Maywand District killings

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

The Maywand District killings refer to the murder of three Afghan civilians perpetrated by a group of United States Army soldiers in 2010, during the War in Afghanistan. The soldiers, who referred to themselves as a "kill team",^[1][2] were members of the 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, based at the FOB Ramrod.^[3][4]

During the summer of 2010, the military charged five members of the platoon with murder of three Afghan civilians in Kandahar province and collecting their body parts as trophies. In addition, seven soldiers were charged with crimes such as hashish use, impeding an investigation, and attacking the whistleblower Spc. Justin Stoner. Ten of the 12 soldiers charged have now been convicted. ^[5][6][7]

On March 24, 2011, U.S. Army Specialist Jeremy Morlock pled 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 Afghan civilians, in return for testimony against other soldiers.^[8][9]

Killings

All of these killings occurred in the Maywand District of Afghanistan:

• On January 15, 2010 in the village of La Mohammad Kalay, fifteen year old Gul Mudin was doing farm work for his father. He was unarmed and 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.^[10][11]
• On February 22, using thermal imagery, the soldiers discovered Marach Agha curled in a ball by a roadside. Gibbs and Spc. Michael S. Wagnon allegedly shot him and placed a Kalashnikov next to the body to justify the killing. Spc. Jeremy Morlock pled guilty for his death.^[12] The Army later said it believed Marach Agha to be deaf or mentally retarded. The soldiers allegedly kept part of his skull.^[13]
• On May 2, 2010, Mullah Adahdad was attacked with a grenade and fatally shot, allegedly by Gibbs, Morlock, and Winfield.^[14][15] Three days after Adahdad was killed members of a Stryker platoon returned to his village. Tribal elders had complained to Army officers that the cleric had been unarmed and that the shooting was a setup. "This guy was shot because he took an aggressive action against coalition forces," Lt. Stefan Moye, the platoon leader, explained to village residents in Qualaday. "We didn’t just (expletive) come over here and just shoot him randomly. And we don’t do that." This conversation was recorded by embedded photojournalist Max Becherer.^[15][16]

Soldiers took photos of dead Afghans

Andrew Holmes poses with the body of Gul Mudin immediately after Mudin was killed.

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.^[17][18] Other images published later in Rolling Stone include one of two unidentified Afghans cuffed together around a milestone and wearing a cardboard handwritten sign made out of a MRE package box that read "Talibans are Dead". Other photos were taken of mutilated body parts, among them one of a head being maneuvered with a stick.^[19] 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",^[20] 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.^[21] 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.^[22]

Soldiers collected human remains

Gibbs used medical shears to sever 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. ^[19][23]

Legal proceedings

Five of the Army soldiers face murder charges while seven others are charged with participating in a coverup.^[24]

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.^[25] In May 2011 additional charges were filed against Bram including solicitation to commit premeditated murder, aggravated assault on Afghan nationals, planting evidence and unlawfully discussing murder scenarios with subordinates.^[26]

Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs

Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs from Billings, Montana, the ringleader of the "kill team", was the highest-ranking soldier in the case.^[27] He is charged with conspiracy and three counts of murder for plotting and killing three Afghan civilians.^[28]

A report in The Guardian states that soldiers told the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command that Gibbs bragged of his exploits while serving in the Iraq War, saying how easily one could "toss a grenade at someone and kill them."^[29][30] Prosecutors said Gibbs was found in possession of "finger bones, leg bones and a tooth taken from Afghan corpses".

Gibbs was convicted by a military jury on 15 counts including the premeditated murder of Mudin, Agha and Adahdad as well as illegally cutting off pieces of their corpses and planting weapons to make the men appear as if they were Taliban fighters.^[31][32][33] In November 2011, Gibbs was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years minus the 547 days of pretrial confinement.^[34]

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.^[35] The National Institute of Military Justice argued that the gruesome corpse photos should be made public.^[36] Holmes has also said Morlock threatened his life if he told anyone that the killing of Gul Mudin was staged and unnecessary.^[11] A doctor testified at Holmes' trial that there were no machine gun wounds on the victim that prosecutors said was shot by Holmes' machine gun.^[37] Another soldier testified that the body was riddled with wounds and that it appeared to him that it was Holmes' weapon that killed Mudin.^[38]

In September 2011 Holmes pled guilty to murder,^[39] and was sentenced to 7 years jail.^[40]

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.^[41] He was sentenced to seven months in prison and demotion to the rank of private.^[42]

Spc. Adam Kelly

Kelly, of Montesano, was convicted of conspiring to harm the whistleblower Spc. Justin Stoner. He was sentenced to 60 days hard labor and discharged from the Army.^[43]

Pfc. Ashton A. Moore

Moore of Severna Park, Md., faced the fewest charges among the group.^[44]

Spc. Corey Moore

Spc. Corey Moore of Redondo Beach, Calif., pled 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.^[45]

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.^[8][46] He has agreed to testify against the other soldiers allegedly involved. During his hearing he was asked by Judge Lieutenant Colonel Kwasi Hawks "Were you going to shoot at (civilians) to scare them and it got out of hand?". Morlock replied: "The plan was to kill people, sir".^[47]

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.^[48]

Spc. Emmitt Quintal

Quintal was given a bad-conduct discharge and sentenced 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.^[49]

Staff Sergeant Robert Stevens

Robert Stevens, an Army medic from Portland, Oregon, knew SSG Calvin Gibbs while serving with him in A-52, the Brigade Commander's Personnel Security Detachment where they served under CPT Samuel Lynn. The two maintained a close friendship and remained in contact after SSG Gibbs had been transferred from A-52 to 2-1 Infantry. SSG Stevens was sentenced to nine months in prison as part of a plea deal to testify against 11 other Lewis-McChord based Stryker soldiers.^[50] He pled guilty to four charges including shooting "in the direction of" two Afghan farmers for no reason.^[51][52] Stevens said Gibbs ordered him to shoot on the two farmers and that he regretted "not trying to stop Staff Sgt. Gibbs from trying to kill innocent people,".^[53]

Spc. Adam 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.^[54] 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 Investigation 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.^[14]

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.^[55]

On August 5, 2011, Winfield, charged with premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit murder, pled guilty under a plea deal to involuntary manslaughter and use of an illegal controlled substance. The involuntary manslaughter charge stems from Winfield's failure to intervene and prevent the other soldiers from carrying out the attack against the Afghan in U.S. custody. Under the plea deal he didn't admit to the killing of Mullah Adahdad. He claimed that he fired his automatic weapon away from Adahdad but that he did nothing to stop the murder.^{[56][57][58][59]} He was sentenced to 3 years in prison.^[60]

Spc. Michael Wagnon

Wagnon 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.^[61][62]

US Army response

The US Army issued an apology for the photos, stating that "These court-martial proceedings speak for themselves. The photos appear in stark contrast to the discipline, professionalism and respect that have characterized our soldiers' performance during nearly 10 years of sustained operations."^[63] In a Department Of Defense Press release on March 28, 2011 the Army stated:

The Army will relentlessly pursue the truth, no matter where it leads, both in and out of court, no matter how unpleasant it may be, no matter how long it takes. As an Army, we are troubled that any soldier would lose his ‘moral compass’ as one soldier said during his trial. We will continue to do whatever we need to as an institution to understand how it happened, why it happened and what we need to do to prevent it from happening again.” ^[64]

According to a secret US Army investigative report obtained by Der Spiegel, Colonel Harry Tunnell's (of the 5th Stryker Brigade) "inattentiveness to administrative matters … may have helped create an environment in which misconduct could occur."^[65] However the report according to Der Spiegel cleared him of responsibility stating there was no 'causal relationship' between the killings and his "aggressive leadership style".^[66][67] At least a dozen media organisations have filed Freedom of Information Act for the report.^[68]

See also

• Haditha killings
• Hamdania incident
• Mahmudiyah killings
• List of massacres in Afghanistan

References

1. ^ Murder in Afghanistan: SPIEGEL TV's 'Kill Team' Documentary - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International
2. ^ News Desk: The “Kill Team” Photographs : The New Yorker
3. ^ Marc Hujer (2010-09-13). "Did US Soldiers Target Afghan Civilians? War Crime Allegations Threaten to Harm America's Image". Der Spiegel. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,717127,00.html. Retrieved 2010-09-17. 
4. ^ Hal Bernton (2010-08-24). "Stryker soldiers allegedly plotted to kill Afghan civilians". Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012712859_civiliandeaths25m.html. Retrieved 2010-09-15. 
5. ^ Barbara Starr (2010-09-10). "Army: 12 soldiers killed Afghans, mutilated corpses". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/09/afghan.coverup/. Retrieved 2010-09-15. 
6. ^ "Additional charges filed in Afghan civilians' deaths". Seattle Times. 2010-08-24. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012712933_additionalcharges25m.html. Retrieved 2010-09-15. 
7. ^ Hal Bernton (2010-09-08). "Stryker soldiers allegedly took corpses' fingers". Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012845630_stryker9m.html. Retrieved 2010-09-17. 
8. ^ ^{a b} "Court Sentences 'Kill Team' Soldier to 24 Years in Prison". Der Spiegel. March 24, 2011. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,752918,00.html. 
9. ^ Harris, Paul (2011-03-23). "US military (News),US news,Afghanistan (News),World news". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/23/us-soldier-admits-killing-afghans. 
10. ^ The News Tribune - Karzai 'hurt' by photos of killing by Stryker soldiers (print)
11. ^ ^{a b} Bernton, Hal (2010-08-24). "Stryker soldiers allegedly plotted to kill Afghan civilians". The Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012712859_civiliandeaths25m.html. 
12. ^ Adam's War: The Good Boy and the 'Kill Team' - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International
13. ^ Afghans killed for sport, says report - The Irish Times - Tue, Mar 29, 2011
14. ^ ^{a b} Whitlock, Craig (September 18, 2010). "Members of U.S. platoon in Afghanistan accused of killing civilians for sport". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/18/AR2010091803935_pf.html. 
15. ^ ^{a b} Stryker platoon leader’s talk to Afghan villagers recorded | Stryker Brigade - The News Tribune
16. ^ Stryker unit at heart of Afghan murder probe
17. ^ Reuters.com
18. ^ Seattletimes.nwsource.com
19. ^ ^{a b} Mark Boal (27 March 2011). "The Kill Team". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-kill-team-20110327?print=true. Retrieved 2011-04-09. 
20. ^ Mark Boal (27 March 2011). "Motorcycle Kill". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/photos/motorcyle-kill-20110327. Retrieved 2011-04-09. 
21. ^ Mark Boal (27 March 20111). "Death Zone". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/photos/death-zone-20110327. Retrieved 2011-04-09. 
22. ^ Guardian.co.uk
23. ^ Bates, Daniel; Duell, Mark (2011-03-29). "'Death Squad': Full horror emerges of how rogue U.S. brigade murdered and mutilated innocent Afghan civilians - and kept their body parts as trophies". Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1370758/Shocking-video-shows-U-S-troops-cheering-airstrike-blows-Afghan-civilians.html?ITO=1490. 
24. ^ CNN.com
25. ^ "Four U.S. soldiers charged with rape and murder". CNN. 2006-10-18. http://articles.cnn.com/2010-11-29/world/afghanistan.sport.killings_1_murder-charges-general-court-face-court?_s=PM:WORLD. 
26. ^ USA Today. 2011-05-17. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/05/6th-us-soldier-charged-in-sport-killings-of-afghan-civilians/1. 
27. ^ Topics.nytimes.com
28. ^ "Additional charges filed in Afghan civilians' deaths". Seattle Times. September 24, 2010. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012712933_additionalcharges25m.html. Retrieved September 15, 2010. 
29. ^ Meena Hartenstein (September 9, 2010). "U.S. soldiers charged with murdering civilians, collecting their fingers in Afghanistan". New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/09/09/2010-09-09_us_soldiers_charged_with_murdering_civilians_collecting_their_fingers_in_afghani.html. Retrieved September 15, 2010. 
30. ^ Chris McGreal (September 9, 2010). "US soldiers 'killed Afghan civilians for sport and collected fingers as trophies". London: The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/09/us-soldiers-afghan-civilians-fingers. Retrieved September 15, 2010. 
31. ^ 'Kill team' US platoon commander is convicted of murdering Afghan civilians | World news | The Guardian
32. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/us/calvin-gibbs-convicted-of-killing-civilians-in-afghanistan.html
33. ^ Murdering civilians for sport: army 'thrill killing' verdicts
34. ^ US soldier gets life sentence in Afghan killings
35. ^ Washingtonpost.com
36. ^ Washingtonpost.com
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38. ^ http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/05/26/1680876/admitted-killer-says-plot-included.html
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43. ^ JBLM soldier convicted of assault, conspiracy | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News
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45. ^ Seattletimes.nwsource.com
46. ^ "U.S. soldier gets 24 years for murdering Afghans". Reuters. 2011-03-24. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/24/us-soldier-crimes-idUSTRE72N0D320110324. 
47. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110323/ts_alt_afp/afghanistanunrestuscrimemilitary
48. ^ Hal Bernton (20 march 2011). "War changed soldier accused in Afghan killings, mother says". Seattle Times. http://o.seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014556068_morlock21m.html. Retrieved 2011-04-09. 
49. ^ theolympian.com
50. ^ Seattletimes.nwsource.com
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52. ^ Democracynow.org
53. ^ "Witness: Sergeant accused of masterminding Afghan murders boasted of killing unarmed man". Associated Press. July 22, 2011. http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/05d6781f4cf740e2bf0ae5220e5f78bc/US--Afghan-Probe/. 
54. ^ "Twelve U.S. soldiers face trial after Afghan civilians 'were killed for sport and their fingers collected as trophies'". London: Daily Mail. 2010-09-10. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/travelnews/article-1310540/Twelve-US-soldiers-face-trial-Afghan-civilians-killed-sport--whistle-blower-originally-ignored.html. Retrieved 2010-09-16. 
55. ^ Anderson, Jon (2010-09-13). "Allegations swirl around Lewis-McChord platoon". Arny Times. http://www.ucmjdefense.com/morlock2.html. Retrieved 22 October 2010. 
56. ^ Murphy, Kim (2011-08-05). "Soldier pleads guilty to manslaughter in Afghan's killing". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-soldier-plot-20110805,0,4050714.story. 
57. ^ "Soldier gets 3 years for part he played in deaths of Afghan civilians". CNN. 2011-08-06. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/08/05/washington.winfield/. 
58. ^ Bernton, Hal (2011-08-05). "3 years for Lewis-McChord soldier in war-crimes case". The Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2015830986_winfield06m.html. 
59. ^ AFP: US soldier pleads guilty in Afghan killing spree
60. ^ 'Kill Team' Soldier Gets Three Years in Prison - ABC News
61. ^ Spc. Michael Wagnon - Northwest McClatchy - bellinghamherald.com
62. ^ Las Vegas soldier charged with murder - News - ReviewJournal.com
63. ^ "Army Apologizes After Published Photos Show U.S. Soldiers Posing With Afghan Corpse". Fox News. 2011-03-21. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/03/21/army-apologizes-published-photos-soldiers-posing-afghan-corpse/#ixzz1HFo5eF00. 
64. ^ Army Official Statement, Soldiers Abuse Civilians in Afghanistan
65. ^ 'Let's Kill': Report Reveals Discipline Breakdown in Kill Team Brigade - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International
66. ^ "Slap on the wrist for 'aggressive' leader of rogue Afghanistan 'kill squad' as he's cleared of responsibility for atrocities". Daily Mail (London). 2011-04-06. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1373881/Agressive-commander-Colonel-Harry-D-Tunnell-U-S-army-Afghanistan-kill-squad-cleared-responsibility-atrocities.html. 
67. ^ Daily brief: British relations with Pakistan "unbreakable": Cameron | The AfPak Channel
68. ^ Wheels grinding on FOIA requests for “kill team” reports | FOB Tacoma - The News Tribune

Further reading

• A Beast in the Heart of Every Fighting Man New York Times

External links

• Video - SPIEGEL TV's 'Kill Team' Documentary
• Images - of the soldiers posing with the corpses released by Der Spiegel.
• The Kill Team Photos published by The Rolling Stone
• First US Soldier of Alleged "Kill Team" Faces Military Tribunal for War Crimes - video report by Democracy Now!