On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
Combat Journalist has a roundup of the latest news:
A US Service member walked out of his base at 03:00 am Sunday in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province in a dead-dark area in Panjwai district.
The serviceman, believed to be a Sergeant with the USFOR-A (US Forces – Afghanistan), killed 16 asleep civilians in two villages in Panjwai district of Kandahar and wounded 5+.
He entered one house killed 11, entered the 2nd house killed 4, went to the 3rd house killed 1, wounded 5 in 2 other house.
Most of the dead are women and children.
Presidential Palace press release said 16 civilians including 9 children, 3 women & 4 men were killed and 5 others injured.
Karzai called the incident a ‘deliberate murder by a US Soldier’.
The statement from Karzai’s office called for clarification and explanation for this incident.
After the shooting, the soldier walked back into the base and surrendered himself to authorities.
ISAF Joint Command in a statement said that the USFOR-A is leading the investigation along with Afghan officials, acknowledging that the soldier was American.
Karzai is infuriated over the incident and is following the case on minute-by-minute bases personally.
US Embassy in Kabul sent condolences to the families of those killed and wounded, said they were saddened and are investigating the incident.
Embassy warned of Anti-US protest across Afghanistan following this incident.
US Forces are providing highest medical care for the wounded, Embassy said.
The motive behind the incident is yet not known.
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Comments:
May '10
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
WTF???? If true, I'm almost tempted to bypass UCMJ and have him prosecuted under shariah.
Jan '11
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
If Fort Hood was workplace violence then I'd call this just an industrial accident.
Oct '11
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
Generally speaking, off base crimes are prosecuted in the host country system. I am not that familiar with the Status of Forces Agreement in Afganistan, but in general this is how they are set up. We have troops in various countries in those county's prisons for rape, murder, etc. This of course doesn't prohibit the military from also prosecuting under the UCMJ. It would appear he is mentally unstable. Very sad.
Jul '10
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
Regrets to the families and friends, and hopes that justice is served fairly and swiftly on the murderer.
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
Just sickening. What madness.
Jan '11
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
Next time call it a faulty drone.
May '10
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
A terrible thing. The perpetrator deserves whatever barbaric punishment a Sharia court might inflict.
Now we get to see how this plays out. Will the multi-cultis support a Sharia-imposed punishment? Or will they insist the perp be tried under the UCMJ by a military tribunal?
That said, it was only a matter of time before somebody snapped. This is not a justification, just an observation on reality.
Sep '10
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
Not only did he murder a lot of people, but he's made things even more dangerous for our soldiers out there.
Oct '10
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
Assuming the reports are accurate, that trooper is headed to the gallows--either ours or theirs.
And when they find out he once attended a Christian church?!? Oh goodness me, stand-by for gnashing of teeth and analogizing with the Crusades. Can you imagine the hue and cry if Rumsfeld were still running DoD? As it is, you'll hear precious little about senior civilian leadership in all this. How about a betting pool on the first to tie it to Abu Ghraib?
May '10
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
While this act is inexcusable, and it has put our forces in even more danger, I'm unwilling to hand the perpetrator over to the Afghans just yet. Let's remember that some of our service members have gone on multiple deployments. Some haven't spent much time with their families in years. They have undergone extreme physical and mental stress. Yes, it was horrible and what he did was wrong, but we have asked a lot of our service members, and while most have conducted themselves as professionals, a few have suffered greatly under the strain. I don't know what the circumstances are surrounding this particular soldier, but hopefully it will remind us to reach out to those who served admirably and offer our support and appreciation. There are a lot of Veterans still carrying around the scars of war, some you can see, some you can't.
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
As this story unfolds, I'll be searching for the answer to this question. If we're required to hand over the perpetrator to Afghans--well, I cannot imagine a set of events more likely to undermine our efforts in Afghanistan.
Claire, is there a reaction to this story in Turkey?
Edited on March 11, 2012 at 7:07pmMay '10
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
Peter Robinson
As this story unfolds, I'll be searching for the answer to this question. If we're required to hand over the guilty party to Afghans--well, I cannot imagine a set of events more likely to undermine our efforts in Afghanistan for more than a decade now.
Claire, is there a reaction to this story in Turkey? · 4 minutes ago
I know he's probably too moderate for a lot of folks on Ricochet, but Sen. Lindsey Graham would be a helpful resource. Why not have him on a podcast? After all, he was a senior instructor in the JAG Corps and served as a JAG officer reservist in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last few years on detainee and rule-of-law issues.
Oct '10
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
Well said and admirable sentiments. The Ft Hood massacre occurred in November 2009 and the "alleged" perpetrator has not gone on trial yet. Let's see if the same length and depth of investigatory effort is accorded this evidently deranged Sergeant. As Yeah...ok. points out above, this should be characterized as workplace violence if the Army is going to be consistent with its Ft Hood response to the self-proclaimed jihadist, Major Nidal Malik Hasan. My prediction is Big Army will take an entirely different approach in this case. With Hasan, the most senior Army officer loudly dismissed the notion this was anything other than workplace violence, lest the Army's "diversity" be somehow damaged. Assuming the facts are close to the initial reports, I doubt we'll see a high-level sanitizing of motivations in the name of diversity for this massacre. I hope I'm wrong, even though I'd prefer that the truth were considered important in both these nauseating incidents.
Apr '11
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
Wow. I read about this incident earlier in the morning. Sounds like the guy snapped. I think this is going to be the final nail in the coffin that is our relationship with Afghanistan. The Koran burning was pretty bad and the presidents response to it only helped to fuel American dislike for Afghanistan. Watch the comments on this news story, you will see that most of the sympathy is going to the soldier, as a victim of PTSD. If we let the man be tried by the Afghans I think this will go over badly, domestically in the US.
Personally speaking I think we should get the guy out of Afghanistan and try him here in the US. I have no confidence in Afghan justice, and neither do most Americans. If we let him get prosecuted by the local authorities it will be a show trial and end in stoning. You know I'm not far from the truth here.
Karzai is a weasel of the first order, and the Taliban and their sympathizers will be looking for blood. I hate to say this, but it is time get out and cut our losses.
Nov '11
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
War damages the individuals who practice it. It broke this young man and he went on a killing spree.
What a horrible horrible story. Why are we there again?
And, I might as well make this political, because this is why it matters. But ask yourself why you want to vote for someone who wants to keep this war going.
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
Peter Robinson
As this story unfolds, I'll be searching for the answer to this question. If we're required to hand over the perpetrator to Afghans--well, I cannot imagine a set of events more likely to undermine our efforts in Afghanistan.
Claire, is there a reaction to this story in Turkey? · 46 minutes ago
Edited 6 minutes ago
They're carrying the wire service reports--low on the front page, generally.
Jul '11
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
An unstable soldier surrounded by increasingly hostile villages, Afghan police and soldiers being asked to do a job without a single positive identifiable goal anymore while watching his friends get killed and maimed. It's a wonder more have not snapped. This murderer needs to be tried and killed by the US, we can handle our own.
Jan '11
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
Afghan riots beginning in 3... 2.... 1....
Jun '10
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
I wonder if CBS News might concede now that there really is something worse than what happened at Abu Ghraib--worse than making naked prisoners form a human pyramid.
Feb '12
Re: On the 16 Afghan Civilians Killed by a US Service Member
Here's a chance for the world to see how America handles things legally and fairly.