CIA death squads killing with “impunity” in Afghanistan

[Hannah Bell]

A United Nations investigator released a preliminary report last week citing widespread civilian deaths in Afghanistan, often at the hands of unaccountable units led by the CIA or other foreign intelligence agencies.

The investigator is Philip Alston, a New York University professor serving as the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary execution. His report provides a partial glimpse into the illegal actions of intelligence agencies, occupying forces, and Afghan police, as they seek to repress opposition to the US-led occupation and US-backed government.

...In a press conference on Thursday, Alston elaborated, saying, “I have spoken with a large number of people in relation to the operation of foreign intelligence units. I don’t want to name them but they are the most senior level of the relevant places. These forces operate with what appears to be impunity.” The location of the incidents cited in the report indicate that the intelligence agencies in question include the CIA or US Special Operations Forces.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/may2008/afgh-m19.shtml

[EFerrari]

1. Where Negroponte goes, the "Salvador Option" follows.

(Sorry, wrong clip.)


Ambassador to Iraq (2004–2005)
Director of National Intelligence (2005–2007)

[Muttocracy]

3. Wasn't he a Deputy Sec. of State or similar title in 2008?

Remember watching him at SFRC hearings, never seeing Condi, and thinking, ah, Negroponte is the real Sec. of State.

on edit - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negroponte - (Italian: "black bridge") - wow how fitting is that?!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Negroponte

...
The rumors became official on January 5, 2007 when Negroponte announced his resignation as DNI and move to the State Department to serve as Deputy Secretary of State.

[EFerrari]

6. Yes, he was. n/t

[G_j]

2. it's erie seeing a thread about Project Phoenix, earlier,

and reading this.

[cliffordu]

5. Yep. I just love those oldies but goodies.....

:sarcasm:

[laststeamtrain]

4. Outright, out front 'rah rah' war or dirty, secret shadow war...

...either way all war, all the time.

Ain't empire grand?

[ConsAreLiars]

7. The same "pacification" by assasination program known in Vietnam as the Phoenix Program.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Program

"The Phoenix Program (Vietnamese: Chiến dịch Phượng Hoàng, a word related to fenghuang, the Chinese phoenix) was a military, intelligence, and internal security program designed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and coordinated and executed by Republic of Vietnam's (South Vietnam) security apparatus and US Special Operations Forces such as the Navy SEALs, United States Army Special Forces and MACV-SOG (now Special Operations Group in the CIA's Special Activities Division) during the Vietnam War. The Program was in operation between 1967 and 1972, and similar efforts existed both before and after that period. The Program was designed to identify and "neutralize" (via infiltration, capture, terrorism, or assassination) the civilian infrastructure supporting the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (NLF or Viet Cong) insurgency."

Much more: "CIA and Operation Phoenix" in Vietnam by Ralph McGehee, 1996-02-19
http://www.serendipity.li/cia/operation_phoenix.htm

Or read the history of Latin America, maybe "The Open Veins of Latin America," and so on.

[EFerrari]

8. There is no way to "move on" while these fuckers are still active in government.

And they still obviously are. The past is not past if it's still happening.

[babylonsister]

10. The article is from "the past", about a year ago. nt

[EFerrari]

12. What does that mean to you?

Do you have any evidence this activity has stopped?

[babylonsister]

16. It means that I'm not going to get exercised about an old article.

Post a new one on the same topic with sufficient blame to the people who deserve it, I'm in.

[EFerrari]

18. Because the blame is what matters? Okay.

[babylonsister]

23. No, truth matters. This thread started with an old article that didn't

portray it as such. Truth, honey.

[EFerrari]

Why are you disrupting this thread defending Obama

when no one is attacking him here?

[babylonsister]

26. See post #11. Short attention span? nt

[EFerrari]

28. I said it can't be laid to his door.

Have a good night.

[ConsAreLiars]

13. They will continue to be active as long as the US government is being used as a tool to

accomplish the expansion of multinational capitalism, its economic dominance and geopolitical hegemony through force. So far, that seems to be the most effective way for corporatism to supplant other forms of economic organization and other value systems.

[EFerrari]

17. They may have stayed too long at the party.

Most people are going to have to get really local and for a long time.

[leftstreet]

+1

[babylonsister]

9. From 19 May 2008-take it up with someone else. nt

[EFerrari]

11. What does that mean? Do you believe that the moment Obama swore the oath

he had instant control of all the levers? He didn't and still may not.

This is an important story as was the story this morning that nearly a hundred CIA prisoners from black sites are "lost".


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5518357&mesg_id=5518357

[babylonsister]

14. Don't change the subject. And have at your anger. But ftr,

those lost prisoners were not lost by Obama either.

It's all well and good to push back, but please. Find a valid reason, k?

[EFerrari]

21. I think you're lost in addition to being out of line.

I'm not angry in the least. And this thread is not about Obama. It's about CIA death squads. Okay? lol

[babylonsister]

24. lol

:eyes:

Posting an article with that title today-you assumed it was from a year ago? OK. lol

[EFerrari]

25. I"m sure you can find at least one thread on DU

where someone is actually attacking Obama and go defend him there.

This is a different conversation.

[babylonsister]

29. That's a year old. nt

[EFerrari]

30. Are you impaired tonight or something?

It happened last year so no one should care about it, is that it?

[babylonsister]

32. Are you angry?

You are downright nasty. And you are not any better than anyone else, even if I'm your target tonight.

Sorry, I missed your previous zing. Good night. And find another target.

[babylonsister]

19. And no, he has no instant control, as we both know. But he gives a

damned sight more thought to what he's doing than anyone lately. I'll cut him the slack and time to think about it.

[EFerrari]

22. I think you're posting in the wrong thread. n/t

[Gregorian]

15. Good lord, what has this country been doing in my name.

From witches to slaves to the endless wars. This must end.

[dgibby]

41. Don't forget ethnic cleansing/genocide of Native Americans.

It seems we have a long and sordid history of atrocities on our way to Empire.

[leftstreet]

20. What a mess

snip

The British Independent newspaper provided some additional information. It noted, “A Western official close to the investigation said the secret units are still known as Campaign Forces, from the time when American Special Forces and CIA spies recruited Afghan troops to help overthrow the Taliban during the US-led invasion in 2001. ‘The brightest, smartest guys in these militias were kept on,’ the official said. ‘They were trained and rearmed and they are still being used.’”

[EFerrari]

27. Here is another link from Sept 2008:

From Afghanistan to Africa
The Return of U. S. Death Squads

By CONN HALLINAN

United Nations officials charge that secret “international intelligence services” are conducting raids to kill Afghan civilians, then hiding the perpetuators behind an “impenetrable” wall of bureaucracy.

Philip Alston of the UN Human Rights Council said that “heavily armed internationals” leading local militias have killed scores of Afghan civilians. Coalition forces have killed more than 200 Afghan civilians since January.

He called the raids, which operate independent of the US and NATO military commands, “unacceptable.” Alston pointed to a specific incident last January in which two brothers were killed during a raid in the southern city of Kandahar, an area where the Taliban have a strong presence.

“The victims are widely acknowledged, even by well informed government officials, to have no connection to the Taliban, and the circumstance of their deaths is suspicious,” he said.

http://www.counterpunch.org/hallinan09102008.html

[G_j]

31. at least it isn't from that socialist site!

:sarcasm:

[EFerrari]

42. LOL!

:hi:

[EFerrari]

33. The New Opium Wars

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo.cms?msid=2419189

The New Opium Wars
23 Apr 2009, 0028 hrs IST, Praveen Dass & K Subrahmanyam


One interesting aspect of US president Barack Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan is likely to make many in the Pentagon flinch. Obama aims to make the US military finally carry out some operations it has been unwilling to conduct until now: help eradicate Afghanistan's flourishing opium crop, which now accounts for a whopping 90 per cent of global heroin supply. Reportedly, the US military brass has so far resisted such calls. This has been a big mistake.

Stamping out Afghan opium is not merely a matter of combating drugs. Focused efforts at countering these narcotics would also serve a vital strategic purpose, as the Taliban would find itself cut off from a critical source of its funding, which the US finally realises. Indeed, US military strategists' previous dismissal of poppy eradication as not being their concern could have stemmed from three conclusions. One, opium was regarded as something US anti-drug and other aid agencies would look into once the military war against Taliban and al-Qaeda was won basically a reconstruction issue, not a tactical one for the military to bother about.

Two, opium money was seen as too thorny a matter to tackle, largely on account of reports that many of Afghanistan's independent warlords and officials also profit from this trade. This is no surprise, given how much money there is to be made from narcotics in an otherwise war-ravaged nation: as much as $4 billion annually, for opium end products, as estimated by the UN.

Three, a CIA angle possibly exists to this mess, perhaps causing mostly embarrassment at the agency having sowed the seeds of this problem when it first got involved in Afghanistan to battle the Soviets in the 1980s. Having seen opium operations in Cambodia and Laos during the Vietnam war, the CIA turned a blind eye to various Afghan warlords using heroin to raise funds. Much of the smuggling then was done with help from Pakistan's ISI. This might once again be the case now.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Editorial/COMMENT-The-New-Opium-Wars/articleshow/4436164.cms

[DainBramaged]

34. May 2008? Relevancy here or just a grab for attention?

[Hannah Bell]

35. just a little reminder. since we're increasing troop levels in afghanistan.

[DainBramaged]

36. OK, but Obama has nothing to do with what Booshe did.

[ConsAreLiars]

37. You actually believe he stopped these activities and policies? ????

Well, congrats on your user name, at least.

[aquart]

38. I don't know. You don't either. DO YOU?

[ConsAreLiars]

40. He said he would rely more on special forces operations.

Of course, you may argue he was lying.

Go away.

[cali]

39. it's also like positng a piece of shit from worldnut daily

wsw has about the same credibility. it's a propaganda rag. and the article doesn't even link to the UN report.

this is so typical of the OP.

[Hannah Bell]

47. actually, i've found wsws to be pretty honest. it's got a pov & makes no bones about that,

but the information it cites is from mainstream sources. i've never seen deliberate lies of the faux news variety.

it's the best source for timely labor news i've found, & its correspondents actually go interview real people, not spokesmodels.


on edit: also for analyses of international news.

oh, & i'm not a member of their party.

[EFerrari]

44. You may not have noticed this but currently CIA abuses are being investigated.

This is another such abuse.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

43. K&R

[EFerrari]

45. I've looked and can't find an update about this.

And you have to wonder what CIA is up to, in the world's biggest cocaine producing country and already under investigation for torture.

[maryf]

46. K&R Thanks for this