Nothing to See Here, Folks: Covering Up a Massacre in Afghanistan

[Mari333]

Derrick Crowe

Brave New Foundation political associate (Rethink Afghanistan), 5-year Hill veteran
Posted: April 23, 2010 01:22 PM


The video below shows a survivor of a brutal, botched special forces raid on February 12, 2010, in which U.S. and allied forces killed 5 civilians, including local Afghan officials and pregnant women. If that were the extent of the bad conduct in this incident, it would be devastating enough. Unfortunately, personnel under McChrystal's command compounded the outrage by tampering with evidence at the scene and then attempted a propaganda job and cover-up of the massacre, which has now blown up in their faces.

Initially, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) claimed that "insurgents" "engaged the joint force in a fire fight and were killed." The release states the special forces then made a "gruesome discovery," finding "the bodies of three women who had been tied up, gagged and killed" and that the bodies had been "hidden." They also claim that the "joint force immediately secured the area and requested expert medical support and will conduct a joint forensic investigation."

Almost every piece of this initial description of the chain of events was later proved to be a lie.

















http://www.huffingtonpost.com/derrick-crowe/nothing-to-see-here-folks_b_549721.html

[ShortnFiery]

1. Gee, I can't wait for the M$M to sign on with us and seek JUSTICE?

:eyes:

http://yorick.infinitejest.org:81/1/img/card-red_cross.jpg http://yorick.infinitejest.org:81/1/img/card-al-jazeera-hq.jpg

[Mari333]

2. hey, you unrec'ing chickenhawks! ENLIST

[FiveGoodMen]

5. unrec has to be the dumbest decision that DU has made.

[Jokerman]

3. K & R

[slipslidingaway]

4. knr ...

"...ISAF's "aw, shucks" explanation ignores the fact that the original release described a non-existent fire fight and claimed that coalition forces discovered the long-dead bodies of the women hidden in a room when they were, in fact, killed during the raid by U.S. and allied forces. By admitting to killing the women, McChrystal's forces have implicitly admitted to conveying multiple flat-out lies to the public. Their inadequate explanation and subsequent deletion of the original offending press releases represent a transparent attempt to extricate themselves from a failing web of propaganda intended to shield the personnel involved from accountability without properly acknowledging their role in deceiving the Afghan and American publics.

This brings us back to Sayid's question above. "What does apology mean? We apologize for our mistakes and repeat our mistakes again?" ....."