who Afghan police said had accidentally blown themselves up. After obtaining a few fingerprints, they posed next to the remains, again grinning and mugging for photographs.

Two soldiers posed holding a dead man's hand with the middle finger raised. A soldier leaned over the bearded corpse while clutching the man's hand. Someone placed an unofficial platoon patch reading "Zombie Hunter" next to other remains and took a picture.

The Army launched a criminal investigation after the Los Angeles Times showed officials copies of the photos, which recently were given to the paper by a soldier from the division.

"It is a violation of Army standards to pose with corpses for photographs outside of officially sanctioned purposes," said George Wright, an Army spokesman. "Such actions fall short of what we expect of our uniformed service members in deployed areas."

Wright said that after the investigation, the Army would "take appropriate action" against those involved. Most of the soldiers in the photos have been identified, said Lt. Col. Margaret Kageleiry, an Army spokeswoman.

The photos have emerged at a particularly sensitive moment for U.S.-Afghan relations. In January, a video appeared on the Internet showing four U.S. Marines urinating on Afghan corpses. In February, the inadvertent burning of copies of the Koran at a U.S. base triggered riots that left 30 dead and led to the deaths of six Americans. In March, a U.S. Army sergeant went on a nighttime shooting rampage in two Afghan villages, killing 17.

The soldier who provided The Times with a series of 18 photos of soldiers posing with corpses did so on condition of anonymity. He served in Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne's 4th Brigade Combat Team from Ft. Bragg, N.C. He said the photos point to a breakdown in leadership and discipline that he believed compromised the safety of the troops.

He expressed the hope that publication would help ensure that alleged security shortcomings at two U.S. bases in Afghanistan in 2010 were not repeated. The brigade, under new command but with some of the same paratroopers who served in 2010, began another tour in Afghanistan in February...

(click here to read the full article)

What a whitewash, soldiers involved in Quran-burning case in Afghanistan cleared of wrong-doing

Koran-burning probe clears troops of malicious intent
By Kristina Wong-
The Washington Times
Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The Pentagon said Tuesday that a joint NATO-Afghan investigation into the burning of Korans at Bagram Air Field has been completed.

The investigation found that the “disposal process” of the Korans was improper but was not a malicious act intended to show disrespect for Afghans or Islam.

The probe was conducted by the International Security Assistance Force and the Afghan Ministry of Defense.

“It did find that there were some U.S. personnel who did improperly treat these religious texts, including some of their supervisory personnel,” said Navy Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman. “And it recommended that they be reviewed for potential disciplinary action.”

The Korans ended up in an incinerator after Afghan prisoners were found using the holy books to pass messages to one another.

The books were confiscated and later ended up in an incinerator, where Afghan workers at the disposal site discovered the Korans burning and pulled them out of the incinerator.

Capt. Kirby said the investigation found there were “written notes in some of these religious texts, but I’m not going to go beyond that.”

The investigation has not been publicly released because of other ongoing investigations, and there is no decision yet on whether all its findings will be released, he said.

US Soldier goes on a killing spree, just what is going on in Afghanistan? (WARNING: Graphic images)

American soldier has a 'breakdown' and shoots nine children dead in their sleep in house-to-house shooting rampage in Afghanistan that killed 16 civilians

Daily Mail
By BETH STEBNER
PUBLISHED: 08:54 EST, 11 March 2012 | UPDATED: 20:07 EST, 11 March 2012

• Shooter identified as Army staff sergeant from Fort Lewis, Washington
• Base regarded as 'most troubled in the military,' that housed soldiers involved in Afghan 'thrill killings' case in 2010
• Assigned to support a special operations unit of either Green Berets or Navy SEALs
• He allegedly went into three homes early this morning and shot dead 16 people after 'suffering mental breakdown'
• Nine children and three women among those reported dead
• Relative said he 'poured chemicals over their dead bodies and burned them'
• Afghan president Hamid Karzai condemned shootings as 'assassination'
• President Obama called attack 'tragic' and 'shocking'
• Attack could deepen strife and comes weeks after outrage over Koran burning at NATO base left at least 30 dead
• Afghan Taliban said in email they are likely to retaliate

Sixteen innocent Afghan civilians - including nine children and three women - were shot and killed by a rogue U.S. soldier who opened fire after suffering a 'mental breakdown' early this morning.

The Army staff sergeant, who was stationed at a U.S. base in Kandahar, reportedly entered three Afghan family’s homes around 3am this morning and began the killing spree. A relative of the deceased added that he then 'poured chemicals over their dead bodies and burned them.'
The shooter was identified by U.S. officials as an Army staff sergeant from Fort Lewis, Washington, who was believed to have acted alone.

Initial reports indicated he returned to the base after the shooting, turned himself in and was taken into custody at a NATO base in Afghanistan.

Disbelief: Two grief-stricken Afghan men look into the van where the body of a badly burned child lays, wrapped in a blue blanket.

(click here to read full article and view images, video WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT)


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2113410/US-soldier-shoots-dead-16-Afghan-civilians-house-house-shooting-spree-suffering-mental-breakdown.html#ixzz1orsmKp5c

I guess President Obama `aint telling us the WHOLE truth on the Afghan War

Is it a surprise, really?

'Obama fools citizens over Afghan war’
Press TV
February 7, 2012

An interview with Paul Martin, political director of Peace Action:

An outstanding political activist says that despite US President Barrack Obama declaring success in the war on Afghanistan, the US government has lost control of the country.

United States Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis has warned that the mission in Afghanistan is a failure.

The top US military official has also accused Washington of misleading the American people about its war in the Asian country.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Paul Martin, political director of Peace Action, to further discuss the issue.

The following is a transcription of the interview (click here for interview video).

Press TV: Your take by these latest statements being made by a military man himself, saying that the war has been a failure - your take. And thanks so much for being with us.

Martin: Thanks for having me. It’s not surprising, we’ve known for quite some time, but the Pentagon uses its information services, really, as propaganda to spread the information that they want to spread and to portray things in the light that they want to spread them.

So, when they say things are going successful in Afghanistan, they also said that about Iraq, it’s not surprising that when reporters or others who can have inside information actually find out the facts.

The facts are, such as in Afghanistan, that things aren’t going as well. We do not have control of various parts of Afghanistan. The Afghanistan forces cannot control parts of Afghanistan as our government would like to say, and the strategy is failing.

The only strategy left is a political strategy which means bring the troops out of Afghanistan, and talking to the Taliban and finding some sort of peace process.

Press TV: Of course, Mr. Martin, this has been going on a long time as far as the Afghan war and the Taliban or the militants, actually, getting greater and greater control over the areas. How significant is it, though, that this is a high ranking military official saying this? And at this point in time, during an election year, isn’t it significant?

Martin: Yes, I think so. The Obama administration has been saying that their strategy has been successful and that’s why they’re planning on pulling 33,000 troops out by the end of September.

But it’s clear that the strategy has not been successful and probably part of reasons of pulling the troops out is because this is not a strategy that seems to work.

It is very noteworthy that it’s not only a high ranking military official but it’s a currently serving military official. Colonel Davis is still in the military, he’s actually based in the Pentagon.

So, it’s noteworthy that he took the time to spread this information through various media outlets before finally telling his commanders that he was going to do so.

GMA/JR

Must Read:
Truth, lies and Afghanistan: How military leaders have let us down
By Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis - AFJ

AFGHANISTAN, IRAQ AND NOW LIBYA

War just never seems to be far away from the U.S., we just love to either create or go into protracted conflicts just for the heck of it sometimes. Its funny how we only "intervene" when it suits our national interests, for the the so-called "American people," a phrase always used by the suits to drum up supports but always forgotten. We are so far away from what good `ol Abe Lincoln had said, "a government of the people, by the people and for the people."

Whenever a conflict brews, stirs or blows up, we always think about our national interests first at the cost of civilians or the so-called "people." What`s happening in the middle-east right now is a godsend for the people to finally take back control for themselves but the powers at be won`t ever let that happen. From the deposed leaders of Tunisia and Egypt, the U.S.-backed strongmen are gone but new U.S.-backed strongmen will "emerge" to take the spotlight and "lead the people." What the population of the countries where revolution for true change is occurring should realize, is that true leadership must come from within the population taking part in the revolution or consensus of the people, it is only that person that truly understands their country, their people, not some outside dissident who spends his time in Europe or the U.S., their family living abroad in the lap of luxury and etc. Just for example, the revolution in Egypt was spearheaded by the younger class but coalesced into the general population. Weeks afterward, you have the expatriates and dissidents come and try to "lead" the revolution in the hopes of becoming president of the Egypt. For a time, the news networks just couldn`t get enough about Mohammed El-Baradei, former head of the IAEA, because this was a man who the West knew, likes and probably had contacts when he was chief of the IAEA for "special" assignments, missions, documents...etc. and was trying to make him the face of the revolution. Another guy, Amr Moussa, head of the Arab League has aspirations to be president of Egypt as well and again known by the West and off course has extensive contacts through our State Dept. diplomatic core and a favorite to land the job by the standards of our government.

I`ve never a time when heads of state can just call for the ouster of other heads of state with a drop of a dime. As if theres no judge or jury, just the executioner. Now routinely in our culture we just call for the immediate ouster of leaders and even assassinate. I`m ashamed of my fellow people, people who are well-educated journalists, commentators, analysts, talk-show hosts, government officials...etc who openly now call for assassinations or "taking-out" of world leaders. Who could of thought it would all come to this? (John Bolton calls for killing Gadhafi)

Just a brain teaser - lets suppose China, largest holder of U.S. debt, decides America is spiraling out of control both economically and politically and calls for the ouster of the president or government because they can`t effectively govern the country and is a risk to the trillions of dollars China holds in U.S. treasury bonds. Does China have a valid reason to hold the president accountable and call for his release or ouster because it threatens China`s "interests?" Put America in China`s shoes in this context and this is whats going on in the world.

The situation in Libya is dire. On one side our President Obama proclaims its U.S. policy for Col. Gadhafi to go but U.N. policy not so. I don`t know if there is any other bigger blunder than coming from our president. Is our nation the U.S. greater than the U.N. or the rest of the world, if so then why do we even have the U.N. in place? They don`t want an "American" face to the mission and will take a back seat it, I mean really? We all know America is going to be calling the shots and dictating what occurs and what the so-called endgame is. Here we had a guy (Col. Gadhafi) who the whole world "courted" to get lucrative billion-dollar contracts and basically propped-up him and his regime. Now all of a sudden, because of a civil war brewing we are going to intervene because civilians are dead and now he`s fallen out of favor and must go. Killing of any civilians is unjustified and heinous but what about other places where its documented cases of genocide occurring, like Uganda, Nigeria, Chad and Sudan. The world did nothing when the injustices in Sudan were happening, no intervention no nothing. Now all of a sudden "its about protecting the people" and you immediately "enforce a no-fly zone" and start strategically bombing the country so you cripple it just like Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Its funny President Obama has voiced there will be no "boots" on the ground in Libya, but little do people on the outside know there are various ground personnel already in Libya calling in precision-guided air strikes on high-value and strategic targets. When the targets are taken ut oand rendered no threat, attention will immediately turn to the leader and eventually Gadhafi will be taken out, either one way or another. You are not going to be conducting this type of mission and leave the leader in place-everybody knows and its only a matter of time. Also there are teams of soldiers already there and on their way to Libya "for support of humanitarian reasons."

Also, the U.S. as well as other nations are clamoring for Gadhafi to get indicted for war crimes and stand trial in the International Criminal Court (ICC - the same court the U.S. does not recognize but on a drop of dime will push for someone to stand trial in) will not happen in my idea as well as not for Zine bel-Abedin nor Mubarak, because they will divulge secrets and implicate world leaders and governments who have been propping them up for the last 30-40 years. This would be a huge disaster with great implications. The U.S. already has a tarnished image around the world because we in fact act like an overgrown bully, stiff-arming other people to have it only our way or its the highway. With already two disastrous wars ongoing and now entering and spearing the Libyan conflict, I don`t how we can sustain this until we say enough is enough-but most people have been coerced into seeing and believing its "really about the people." Yeah really the people are so important all of a sudden, I guess they weren`t too important when the "all you can eat" lucrative billion-dollar contracts were being signed and doled out while the people were still suffering and dying. Only when the cameras are rolling, oh now we have to do something. Its plausible to think as well that getting the free oil we thought we would get from Iraq didn`t pan out, hey next stop, lets get it from Libya.

In the end its the people who suffer both ways from any outcome. The people of Afghanistan and Iraq after more than 10 years of war, are there lives any better than when we "intervened" for the sake of bringing peace and freedom. Just go ask the people, and I mean the real people of the country, not the ones the camera gets who are polished individuals.

Watch RT`s commentary by Keith Harmon Snow on Why Libya being attacked now: Why Libya? `Oil, gold, uranium, weapons test mean long conflict in U.S. plans`