09-23-2003, 07:41 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Junkie
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Did the USA allow 3,000 prisoners to be massacred?
Interesting article about the events leading up to the prison riot where CIA agent Mike Spahn was killed and John Lindh was injured.
http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/03/09/23_doran.html
too big to paste the whole thing but here's the first question:
Quote:
BUZZFLASH: There are several events leading up the massacre that our readers should understand before we get into the more troubling issues in your film. Can you give us some history and background in Afghanistan and how you got involved in making a documentary about this tragedy?
JAMIE DORAN: In early December of 2001, I was a news reporter covering the war, or the so-called war, in Afghanistan. In early December, I was at the opening of the Freedom Bridge or Friendship Bridge –- depending on whose interpretation -- between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. This is a major event because the bridge had been closed for all those years during Taliban rule. And of course, that meant that all the various war lords sent their people to give themselves representation -- you know there’s a kind of territorial approach to everything that happens in Afghanistan.
Anyone who knows Afghanistan knows that the various ethnic groups don't exactly go out to dinner together. They would probably rather blow each other’s brains out. And what I heard from two different ethnic groups –- two different warlord soldiers -– was that American soldiers had been breaking the necks of Taliban prisoners. Now this obviously was, you know, of interest to me because I thought it needed some investigation. So I began my investigation, first of all, to try and find out was there any basis to it, and secondly, to actually employ a full-time researcher on the job to actually do the work, because I couldn't spend my whole time in Afghanistan. It ended up that I actually spent an enormous time there, but that was unexpected.
Let’s go through some of the background. 8,000 Taliban soldiers had given themselves up at the siege of Kunduz, when the Northern alliance surrounded the town and Taliban soldiers were effectively stuck inside. Then we know that about 470 soldiers decided not to surrender and had gone off on their own to fight a "last stand" near Mazar-I-Sharif – they were all killed in the battle.
The rest of the surrendered Taliban –- about 7,500 -- were sent to a prison at Kalai Janghi including John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban. Kalai Janghi was an old 19th century fortress that was now being used as a prison. At the Kalai Janghi prison of course the riots broke out.
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