23. US Covers up Afghan Massacre

Although the March 2012 massacre of sixteen unarmed Afghan civilians, nine of whom were children, received a great deal of news coverage, independent news sources have focused on whether one US solider acting alone—as US officials have insisted—or multiple US soldiers—as Afghan witnesses and Afghan President Hamid Karzai contend—bear direct responsibility for the killings. These reports highlight the fundamental responsibility of US high military command, including President Obama, for the crimes committed by its troops.

Censored News Cluster: Human Costs of War and Violence

Al-Akhbar, “More than One US Soldier Involved in Massacre: Afghan President,” Al-Akhbar English, March 16, 2012, http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/multiple-soldiers-involved-killing-afghan-civilians-afghan-president.

James Petras, “The Massacre of the Afghan 17 and the Obama Cover-Up,” Information Clearing House, March 27, 2012,http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30922.htm.

http://www.mediafreedominternational.org/2012/03/24/afghan-president-us-soldier-did-not-act-alone-in-massacre-of-16-civilians/sored — The News that Didn't Make the News and Why

Project Censored — The News that Didn't Make the News and Why

25. Evidence Points to Guantánamo Dryboarding

In June 2006, three Guantánamo prisoners were found dead in their cells, hanging from what appeared to be makeshift nooses. Although the Department of Defense declared the deaths suicides, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) inquiry found evidence inconsistent with suicide—including the fact that the prisoners’ hands were bound behind their backs. The NCIS evidence suggests that the prisoners died from lethal interrogations that included dryboarding, a technique using controlled suffocation.

Censored News Cluster: Human Costs of War and Violence

Almerindo Ojeda, “Death in Guantánamo: Suicide or Dry Boarding?” Truthout, November 3, 2011, http://www.truth-out.org/death-guantanamo-suicide-or-dryboarding/1320182714.

Jeffrey Kaye, “Citing Truthout Report, UN Special Rapporteur ‘Looking Into’ Guantanamo ‘Suicides,’” Truthout, March 27, 2012, http://truth-out.org/news/item/8112-citing-truthout-report-un-special-rapporteur-looking-into-guantanamo-suicides.

http://www.mediafreedominternational.org/2011/11/21/guantanamo-suicides-ncis-evidence-points-to-dryboarding/

Student Researcher: Dane Steffy (Sonoma State University)

Faculty Evaluator: Peter Phillips (Sonoma State University)