venture160
04-17-2003, 12:45 AM
was doing my usual web cruising when I came across some articles relating to war crimes and the Special Forces. If what these articles say is true.. then our forces may be going beyond the realm of "unconventional"
from: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2002/11/8cares.html
"I recently got some idea after reading of the Irish filmmaker Jamie Doran's documentary Massacre in Mazar, which in June was shown to the European Parliament. One international human rights lawyer, present at Doran's screening, claimed that the film provides "prima facie evidence of serious war crimes" that followed the November collapse of the Taliban's stronghold in northern Afghanistan. That something monstrous happened around Mazar there appears little doubt. Mass graves have been uncovered, filled with bones no older than a few months. Doran alleges they are remnants of roughly 3,000 Taliban prisoners of war. The film contains numerous interviews with Afghan irregulars who claim that what happened was no simple score-settling orchestrated by the Northern Alliance. "I was a witness," one Afghan says, "when an American soldier broke one prisoner's neck and poured acid on others. The Americans did whatever they wanted. We had no power to stop them." Other POWs, the film charges, were shot in the head while Special Forces watched idly."
from Interview with Jamie Doran, director of Massacre at Mazar
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/jun2002/dora-j17.shtml
"WSWS: Regarding the US involvement in what took place, could I ask about the witnesses who appear in the film?
JD: Three members of the Afghan military appear in the film, two ordinary soldiers and one general. Then there is one taxi diver who witnessed three containers with blood pouring from them. He said his hair stood on end and that it was horrific. Then two of the truck drivers testify who were forced to take the containers into the desert. Based on the statements of the witnesses, the total number of those transported was at the very least 1,500, but more likely the total is up to 3,000."
"WSWS: In your opinion, in such an operation involving the transportation and elimination of up to 3,000 people, is it possible that the American troops did not have knowledge or give their consent?
JD: You want my opinion? My answer is no. One hundred and fifty Americans soldiers were present at Sheberghan prison. That does not include CIA personnel. In my opinion, it would be highly unlikely that they could remain unaware of something taking place of such magnitude.
WSWS: In your opinion, how high up in the US army chain of command does complicity in these events extend?
JD: I repeat. When you have 150 American soldiers and a number of CIA personnel in the vicinity of Sheberghan prison, it would be extremely strange if they did not have knowledge of these atrocities taking place."
more from the interview:
"WSWS: In the film, witnesses say that American military personnel were involved in the torture and shooting of Afghan prisoners.
JD: In the film, accusations are made that torture was carried out by American soldiers, but the major accusation in terms of the numbers involved is that an American officer told one of the witnesses to get the containers out of the town of Sheberghan before satellite pictures could be taken. Also, one of the drivers talked of 30 to 40 American soldiers being present at the location of the murder and burial of survivors in the desert.
WSWS: Is there any evidence to point to the participation of American soldiers in shooting victims in the desert?
JD: I have absolutely no evidence that American troops were involved in the shooting that took place in the desert. At the same time, there are other witnesses to the mass grave in the desert. There are human rights activists who found the mass grave in the desert even before me, and they now describe my film as ?the missing link.? They found the grave and, under the auspices of the UN, dug up a small section of earth containing 15 bodies. They estimate that in that one section of the desert there were about a thousand bodies. They too are calling for the grave to be protected, because at the moment it is being protected by no one. So the evidence can be easily tampered with."
more info :
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13540
http://mai.flora.org/forum/38168
from: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2002/11/8cares.html
"I recently got some idea after reading of the Irish filmmaker Jamie Doran's documentary Massacre in Mazar, which in June was shown to the European Parliament. One international human rights lawyer, present at Doran's screening, claimed that the film provides "prima facie evidence of serious war crimes" that followed the November collapse of the Taliban's stronghold in northern Afghanistan. That something monstrous happened around Mazar there appears little doubt. Mass graves have been uncovered, filled with bones no older than a few months. Doran alleges they are remnants of roughly 3,000 Taliban prisoners of war. The film contains numerous interviews with Afghan irregulars who claim that what happened was no simple score-settling orchestrated by the Northern Alliance. "I was a witness," one Afghan says, "when an American soldier broke one prisoner's neck and poured acid on others. The Americans did whatever they wanted. We had no power to stop them." Other POWs, the film charges, were shot in the head while Special Forces watched idly."
from Interview with Jamie Doran, director of Massacre at Mazar
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/jun2002/dora-j17.shtml
"WSWS: Regarding the US involvement in what took place, could I ask about the witnesses who appear in the film?
JD: Three members of the Afghan military appear in the film, two ordinary soldiers and one general. Then there is one taxi diver who witnessed three containers with blood pouring from them. He said his hair stood on end and that it was horrific. Then two of the truck drivers testify who were forced to take the containers into the desert. Based on the statements of the witnesses, the total number of those transported was at the very least 1,500, but more likely the total is up to 3,000."
"WSWS: In your opinion, in such an operation involving the transportation and elimination of up to 3,000 people, is it possible that the American troops did not have knowledge or give their consent?
JD: You want my opinion? My answer is no. One hundred and fifty Americans soldiers were present at Sheberghan prison. That does not include CIA personnel. In my opinion, it would be highly unlikely that they could remain unaware of something taking place of such magnitude.
WSWS: In your opinion, how high up in the US army chain of command does complicity in these events extend?
JD: I repeat. When you have 150 American soldiers and a number of CIA personnel in the vicinity of Sheberghan prison, it would be extremely strange if they did not have knowledge of these atrocities taking place."
more from the interview:
"WSWS: In the film, witnesses say that American military personnel were involved in the torture and shooting of Afghan prisoners.
JD: In the film, accusations are made that torture was carried out by American soldiers, but the major accusation in terms of the numbers involved is that an American officer told one of the witnesses to get the containers out of the town of Sheberghan before satellite pictures could be taken. Also, one of the drivers talked of 30 to 40 American soldiers being present at the location of the murder and burial of survivors in the desert.
WSWS: Is there any evidence to point to the participation of American soldiers in shooting victims in the desert?
JD: I have absolutely no evidence that American troops were involved in the shooting that took place in the desert. At the same time, there are other witnesses to the mass grave in the desert. There are human rights activists who found the mass grave in the desert even before me, and they now describe my film as ?the missing link.? They found the grave and, under the auspices of the UN, dug up a small section of earth containing 15 bodies. They estimate that in that one section of the desert there were about a thousand bodies. They too are calling for the grave to be protected, because at the moment it is being protected by no one. So the evidence can be easily tampered with."
more info :
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13540
http://mai.flora.org/forum/38168