Charges of random civilian killings by soldiers in the field has forced an investigation, writes CRAIG WHITLOCKin Washington
THE US soldiers floated a plan as simple as it was savage: to randomly target and kill an Afghan civilian, and to get away with it.
For weeks, according to army charging documents, rogue members of a platoon from the 5th Stryker Combat Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, hatched the idea. Then, one day last winter, a solitary Afghan man approached them in the village of La Mohammed Kalay. The “kill team” activated the plan.
One soldier created a ruse that they were under attack, tossing a grenade on the ground. Then others opened fire.
According to charging documents, the unprovoked, fatal attack on January 15th was the start of a months-long shooting spree against Afghan civilians that resulted in some of the grisliest allegations against American soldiers since the US invasion in 2001. Members of the platoon have been charged with dismembering and photographing corpses, as well as hoarding a skull and other human bones.
The subsequent investigation has raised accusations about whether the military ignored warnings that the out-of-control soldiers were committing atrocities. The father of one soldier said he repeatedly tried to alert the army after his son told him about the first killing, only to be rebuffed.
Two more slayings would follow. Military documents allege that five members of the unit staged a total of three murders in Kandahar province between January and May. Seven other soldiers have been charged with crimes related to the case, including hashish use, attempts to impede the investigation and a retaliatory gang assault on a private who blew the whistle.
Army officials declined to comment on the case beyond the charges that have been filed, citing the ongoing investigation.
But a review of military court documents and interviews with people familiar with the inquiry suggest the killings were committed essentially for sport.
The accused soldiers, through attorneys and family members, deny wrongdoing. But the case has already been marked by a cycle of accusations and counter-accusations among the defendants as they seek to pin the blame on each other, according to documents and interviews.
According to statements given to investigators, members of the unit began talking about forming a “kill team” in December, shortly after receiving a new member, staff Sgt Calvin Gibbs (25) of Billings, Montana.
Gibbs, whom some defendants have described as the ringleader, confided to his new mates that it had been easy for him to get away with “stuff” when he served in Iraq in 2004, according to the statements. It was his second tour in Afghanistan, having served there from January 2006 until May 2007.
The first opportunity presented itself on January 15th in the Maiwand district of Kandahar province. Members of the 3rd Platoon were providing perimeter security for a meeting between army officers and tribal elders in the village of La Mohammed Kalay.
According to charging documents, an Afghan named Gul Mudin began walking toward the soldiers. As he approached, Cpl Jeremy Morlock (22) Wasilla, Alaska, threw the grenade on the ground to create the illusion that the soldiers were under attack.
Pfc Andrew Holmes (19), Boise, Idaho, saw the grenade and fired his weapon at Mudin, according to charging documents. The grenade exploded, prompting other soldiers to open fire on the villager as well, killing him.
In statements to investigators, the soldiers involved have given conflicting details. In one statement that his attorney has subsequently tried to suppress, Morlock said that Gibbs had given him the grenade and that others were also aware of the ruse beforehand. But Holmes and his attorney said he was in the dark and opened fire only because Morlock ordered him to do so.
“He was unwittingly used as the cover story,” said Daniel Conway, a defence attorney for Holmes.
“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Morlock, Holmes and Gibbs have been charged with murder in the shooting.
On February 14th, Christopher Winfield, a former marine, logged on to his Facebook account to chat with his son, Adam, a 3rd Platoon soldier in Afghanistan. Adam Winfield confided he’d had a run-in with Gibbs, his squad leader. He also typed a note saying that some people get away with murder.
When his father pressed him to explain, Adam replied, “did you not understand what I just told you”. He then referred to the slaying of the Afghan villager the month before, adding that other platoon members had threatened him because he did not approve.
“I was just shocked,” Christopher Winfield said in a phone interview. “He was scared for his life at that point.” The father told his son that he would contact the army to intervene and investigate. It was a Sunday, but he didn’t wait. He called the army inspector general’s 24-hour hotline and left a voice mail. He called the office of Senator Bill Nelson, and left another message. He called a sergeant at Lewis-McChord who told him to call the army’s criminal investigations division. He left another message there.
Finally, he said, he called the Fort Lewis command center and spoke for 12 minutes to a sergeant on duty. He said the sergeant agreed that it sounded as if Adam was in potential danger but that, unless he was willing to report it to his superiors in Afghanistan, there was little the army could do.
Billing records that Christopher Winfield kept confirm that he called army officials; he also kept copies of transcripts of Facebook chats with this son. He said he specifically told the sergeant of his son’s warning that more murders were in the works.
Army investigators have since taken a sworn statement from Christopher Winfield.
Eight days after Winfield tried to warn the army, according to charging papers, members of the 3rd Platoon murdered again.
On February 22nd, Marach Agha, an Afghan civilian, was killed by rifle fire near Forward Operating Base Ramrod in Kandahar province, where the 3rd Platoon was stationed. The army has released few details about the slaying but has charged Gibbs, Morlock and Specialist Michael Wagnon with murder.
Wagnon has also been charged with possessing “a skull taken from an Afghan person’s corpse”. But court documents do not specify whether it belonged to the Afghan he is charged with killing.
More mayhem followed in March, when Gibbs, Wagnon and three other soldiers opened fire on three Afghan men, according to charging documents.
Members of the 3rd Platoon found their next victim on May 2nd, documents show. Gibbs, Morlock and Adam Winfield – the son of the former marine who said he tried to alert the army three months earlier – are accused of tossing a grenade and fatally shooting an Afghan cleric, Mullah Adahdad, near Forward Operating Base Ramrod.
Winfield’s attorney, Eric Montalvo, said his client was ordered to shoot but fired high and missed. He and Winfield’s parents say they can’t understand why the army has charged their son, given that his father tried to warn officials about the platoon.
Military police caught wind of the final killing a few days later, but only by happenstance. Records show they were coincidentally investigating reports of hashish use by members of the 3rd Platoon.
After word leaked that one soldier had spoken to military police, several platoon members retaliated, records show. They confronted the informant and beat him severely.
However, the informant talked to the MPs again. Some members of his unit, he said, “when they are out at a village, wander off and kill someone and every time they say the same thing, about a guy throwing a grenade, but there is never proof”. This time, the army acted and made arrests. – (Washington Post)