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Revision as of 05:18, 17 April 2011

Andrew Holmes, Michael Wagnon, Jeremy Morlock and Adam Winfield face murder charges.

The FOB Ramrod 'kill team' refers to a group of United States soldiers involved in the killing of civilians. They were members of the 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, deployed in Afghanistan in 2010 at Forward Operating Base Ramrod.[1][2] During the summer of 2010, the US Military charged five members of the platoon with murder for the deaths of three Afghan civilians in Kandahar province. In addition, seven soldiers were charged with crimes including hashish use, impeding an investigation and attacking the whistleblower Spc. Justin Stoner who alerted MPs during an investigation into hashish use by members of the 3rd Platoon. The alleged ringleader was Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs. [3][4][5]

On March 24, 2011, US Army Specialist Jeremy Morlock plead guilty to three counts of premeditated murder. He told the court that he had helped to kill unarmed Afghans in faked combat situations. Under a plea deal, Morlock received 24 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge for murdering three Afghans civilians in return for testifying against other soldiers.[6][7]

Killings

  • On January 15, 2010 a 15 year old Gul Mudin was killed “by means of throwing a fragmentary grenade at him and shooting him with a rifle,” an action carried out by Spc. Jeremy Morlock and allegedly Pfc. Andrew Holmes under the direction of Gibbs. According to Holmes later that day, Morlock told him the killing was staged and unnecessary. Holmes also said Morlock threatened his life if he told anyone.[8][9]
  • On February 22, Gibbs and Spc. Michael S. Wagnon allegedly shot Marach Agha and placed a Kalashnikov next to the body to justify the killing. Spc. Jeremy Morlock was also implicated.[10]
  • On May 2, 2010, Mullah Adahdad was attacked with a grenade and fatally shot, allegedly by Gibbs, Morlock, and Winfield.[11][12]

Soldiers took photos of dead Afghans

Der Spiegel published three photos of U.S. soldiers posing with the bodies of Afghans they had killed. One of the photos shows Spc. Jeremy Morlock next to one of them. He appears to be smiling and raising the head of a corpse by the hair.[13][14] Other images published later include one of two unidentified Afhgans cuffed together around a milestone and wearing a cardboard handwritten sign made out of a MRE package box that read "Talibans are Dead".[15] Two videos were also published, one of two Afghans on a motorcycle gunned down by members of another battalion of the 5th Stryker brigade called "Motorcycle Kill",[16] and one called "Death Zone" of gunsight footage with jeerings heard in the background showing two Afghans suspected of planting an IED killed in an airstrike with Apocalyptica single "En Vie" as a soundtrack.[17] Senior officials at Nato's International Security Assistance Force in Kabul have compared the pictures published to the images of U.S. soldiers abusing prisoners in Abu Ghraib in Iraq.[18]

Soldiers collected human remains

Pictures were taken of mutilated bodies and body parts, among them one of a head being maneuvered with a stick. Gibbs used medical shears to severe several fingers that he kept as a form of human trophy collecting. He gave one of them to Holmes, who kept it dried in a ziploc bag. Winfield kept a tooth. [15][19]

Five of the Army soldiers face murder charges while seven others are charged with participating in a coverup.[20]

Staff Sgt. David Bram

Bram is charged with conspiracy to commit assault and battery, unlawfully striking another soldier, violating a lawful order, dereliction of duty, cruelty and maltreament and endeavoring to impede an investigation.[21]

Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs

Calvin Gibbs has been described as the ringleader of the FOB Ramrod "kill team".[22]

Pfc. Andrew Holmes

Andrew Holmes attorneys argued they were constrained in defending him by the Army’s decision to conceal photos of the man he allegedly shot in January.[23] The National Institute of Military Justice argued that the gruesome corpse photos should be made public.[24]

Sgt. Darren Jones

Jones of Pomona, Calif. faces charges that he beat up another soldier and fired at Afghan civilians who did not pose a threat to him.[25]

Spc. Adam Kelly

Kelly, of Montesano is convicted of conspiring to harm the whistleblower Spc. Justin Stoner. He was sentenced to 60 days hard labor and discharged from the Army.[26]

Pfc. Ashton A. Moore

Moore of Severna Park, Md. faced the fewest charges among the group.[27]

Spc. Corey Moore

Spc. Corey Moore of Redondo Beach, Calif., plead guilty that he kicked a witness and stabbed one of the corpses. He was sentenced to 60 days hard labor and a bad conduct discharge.[28]

Spc. Jeremy N. Morlock

Jeremy Morlock, a 22-year-old army specialist from Wasilla, Alaska has been sentenced to 24 years in prison by a military tribunal after pleading guilty to three counts of premeditated murder, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and illegal drug use. He will be dishonorably discharged from the military. He will become eligible for parole after serving 7 years in federal prison.[29][30] He has agreed to testify against the other soldiers allegedly involved.

Morlock's mother accused the US government of scapegoating him: "I think the government is just playing these guys as scapegoats. The leaders dropped the ball. Who was watching over all this?" she said in a Seattle Times interview.[31]

Spc. Emmitt Quintal

Quintal was given a bad-conduct discharge and sentence to 90 days hard labor in a plea deal for frequently using drugs during his combat deployment, joining an assault on a comrade and keeping digital photos of Afghan casualties. He is also required to testify against others in the case.[32]

Staff Sergeant Robert Stevens

Robert Stevens an Army medic from Portland, Oregon was sentenced to nine months in prison as part of a plea deal to testify against 11 other Lewis-McChord based Stryker soldiers.[33] He pleaded guilty to four charges including shooting "in the direction of" two Afghan farmers for no reason.[34][35]

Spc. Adam Winfield

Spc. Adam C. Winfield

Christopher Winfield, the father of platoon member Spc. Adam C. Winfield, attempted to alert the Army of the "kill team's" existence when his son explained the situation from Afghanistan via a Facebook chat after the first killing.[36] In response to the news from his son, Christopher Winfield called the Army inspector general's 24-hour hotline, the office of Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), and a sergeant at Joint Base Lewis-McChord who told him to call the Army's criminal investigations division. He then contacted the Fort Lewis command center and spoke to a sergeant on duty who agreed that Spc. Winfield was in potential danger but he had to report the crime to his superiors before the Army could take action.[11]

Officials became alerted after an unnamed soldier reported hashish use by Morlock and Gibbs, and after reporting the incident to a sergeant, Spc. Winfield was accused of "snitching" and physically assaulted. The assailants warned the private to stay silent, but he contacted investigators, and informed them about hash and alcohol use by members of his company, and further raising his suspicions that some of his fellow soldiers had slain civilians while on patrol.[37]

Spc. Michael Wagnon

Wagon from Las Vegas faces the following charges: possessing a human skull fragment, conspiracy to murder an Afghan, conspiracy to harm Afghans, assaulting noncombatants, trying to destroy evidence.[38][39]

Command Responsibility

According to Der Spiegel a US military investigation stated that Colonel Harry Tunnell of the 5th Stryker Brigade "inattentiveness to administrative matters … may have helped create an environment in which misconduct could occur."[40] However the report cleared him of responsibility stating there was no 'causal relationship' between the killings and his "aggressive leadership style".[41] [42]

See also

Sources

  1. ^ Marc Hujer (2010-09-13). "Did US Soldiers Target Afghan Civilians? War Crime Allegations Threaten to Harm America's Image". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
  2. ^ Hal Bernton (2010-08-24). "Stryker soldiers allegedly plotted to kill Afghan civilians". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
  3. ^ Barbara Starr (2010-09-10). "Army: 12 soldiers killed Afghans, mutilated corpses". CNN. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
  4. ^ "Additional charges filed in Afghan civilians' deaths". Seattle Times. 2010-08-24. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
  5. ^ Hal Bernton (2010-09-08). "Stryker soldiers allegedly took corpses' fingers". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
  6. ^ http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,752918,00.html
  7. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/23/us-soldier-admits-killing-afghans
  8. ^ http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/03/31/v-printerfriendly/1606618/news-brief-31karzais.html
  9. ^ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012712859_civiliandeaths25m.html
  10. ^ http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,754141-4,00.html
  11. ^ a b Whitlock, Craig (September 18, 2010). "Members of U.S. platoon in Afghanistan accused of killing civilians for sport". Washington Post.
  12. ^ http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/10/28/1399210/platoon-leaders-talk-to-villagers.html
  13. ^ Reuters.com
  14. ^ Seattletimes.nwsource.com
  15. ^ a b Mark Boal (27 March 2011). "The Kill Team". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2011-04-09.
  16. ^ Mark Boal (27 March 2011). "Motorcycle Kill". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2011-04-09.
  17. ^ Mark Boal (27 March 20111). "Death Zone". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2011-04-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ Guardian.co.uk
  19. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1370758/Shocking-video-shows-U-S-troops-cheering-airstrike-blows-Afghan-civilians.html?ITO=1490
  20. ^ CNN.com
  21. ^ http://articles.cnn.com/2010-11-29/world/afghanistan.sport.killings_1_murder-charges-general-court-face-court?_s=PM:WORLD
  22. ^ Topics.nytimes.com
  23. ^ Washingtonpost.com
  24. ^ Washingtonpost.com
  25. ^ http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/12/08/1456604/stryker-sergeant-faces-hearing.html
  26. ^ http://www.komonews.com/news/local/116829818.html
  27. ^ http://www.theolympian.com/2011/01/29/1524052/army-wont-wait-on-evidence-appeal.html
  28. ^ Seattletimes.nwsource.com
  29. ^ http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,752918,00.html
  30. ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/24/us-soldier-crimes-idUSTRE72N0D320110324
  31. ^ Hal Bernton (20 march 2011). "War changed soldier accused in Afghan killings, mother says". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2011-04-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  32. ^ theolympian.com
  33. ^ Seattletimes.nwsource.com
  34. ^ Dailymail.co.uk
  35. ^ Democracynow.org
  36. ^ "Twelve U.S. soldiers face trial after Afghan civilians 'were killed for sport and their fingers collected as trophies'". Daily Mail. 2010-09-10. Retrieved 2010-09-16.
  37. ^ Anderson, Jon (2010-09-13). "Allegations swirl around Lewis-McChord platoon". Arny Times. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
  38. ^ http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/01/07/1804364/spc-michael-wagnon.html#ixzz1JauUu7Yp
  39. ^ http://www.lvrj.com/news/las-vegas-soldier-charged-with-murder-96531719.html
  40. ^ http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,754952,00.html
  41. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1373881/Agressive-commander-Colonel-Harry-D-Tunnell-U-S-army-Afghanistan-kill-squad-cleared-responsibility-atrocities.html
  42. ^ http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/04/05/daily_brief_british_relations_with_pakistan_unbreakable_cameron
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