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Former Afghan Lawmaker Joya says US Soldiers Disregard Lives
A former Afghan lawmaker told an audience of South Sound peace activists Tuesday that photos of Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldiers grinning over the corpse of a boy they allegedly murdered revealed a disregard for civilian lives among U.S. forces fighting in her country.
Image shows Malalai Joya during a press conference in Kabul in 2008. She urges a withdrawal of American forces because the costs of the war are too high for civilians. (STR/Getty Images) "They are making fun with the dead bodies of my people," said Malalai Joya, 32, a human rights activist who visited the University of Washington Tacoma on her U.S. speaking tour. About 80 people attended her talk, which was hosted by the group Peace Action of Washington and was her seventh in the Puget Sound area this week.
She spoke about 12 miles north of the Lewis-McChord jail, where the soldiers shown in the photographs are being held as they await courts-martial.
Five soldiers in their Stryker platoon face charges that they murdered Afghan civilians during patrols with the 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division last year. One, Spc. Jeremy Morlock, has pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against his co-defendants.
Joya criticized their courts-martial as a distraction from the suffering the war has inflicted on ordinary Afghans. She advocated a rapid withdrawal of American forces, whose presence she argued props up corrupt warlords, drug traffickers and even the Taliban.
"Just to hide their bigotry and crimes, that's why they are bringing these soldiers to court," Joya said.
Last week, she wrote in London's The Guardian newspaper that "We believe that the brutal actions of these 'kill teams' reveal the aggression and racism which is part and parcel of the entire military occupation. While these photos are new, the murder of innocents is not."
Her words alarmed some Washington residents with ties to the military. One woman called in during a radio interview Joya gave this week to argue that the actions of the soldiers in the alleged "kill team" are reprehensible to soldiers.
"The actions of few do not reflect the attitude of many," said Jennifer Sloan, a military spouse who lives at Lewis-McChord and followed a debate about Joya at thenewstribune.com Monday.
The Army contends it's holding soldiers accountable for their misconduct.
In 2005, Joya, in her mid-20s, was the youngest person elected to Afghanistan's parliament. She was censured by colleagues in 2007 after she criticized some of them for being corrupt warlords. Since, Joya has lived "underground" in Kabul out of fear that she could be killed for her political activism.
She urges a withdrawal of American forces because the costs of the war are too high for civilians.
Last year was a bloody one for noncombatants, according to the United Nations. It counted 2,777 civilian deaths, 2,080 of which were attributed to the Taliban.
In recent months, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has sharply criticized accidental civilian deaths caused by NATO strikes.
Gen. David Petraeus, NATO's commander in Afghanistan, has responded by stressing the importance of protecting civilians and calling for investigations into the most serious incidents. That emphasis led to a 52 percent decline in civilian deaths caused by NATO air strikes, the U.N. report says.
"We cannot harm the people that we are there to help protect," Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee last month in an update on the Afghan war.
Joya wants to see Petraeus, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and President Barack Obama held accountable for the civilian deaths that have taken place in their tenure.
"The headlines say, 'What happens if we leave Afghanistan?' " Joya said. "They should say, 'What happens while we are in Afghanistan?' "
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21 Comments so far
Show All"US soldiers disregard lives?"
Of course. The main activity in a war IS to disregard lives. By making rules about who you can and cannot kill in an armed conflict is to make war palatable. In "old fashioned wars", there was no such thing as innocent civilians. If you happened to be in close proximity to a bomb, well, tough luck. The new standards about who can and cannot kill, is just a ploy that governments and militaries use to make war into an acceptable and profitable business. Tell politicians, big business and the military to stop making rules and laws that make killing acceptable.
Si, "civilized war" is an oxymoron.
It's just one of those things where you can't have everything. The alternative reality where the Taliban are in power and the Twin Towers are still standing would have Ms. Joya not running for Afghanistan's parliament but getting a good beating everyday when Mr. Joya comes home from the buzkashi and the baba ganoush is not to his liking.
Chameleon- please check history before you make such inane and unknowledgeable(sp?) comments.
If the U.S. had not imported Saudi reactionaries to fund the Mujahhedins, no Taliban, no burqas, no beatings.
The folks we brought in to help us fund what eventually became the Taliban and the beginnings of Al-Quaeda (esp. the latter) killed off the existing moderate tribal leaderships which destroyed a rich and open and moderate culture.where religion and secularism lived together in harmony.
Afghanistan at the beginning of the modern era was trying find funding for development and asked Kennedy for help. He refused and the Soviet Union stepped in. Carter and Brzezinski intentionally created chaos with the strategy they implemented. The rest is history. Check t out.
Well, i guess how far in history you wanna go. You can always find a time where she might have had it better. Given the general history and mentality of the people in that area i have my doubts tho.
Instead of having your doubts, dig into that history. The ascendancy of the war-lords and the taliban was not inevitable. At least not until the US decided to play the Great Game and give the Soviets their Viet Nam. The emergence of the new Afghan society was doomed by our intervention.
Malalai Joya's life is worth probably two cents in Afghanistan under US occupation. The value of her life will probably not appreciate considerably when the US gets out...and still, she wants us out. Try weighing her courage against your doubts.
A typical racist comment from a regular racist. Perhaps if you read the article at the following URL you wouldn't be so racist, http://www.counterpunch.org/qadir04042011.html
Not sure where you got the racist label from...
What i said is the cold reality. It's gonna be a while until women get equal rights with men in that society. Like it or not that's how it is. Some civilizations have different customs from what westerners are used to. Not sure why we keep trying to change that...
You still blame the Taliban for the twin towers? Dubya wouldn't lie about such a thing, would he? Do you really think we went there to root out terrorism, build schools for girls and capture the 911 bad guys? I guess the well oiled propaganda machine is running smoothly. Alas.
polite patronization
Update on the U.S. corporate imperial war crimes in Afghanistan:
Not only is Afghanistan the pipeline gateway to the vast hydrocarbon reserves of Central Asia, but there is oil in Afghanistan as well as natural gas that the Russians attempted to export during their occupation. If developed via a permanent American occupation, that energy will be marketed throughout Asia with India as a primary market with a billion people and a growing economy. Our economy, on the other hand, is in decline due in part to $Trillions in war debt. And all for private profit.
acritlce:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/08/15/us-afghanistan-oilfield-idUSTRE67E0AA20100815
Afghanistan finds new oil deposits
Oilfield with an estimated 1.8 billion barrels found, Afghan ministry of mines says
Last Modified: 16 Aug 2010 07:41 GMT
Quote:
"An oilfield with an estimated 1.8 billion barrels has been discovered in the north of Afghanistan, the country's ministry of mines has said.
The discovery of the deposit between northern Balkh and Shiberghan provinces was made after a survey conducted by Afghan and international geologists, a spokesman for the ministry of mines told Reuters news agency.
"I do not know its price in the market but the initial survey says there are 1.8 billion barrels of oil and I think there will be more than what is estimated," Jawad Omar said on Sunday."
This whole Bloody war should be stopped and bring our troops home! Did we not learn anything from Vietnam.
Former Afghan Lawmaker Joya says US Soldiers Disregard Lives
Well, DUH-UH...
Actually I think killing innocents and carving bullets out of them, killing innocents and cutting off their fingers for trophys, playing soccer with cut off Afghan heads... I think those activities and behaviours go somewhat beyond mere disregard, but hey, that's just me...
The beautiful part in all this is the fact that when "Johnny" comes marching home from raping and killing for Wall Street and Israel, the little ghouls will probably come down with a horrible cancer from rolling around in all that DU munitions. That, coupled with real live "wake up screaming in the dead of night in a pool of sweat" nightmares will be just deserts for every goddamn one of 'em. If the "adult parents" of these dogs want 'em home safe and warm, stop waving the bloody stars and stripes in their faces and EDUCATE them to the LIES they fall sucker to.....that'll stop them and YOU might learn to think critically again too..of course, there's still the matter of explaining to your Christian God why you shot that man, raped his women, then slaughtered them for defending his homeland from Israel's "bitches" in the West. It'll be interesting to see all those "heroes" wet themselves when that God tells them he doesn't allow murder and evil by virtue of who's boots you lick, Israel's or the Renfield Class in D.C.....Ewww, DOUBLE whammy!
"The actions of few do not reflect the attitude of many," said Jennifer Sloan, a military spouse who lives at Lewis-McChord and followed a debate about Joya at thenewstribune.com Monday
Sigh, okay Army Wife....tell me, Just what the hell DOES set an invading army apart? Is it the fact they are from the benevolent U.S. of Israel? Maybe because they are so far above all other races and religeons? Or possibly because their "leaders" tell them they MUST PROTECT ISRAEL at all costs? Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya....good god will you justify anything for the little sweeties or are you SERIOUSLY that addled?
Yo, Goebbels. Whats with the constant Israel references in your posts? You got some kind of obsession? Don't you have a Nazi rally to attend?
Yeah, shill, I have an obsession with the truth. Some of our own Renfield Class have publicly let it slip that we're in the M.E. for Israel. have you ever pulled your head from your colon and watched the almost unanimous mindless support for that nuclear-rogue state? Think you'll ever be able to grasp to what extent the government of the U.S. of Israel literally grovels at AIPAC's feet to gain their favor? Ever wonder why they've been caught false-flagging our troops, (yeah, killing the very Americans "bugs" like you say you love and support, veterans), with immunity? Re; the USS Liberty, perfect example. Any non-bitch nation would have demmanded justice. Not the U.S. of Israel, you idiots elect the spawn of the very traitor, (Admiral McCain, who threatened the survivors with court-martial OR WORSE if they opened their mouths), not once, but over and over again. I make constant referrence to that true evil empire because once doesn't sink in through 4" thick skulls. D.C. doesn't make a MOVE w/o seeking an audience with their masters in Israel. You've lost your sovereignty and are too damn stupid to even see it! So, why not take yourself and all your idiot friends down to the nearest recruiter and sign up? With your (mis)understanding of what's happening, I'm sure you'll be an officer real quick. All you need do is get in line for knee-pads with the star of David on 'em. As far as "Nazi support"? Nah, evil is evil, (much like stupid is as stupid does. your mantra?), but considering pure human suffering and support of evil? The U.S. of Israel and Israel proper would need to climb UP a ways to be on an even keel with the "Nazis"
I'm with you on the USS Liberty incident.
However, your jew hating is so 1940's. Unless you are part of some new kind of master race tone it down. At least Israel is not encroaching on your Lebensraum any more. Or is it?
Just wondering if any of these soldiers awaiting trial are maybe suicidal, and need to be placed under protective solitary confinement. Not that I'm in favor of torture, or retribution. I was just wondering what the policy is these days.