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Morlock to testify against fellow ‘kill team’ troops
Trophy photos showing US soldiers with murdered Afghans likely to provoke backlash
A US Army soldier is to testify against the comrades with whom he allegedly planned and carried out the murders of Afghan civilians. The news comes as Nato forces brace themselves for a backlash in Afghanistan following the publication of graphic photographs of US soldiers posing with the people they allegedly killed.
Corporal Jeremy Morlock has confessed to three murders. In January 2010 he threw a grenade at a boy before opening fire along with other members of his squad. He has also admitted to murders in February and May 2010.
On each occasion the crime was carefully planned, covered up and photographs taken. Morlock is said to have distributed the trophy photographs freely and widely.
Under a plea bargain which is yet to be approved by a judge, Morlock would receive a 24-year prison sentence in return for testifying against other members of a so-called "kill team" in a court martial being held at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.
Besides Morlock, four others are accused of premeditated murder and face the death penalty or a life sentence if found guilty. Seven other soldiers are charged with helping to cover up the offences.
Photographs of the soldiers - including Morlock - posing with the dead bodies of the civilians they allegedly murdered were published in the German magazine Der Spiegel on Sunday and are now widely available on the internet.
The magazine quotes a Facebook chat between one of the accused, 21-year-old Adam Winfield, and his father. Winfield describes the January 2010 incident, saying: "They made it look like the guy threw a grenade at them and mowed him down."
The publication of the photographs, which had been prevented in the United States by a court order, prompted the US Army to release a statement apologising for the behaviour of the team, which it described as "repugnant to us as human beings and contrary to the standards and values of the United States Army".
It is feared the photographs will cause a wave of angry protests in Afghanistan as they become more widely distributed over the internet - and possibly provoke attacks on Nato forces. ·
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What is it about corporals? Bradley Manning as been found guilty without trial and now Corporal Jeremy Morlock is being tried. I wonder if any more trials are likely to happen in response to the thousands of murders in Afghanistan and Iraq as reported by Wikileaks?
Speak for yourself Smite. The USA doesn't love to fight. It is the Zionist bankers that control this shell of a country. These crimes are an on going thing. They have been for years.
It's true the USA loves to fight. The reason they are the "good guys" is that more-often-than-not they are fighting for a noble cause. Whose help were Libyans pleading for when Gaddafi was bearing down on them?
It's true that we currently have a weak willed president (Our Neville Chamberlain) , who leads without resolve but that is not an issue an election cannot resolve.
The crimes of these men will be punished and we will do what we can to minimize this type of event in the future. That's because we strive to be good. We strive even in war to minimize civilian casualties.
"Reougnant"? Sounds to me like "Business as usual" by the nation whose track record makes them the most viciously spiteful in the world. From General Sherman's "March to the sea" to the massacre of civilians in VietNam and beyond... the USA has a "rap sheet" that stretches back well over a century. They're "the good guys" by definition, so anyone who has the temerity to actually OPPOSE them "deserves whatever they get". Or, at least, that seems to be the way they behave.