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.
Morlock has told investigators that the murders took place between January and May last year and were instigated by an officer in his unit, Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs. He described how elaborate plans were made to pick out civilian targets, kill them and then make their deaths look like they were insurgents. In his confession Morlock described shooting a victim as Gibbs tossed a grenade at him. "We identify a guy. Gibbs makes a comment, like, you know, you guys wanna wax this guy or not," Morlock said in the confession.
Morlock now stands to be sentenced to at least 24 years in jail but with eligibility for parole after seven years. That has come about because Morlock struck a plea bargain that will see a lighter sentence in return for testifying against his fellow soldiers.
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The Middle East.
Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts
4.4.09
Kenya: Iran signs deal to supply Kenya with crude oil
Nairobi, (The Standard):
Iran will supply four million metric tonnes of crude annually, as part of a range of deals signed last week, officials said on Tuesday.
The agreed supply from Iran, the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter, is roughly equivalent to 80,000 barrels per day (bpd) by Reuters calculations.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited East Africa’s biggest economy last week, where he and his Kenyan counterpart, Mwai Kibaki, also signed a grant and loan agreement totalling 800 million shillings ($10 million), among others.
Not alarmed
Kenya, like other African countries, is increasingly turning east and strengthening trade and investment links with countries such as China and India.
Commercial dealings with Iran have not been welcomed by the US, which is embroiled in a row with the Islamic Republic over its disputed nuclear programme.
But US Ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger was quoted by local media last week as saying his country was not alarmed by the Iranian leader’s visit, as the two countries were sovereign and free to make bilateral deals.
"Iran is interested in getting its companies to construct our roads. They would also like to sell us fertilisers and pharmaceutical products," said Mr Kiboi Waituru, the head of Public Affairs at Kenya’s Foreign Ministry.
Energy sector
"They view Kenya as a gateway into Africa, a launch pad to get into east Africa," Waituru told Reuters.
Iran also agreed to help construct dams in the East African nation and buy more Kenyan tea.
Iran is under US and United Nations sanctions for nuclear work the West suspects is aimed at making bombs, a charge Tehran denies, and it has increasingly turned to Asia for partners in its energy sector.
In a change of policy from the Bush administration, US President Barack Obama has said he would be open to engaging with Iran on a range of issues, from its nuclear ambitions to how it could help in Afghanistan.
But the new US administration has also threatened to increase pressure on Iran, via more sanctions, if Tehran does not co-operate and give up its sensitive nuclear work.
Source
Iran will supply four million metric tonnes of crude annually, as part of a range of deals signed last week, officials said on Tuesday.
The agreed supply from Iran, the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter, is roughly equivalent to 80,000 barrels per day (bpd) by Reuters calculations.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited East Africa’s biggest economy last week, where he and his Kenyan counterpart, Mwai Kibaki, also signed a grant and loan agreement totalling 800 million shillings ($10 million), among others.
Not alarmed
Kenya, like other African countries, is increasingly turning east and strengthening trade and investment links with countries such as China and India.
Commercial dealings with Iran have not been welcomed by the US, which is embroiled in a row with the Islamic Republic over its disputed nuclear programme.
But US Ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger was quoted by local media last week as saying his country was not alarmed by the Iranian leader’s visit, as the two countries were sovereign and free to make bilateral deals.
"Iran is interested in getting its companies to construct our roads. They would also like to sell us fertilisers and pharmaceutical products," said Mr Kiboi Waituru, the head of Public Affairs at Kenya’s Foreign Ministry.
Energy sector
"They view Kenya as a gateway into Africa, a launch pad to get into east Africa," Waituru told Reuters.
Iran also agreed to help construct dams in the East African nation and buy more Kenyan tea.
Iran is under US and United Nations sanctions for nuclear work the West suspects is aimed at making bombs, a charge Tehran denies, and it has increasingly turned to Asia for partners in its energy sector.
In a change of policy from the Bush administration, US President Barack Obama has said he would be open to engaging with Iran on a range of issues, from its nuclear ambitions to how it could help in Afghanistan.
But the new US administration has also threatened to increase pressure on Iran, via more sanctions, if Tehran does not co-operate and give up its sensitive nuclear work.
Source
8.3.09
Watching Darfuris Die
The first gauntlet thrown at President Obama didn’t come from Iran, Russia or China. Rather, it came from Sudan, in its decision to expel aid groups that are a lifeline keeping more than a million people alive in Darfur.
Unfortunately, the administration’s initial reaction made Neville Chamberlain seem forceful. The State Department blushingly suggested that the expulsion “is certainly not helpful to the people who need aid.”
Wow.
Since then, the administration has stiffened its spine somewhat. Susan Rice, the ambassador to the United Nations and designated hitter on Sudan, told me, “If this decision stands, it may well amount to genocide by other means.”
That’s exactly what we may be facing, for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is confirming the International Criminal Court’s judgment when it issued an arrest warrant for him on Wednesday for “extermination,” murder and rape. Now Mr. Bashir is preparing to kill people en masse, not with machetes but by withholding the aid that keeps them alive.
More than one million people depend directly on the expelled aid groups for health care, food and water. I’ve been in these camps, so let me offer an educated guess about what will unfold if this expulsion stands.
The biggest immediate threat isn’t starvation, because that takes time. Rather, the first crises will be disease and water shortages, particularly in West Darfur.
The camps will quickly run out of clean water, because generator-operated pumps bring the water to the surface from wells and boreholes. Fuel supplies to operate the pumps may last a couple of weeks, and then the water disappears.
Health clinics have already closed, and diarrhea is spreading in Zam Zam camp and meningitis in Kalma camp. These are huge camps — Kalma has perhaps 90,000 people — and diseases can spread rapidly. Children will be the first to die.
Hundreds of thousands of people in the camps may try to flee to Chad, but that would overwhelm Chad’s own impoverished and vulnerable population. And to top it off, Mr. Bashir has armed a large proxy force of Chadian rebels who are said to be preparing an attack on the Chadian government.
“This is a whole new kind of hell for the people of Darfur,” Josette Sheeran, the head of the United Nations World Food Program, told me. “The life bridge for more than a million people has just been dismantled.”
Full article
Unfortunately, the administration’s initial reaction made Neville Chamberlain seem forceful. The State Department blushingly suggested that the expulsion “is certainly not helpful to the people who need aid.”
Wow.
Since then, the administration has stiffened its spine somewhat. Susan Rice, the ambassador to the United Nations and designated hitter on Sudan, told me, “If this decision stands, it may well amount to genocide by other means.”
That’s exactly what we may be facing, for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is confirming the International Criminal Court’s judgment when it issued an arrest warrant for him on Wednesday for “extermination,” murder and rape. Now Mr. Bashir is preparing to kill people en masse, not with machetes but by withholding the aid that keeps them alive.
More than one million people depend directly on the expelled aid groups for health care, food and water. I’ve been in these camps, so let me offer an educated guess about what will unfold if this expulsion stands.
The biggest immediate threat isn’t starvation, because that takes time. Rather, the first crises will be disease and water shortages, particularly in West Darfur.
The camps will quickly run out of clean water, because generator-operated pumps bring the water to the surface from wells and boreholes. Fuel supplies to operate the pumps may last a couple of weeks, and then the water disappears.
Health clinics have already closed, and diarrhea is spreading in Zam Zam camp and meningitis in Kalma camp. These are huge camps — Kalma has perhaps 90,000 people — and diseases can spread rapidly. Children will be the first to die.
Hundreds of thousands of people in the camps may try to flee to Chad, but that would overwhelm Chad’s own impoverished and vulnerable population. And to top it off, Mr. Bashir has armed a large proxy force of Chadian rebels who are said to be preparing an attack on the Chadian government.
“This is a whole new kind of hell for the people of Darfur,” Josette Sheeran, the head of the United Nations World Food Program, told me. “The life bridge for more than a million people has just been dismantled.”
Full article
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