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Post by lowell on Oct 7, 2015 22:07:55 GMT -6
Jeremy Morlock, 23, tells US military court he was part of a 'kill team' that faked combat situations to murder Afghan civilians.
"An American soldier has pleaded guilty to being part of a "kill team" who deliberately murdered Afghan civilians for sport last year.
Army Specialist Jeremy Morlock, 23, told a military court he had helped to kill three unarmed Afghans. "The plan was to kill people, sir," he told an army judge in Fort Lea, near Seattle, after his plea.
The case has caused outraged headlines around the world. In a series of videotaped confessions to investigators, some of which have been broadcast on American television, Morlock detailed how he and other members of his Stryker brigade set up and faked combat situations so that they could kill civilians who posed no threat to them. Four other soldiers are still to come to trial over the incidents.
The case is a PR disaster for America's military and has been compared to the notorious incidents of torture that emerged from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. This week the German magazine Der Spiegel published three pictures that showed American soldiers, including Morlock, posing with the corpse of a young Afghan boy as if it were a hunting trophy.
Some soldiers apparently kept body parts of their victims, including a skull, as souvenirs. In a statement issued in response to the publication of the photos the US army apologised to the families of the dead. "[The photos are] repugnant to us as human beings and contrary to the standards and values of the United States army," the statement said." www.theguardian.com/world/2011/mar/23/us-soldier-admits-killing-afghans?CMP=share_btn_fb
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2015 1:40:30 GMT -6
Things like this can and do happen. It's unfortunate.
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Post by carpathianpeasant on Oct 8, 2015 5:43:48 GMT -6
I'd say it's more than unfortunate.
It looks to me as if the Department of Defense is (and has been) in a state of confusion about what to do. I think people want a sort of "power hit" (knock 'em out for cryin' out loud) and there's no clear target they are allowed to hit. Net result: there's a hit, but it goes where it shouldn't.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2015 6:05:47 GMT -6
That is not out of the ordinary. It's happened in every war. Usually on both sides. They are given weapons and a license to kill and what do they do.... they kill.
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Post by lowell on Oct 8, 2015 17:50:30 GMT -6
I have to apologize for this one. I never saw the original article. It is from 2011. Somehow I missed this story in 2011. It does kind of remind me of Robert Bales who left his post and killed 16 Afghan civilians, many of them women and children. But that was in 2013.
Now we have the bombing of a hospital in Kunduz and the killing of doctors, nurses and patients. Doctors Without Borders, who used the hospital, says it is a war crime.
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Post by carpathianpeasant on Oct 9, 2015 7:31:50 GMT -6
I have to apologize for this one. I never saw the original article. It is from 2011. Somehow I missed this story in 2011. It does kind of remind me of Robert Bales who left his post and killed 16 Afghan civilians, many of them women and children. But that was in 2013. Now we have the bombing of a hospital in Kunduz and the killing of doctors, nurses and patients. Doctors Without Borders, who used the hospital, says it is a war crime. Apology only needed for leaving it in such huge type. Such does happen, and I'll stick to my notion that there's confusion in the Department of Defense. Given satellite views of things these days, it seems the hospital could have been better identified. Just hit any big building doesn't work well.
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Post by rdlb on Oct 10, 2015 14:16:42 GMT -6
While it is inexcusable of these types of atrocities committed during armed conflicts, it is quite difficult to put oneself (one who has never participated in armed conflicts) in the position of killing others. Armed conflict does require individuals to reach within their more "base" natures to kill another human being, regardless of who the human being is. With having said that, I do not agree with what this man, his comrades and others, who over the many armed conflicts (wars) have participated in these types of atrocities. This includes those of other groups who still do the same things, (ISIS, Pol Pot, etc).
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Post by lowell on Oct 10, 2015 15:09:23 GMT -6
Pol Pot no longer does the same things. He died in 1998. He was a communist. His official title was "General Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea."
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Post by rdlb on Oct 10, 2015 15:15:01 GMT -6
Pol Pot no longer does the same things. He died in 1998. He was a communist. His official title was "General Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea." I am keenly aware of that fact, my reference was to the atrocities committed by such individuals included in (parenthesis).
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Post by lowell on Oct 11, 2015 5:03:39 GMT -6
Well ISIS could be an individual, it is kind of Egyptian isn't it? If you are referring to an Islamic State group, then the Kmer Rouge would be the corresponding organization.
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Post by rdlb on Oct 11, 2015 9:56:31 GMT -6
Well ISIS could be an individual, it is kind of Egyptian isn't it? If you are referring to an Islamic State group, then the Kmer Rouge would be the corresponding organization. Yes.
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