Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20150911

September 11 attacks, we look at a scandal growing in afghanistan. Did u. S. Military cover up a massacre by u. S. Special forces of afghan civilians . Many of these cases, it has been documented recently in a report, there is just no followup whatsoever with clear evidence of the violation of laws. It is no surprise u. S. Military sort of investigates itself and responsible for holding itself accountable. Amy we will speak with awardwinning journalist matt aikins. All of that and more coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In a major Foreign Policy victory for president obama, republicans in the senate failed to secure enough votes thursday to derail the iran nuclear agreement. The senate voted against clearing the way for a debate of the bill in a 58 to 42 vote, less than the 60 votes needed to advance a resolution of disapproval. Four democrats voted against the deal new york senator charles schumer, maryland senator benjamin cardin, new jersey senator Robert Menendez, and West Virginia senator joe manchin. After the vote, Senate Republican leader Mitch Mcconnell vowed to continue to fight against the deal, a move some say is a futile act of political posturing. Well have more on the Iran Nuclear Deal after headlines. The Obama Administration has agreed to accept at least 10,000 Syrian Refugees over the next year, an increase that falls far short of figures called for by lawmakers and International Aid organizations. The United States has resettled fewer than 1500 syrians since the conflict began. At least four million syrians are displaced outside syrias borders. The International Rescue committee, has called on the United States to take in at least 65,000 refugees from syria a demand reiterated by democratic president ial candidate Martin Omalley and more than 100,000 americans who signed a handful of petitions in recent days. The u. N. General assembly voted overwhelmingly on thursday to approve the palestinians to fly their flag outside the u. N. Headquarters. The resolution, which allows socalled observer states to fly their flags, was cosponsored by more than 50 countries. Palestine became the second observer state in 2012, joining the vatican. Only eight countries voted against thursdays resolution, including the United States, israel, canada, and australia. Riyad mansour, Palestinian Ambassador to the united nations, spoke after the vote. Todays vote is a reaffirmation of the legitimacy of the National Aspirations of the palestinian people, of their existence among the nations of the world and the right to some determination, to be a free people in control of their lives in destiny in their own independent states. Amy in news from the campaign trail, a new national cnn poll shows democratic president ial candidate Bernie Sanders is within 10 points of his rival Hillary Clinton, as support for the former secretary of state continues to erode. The survey released thursday shows 37 support for clinton, compared to 27 for sanders. Speaking to cnn after the poll, sanders outlined the differences beeen himself and Hillary Clinton. I voted against the war in iraq. I believe over a period of years we should raise the minimum wage to 15 an hour, reestablish glasssteagall to start breaking up these large Financial Institutions on wall street. I am very opposed to our current trade policies and helping to lead the effort against the transpacific partnership. The secretary has not made a decision on that. Im strongly against the Keystone Pipeline because i think we need to radically transform our energy system. The secretary has not made a statement on that as well. Amy meanwhile, a new poll shows Bernie Sanders leading Hillary Clinton and i was for the first time. A new abc whole showed on sunday nbc poll, also showed sanders with a nine point lead and clinton in hampshire. Meanwhile, Vice President joe biden received 20 of the vote in the most recent cnn poll, despite having not formally announced he is running for president. Speaking on the late show with Stephen Colbert thursday night, biden cast doubt on whether he will run. I would be lying if i said i knew i was there. Im being completely honest. View, has a right, in my to seek that office unless theyre willing to give it 110 of who they are. Amy Hillary Clinton faces another round of scrutiny after a former staffer who worked on her personal email server chose to plead the fifth during a closeddoor deposition to the House Select Committee on benghazi thursday. The committee has also been probing clintons email use while she served as secretary of state. Bryan pagliano was an i. T. Staffer for the state department whom clinton paid to help maintain her private server. Today, people are congregating for ceremonies in new york city, pennsylvania, and washington, d. C. , to mark the 14th anniversary of 9 11 terror attacks. The commemoration comes after last months death of marcy borders, the former bank of america legal assistant who became known as the dust lady after a photographer snapped a picture of her engulfed in dust as the twin towers began to fall. Borders died of stomach cancer, which she believed was linketo the ash inhaled on 9 11. She was 42 years old. Meanwhile, in chile, people are marking the 42nd anniversary of its own 9 11. On september 11, 1973, democratically elected president Salvador Allende died in the palace in a u. S. Backed coup, ushering in 17 years of brutal dictatorship under augusto pinochet. In yemen, local Officials Say a u. S. Drone strike has killed four people after it hit a vehicle in southeastern yemen wednesday. Officials are describing the victims as suspected alqaeda members. A Venezuelan Court has ordered Opposition Leader Leopoldo Lopez be jailed for almost 14 years. Lopez was found guilty of inciting violence during street protests in early 2014 during antigovernment protests, which left more than 40 people dead. Scientists have discovered a new species of human ancestors in a cave in south africa. The species name is homo naledi. Naledi means star in the local sesotho language. Scientists say it appears that the species buried its dead. The bones were discovered inside an underground cave in an unesco World Heritage site called the cradle of humankind. The Nonprofit National Geographic Society has sold its flagship magazine and other media assets to Rupert Murdochs 21st century fox for 725 million. The deal will turn the nonprofit magazine into a commercial operation. Rupert murdoch has long come under fire for denying the impact of human activity on Climate Change. A study published in 2014 by the union of concerned scientists argued more than 70 of foxs Climate Change coverage was misleading. In new york, a new federal lawsuit claims more than a dozen Corrections Officers are responsible for the death of Samuel Harrell, a 30yearold africanamerican man who died in april after as many as 20 Corrections Officers kicked, punched and threw him down a flight of stairs while he was incarcerated at the Fishkill Correctional Facility in beacon, new york. Harrell was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The group of the officers who assaulted harrell are known as the beat up squad. Samuel harrells father, Samuel Harrell sr. , spoke about his sons death at a press conference wednesday. This was a crime, a criminal act, a homicide that took the life of my son. Instead of getting help for him at that time, [indiscernible] intern i lost a son. Amy the lawsuit comes as a former Fishkill Correctional Facility inmate has spoken out to the New York Times about seeing harrells body falling down a flight of stairs after the beating. Lucas renfrow says he was later harassed by guards and placed in solitary confinement. 28 people have been arrested after forming a human barricade at a Natural Gas Storage facility in upstate new york to protest plans by Crestwood Midstream to expand gas storage in abandoned salt caverns at seneca lake, a Drinking Water source for 100,000 people. People have been arrested in the 400 ongoing campaign. The crowd held a sevenfoottall replica of pope francis recent encyclical letter on Climate Change and signs reading pope francis, we hear you. And African American tennis star james blake has spoken out about being slammed to the ground by five Undercover Police officers as he stood outside his Manhattan Hotel wednesday afternoon. Blake describes being tackled by a plain clothes Police Officers whom he initially thought was an Old High School friend he didnt recognize. He says he was cuffed on the ground for at least 15 minutes until one of the officers recognized him. The police say they had mistaken identified blake as a suspect in a case of credit card fraud. Following the arrest, one of the officers appears to have attempted to cover up the incident by failing to record the stop in the nypd logs. Nypd Police Commissioner bill bratton said thursday the arrest should not have happened. We are very interested in speaking with mr. Blake, and hope to hear back from him to extend an apology for the experience he encountered. It should not have happened. Concerns i have about what eyewitness on the video as well as whatever seemed by chief resnik, the inappropriateness of the amount of force that was used during the arrest. Amy at least one officer has been placed on administrative desk duty after the incident. Speaking on Good Morning America thursday, blake said believes the police need to be held accountable. When you police with reckless abandon, you need to be held accountable. I think im, hopefully, going to let people know that some of them need to be held accountable. These that are doing police work the wrong way need to pay for those actions and be shown it at the door or whatever they need to do to punish them. Amy and those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. Nermeen welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. In a major Foreign Policy victory for president obama, republicans in the senate failed to secure enough votes thursday to derail the iran nuclear agreement. The senate voted against clearing the way for a debate of the bill in a 58 to 42 vote, less than the 60 votes needed to advance a resolution of disapproval. Maryland senator barbara mikulski, who last week became the decisive vote backing the president explained her support , for the agreement. The conditions for the lifting of the sanctions are strict and verifiable, and the lifting of the sanctions though comes more quickly than i would like i believe the snapback could work. But after looking at all of the alternatives, which i believe have limited efficacy, i want to declare that i will support the agreement. Amy four democrats joined republicans in opposing the iran deal Chuck Schumer of new york, ben cardin of maryland, joe manchin of West Virginia, and Robert Menendez of new jersey. View, the overall sanctions relief being provided given the iranians understanding of restrictions on the reauthorization of sanctions, along with the lifting of the arms and missile embargo well before iranian complaints over years is established, leaves us in a weaker position. To me, is unaccountable. Amy after the vote, Senate Republican leader Mitch Mcconnell vowed to continue to fight against the deal, a move against the deal. Well, for more on the political will that what it means, we turn to reza marashi. He is the Research Director at the National Iranian american council. Welcome to democracy now talk about the significance of what took place yesterday on the senate floor. At the greek and classify what happened yesterday on the senate floor is a firstround knockout for president obama and the american people. At the end of the day, because the iran deal isnt a treaty, it did not technically require any ratification by the senate or the house of representatives, for that matter. But they inserted themselves into the diplomatic process and the president decided he would rather fight this fight once the deal was done as opposed to back in may when they inserted themselves in the process. It was a calculated risk that he took, but precisely because the president knew that he had a war weary population on his side in the United States the preferred the use of diplomacy over the use of war, and he tabulated correctly. It is our deeply them a significant foreignpolicy achievement in at least a generation. Talk aboutuld you some of the democrats that initially opposed the deal and came around to it . I think in the house and senate, there were a variety of democrats that were, the very least, skeptical if not outright hostile, to the deal. But part of the president s calculated gamble and not only getting the deal done, but bringing it back to washington, d. C. , was that he was able to provide classified briefings to any member of congress and the house or senate that wanted to learn about any aspects of this deal, including the deal between iran and the iaea, which the u. S. Is not party to because the iaea is a separate international institution. Those briefings took place from the intelligence community, from american negotiators, and even from leaders and diplomats from our allies in europe, it became increasingly clear to a variety of democrats across the spectrum that this deal was not only a good deal, but it was light years better than any of the alternatives because, frankly, there is no alternative except war. Amy can you comment on the power of aipac right now . They and Benjamin Netanyahu, aipac orton how much, was it, tens of millions of dollars to fight this . 30 million to fight this . What this means for aipac, the chief lobbying arm for the israeli government, but also for the Prime Minister. While he spoke out fiercely against this deal, afterwards, using to just go on to other business. That is a great question, amy. I think there is a twopart answer. On the one hand, for aipac, make no mistake, this is a huge blow not only to the credibility, but to this veneer of invincibility theyve had for quite some time. The reality of the situation is that if you go against a sitting american president and you go against the preferences, the vast majority of the american people, youre not only going to be fighting an uphill battle, but youll be fighting a losing battle. And it is not any surprise to me ive heard from sources inside the u. S. Government that aipac went to Benjamin Netanyahu before the deal was even being fought over in congress after got done, and they told him point blank, we dont have the votes to defeat it. The Prime Minister said, do it anyway. That speaks volumes about the significant blow that aipac has suffered and the fact that, frankly, theyre not representing the majority of views within the Jewish American diaspora because most Jewish Americans were staunchly in favor of using diplomacy and supporting this deal is the best way to ensure we dont have a war or an iranian bomb. As a pertains to Prime Minister netanyahu, unfortunately, because there is very little willingness on the part of u. S. Government officials, to a greater extent, western government officials outside the u. S. , very little willingness to hold the israeli Prime Minister accountable, frankly, for anything you does whether it is the palestinians, his insertion into american domestic policy, that iranian issue cnooc or issue. Because there is very little account ability, a lot of israelis dont see weather Prime Minister is doing is a bad thing, we know that to be true because the man just got reelected. Until theres some kind of accountability being shown, youre not going to see any kind of shift within the israeli polity body politics. Nermeen reza marashi, could you also explain how this deal has been received in iran . Is our great deal of opposition there as well . Very little opposition. It does exist but the majority of folks opposing the still inside iran are cut from the same political and social cloth as the people who supported the policies of former president , did a shot. Those people were trounced in the 2013 president ial election inside iran. I would argue a very diverse socioeconomic slot of Iranian Society support the nuclear deal for variety of reasons. The most Important Reasons is because they want to be reintegrated politically and economically with the rest of the world and they what the dignity and respect associated with irans passport to return, because it certainly took a hit ahmadinejad. Nt when we look at civil society, human rights and democracy, defenders, they overwhelmingly support the deal because they think deescalating foreign tensions, external tensions provides the greatest total for actually addressing the internal shortcomings in tensions that exist inside of a ram between state and society. Almost across the board support inside iran for this deal is quite strong. Amy Hillary Clinton gave a Foreign Policy speech at the Brookings Institution on wednesday. She spoke primarily about her support for the Iran Nuclear Deal and also addressed her support on strengthening israel. I will deepen americas unshakable commitment to israels security, including our longstanding tradition of guaranteeing israels qualitative military edge. I will increase support for israeli rocket and missile defenses and for intelligence sharing. I will sell israel the most sophisticated Fighter Aircraft ever developed, the f35. We will Work Together to develop and implement better tunnel Detection Technology to prevent arms length smuggling and kidnapping, as well as the strong as possible as a living system for northern israel, which has been subjected to has taxlaw has below has a for years. Amy can you talk about what post Obama Presidency will look like in regards to the middle east, and also, what the Iran Nuclear Deal, where he goes from here . Great questions. First and foremost, i get Hillary Clinton at a because she did not have to come out and support obamas iran deal, the deal that he himself was a driving force behind, but she did. So i think that goes well for the future. The flipside of this is, of course, a lot of what she just said in a soundbite that you played about supporting israel is not unique to her. This is something that pretty much every president ial candidate that is viable for the upcoming election in 2016, they said the exact same thing. A lot of people on the right from the Republican Party would go even further. So she is not unique in that regard. Problem, frankly, hasnt been in washington. The problem has been in israel, and whatever Prime Minister in israel who hasnt been willing to meet us halfway on a variety of issues. This is not just my opinion. You can do a quick Google Search and see the degree to which he has gone to really embarrass the sitting president. Theres no reason to believe it would be any different for whoever comes after. At what couldok potentially come in 2016, not just with regards to u. S. Israel relations, but americas role in relations with the middle east broadly conceived, it is important to remember whether we are talking about republicans or democrats, first and president have a propensity to be risk averse. On foreign and domestic policy, for that matter. Theyre worried about getting reelected. President obama is a great example of that. He is been much more forward leaning and as a result, much more successful, in a second term, especially in the middle east, then in his first term. Leaders have to be willing to take risks for peace, and that is why was able to achieve this iran deal. Our ability to myers in the middle east and find a greater level of stability that allows us to achieve not just our interest but also our values is going to be predicated on shifting the paradigm more toward the path that obama has pursued second term and leaving old, stale, and largely failed ideas of the past exactly where they belong, which is in the past. Amy reza marashi, thank you for being with us Research Director , at the National Iranian american council. When we come back, what is happening in turkey . An unprecedented crackdown, are we talking about a possible civil war . Then we look at possible war crimes in afghanistan. U. S. Soldiers there. We will speak with an awardwinning journalist who uncovered the story. Stay with us. [music break] amy syrian tears, by khalil ghadri. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. Nermeen we turn now to turkey where a leading Opposition Political Party has accused turkeys rulers of pushing the country towards civil war ahead of novembers elections. Over the past week, hundreds of offices of the opposition hdp or Peoples Democratic party have been attacked, many were set ablaze. The office of the independent hurriyet newspaper was also attacked. Meanwhile, the predominantly kurdish city of cizre remains under military curfew. 24 hour residents report facing a humanitarian crisis with food and water shortages. Phone lines have also been cut to the city and the media has been blocked access. Opposition politicians, who have been stopped from reaching the city have accused turkish , Security Forces of having a shoot to kill policy. Local residents say 21 civilians have died. Turkish authorities have disputed that claim saying 30 militants had been killed in the city. Amy tensions in turkey have escalated since june when the ruling akp party lost its parliamentary majority in a major defeat for president recep tayyip erdogan. The opposition hdp or Peoples Democratic party won 13 seats and secured seats in parliament for the first time. Since then, hostilities between turkish Security Forces and kurdish militants have sharply escalated. Hundreds of people have been killed including dozens of , security personnel in attacks by the pkk or kurdistan worker party. In july, turkey began an air campaign against camps run by the pkk in Northern Iraq even. Iraq. The fighting has shattered a Peace Process launched to end a conflict that had killed more than 40,000 people since 1984. To talk more about turkey we are going to turn to several guests. In istanbul, where joined by ayse berktay, a member of the hdp Party Assembly. In new york, were joined by Zeynep Gambetti, this is a professor of political theory at Bogazici University in istanbul, on thursday evening, she helped organize a demonstration at Columbia University in solidarity with the kurds in turkey and against the turkish government attack. Gambetti coedited the books, the kurdish issue in turkey a spatial perspective and rhetorics of insecurity belonging and violence in the neoliberal era. Welcome to democracy now it is great to have you with us, professor. Start off by explaining, for people who hardly even know where turkey is, what is happening right now . How serious is this . Thank you for having me, because this is very serious. We are very much concerned, that is why with kelly cup the workshop i am in now in new york, felt the need to circulate the news and attract International Attention because it is one of the worst crisis the country is going through, i believe. Were going toward civil war, as you are saying. The erdogan government, actually, the establishment, lets say, has hijacked legitimate elections and has refused to go by the democratic mandate. What they did was, june 7, what happened that we ended up, has only been three months that amy since the elections. Since the elections that brought in the hdp, which is a party that grouped different forces together, so it is not just a kurdish party, a groups those ethnic groups, but also social groups, the lgbt, the workers, that did not have a voice in parliament, it actually did win percentage of the vote and had 80 deputies in parliament which would change the whole arithmetics and parliament, which means the hdp lost the majority. What happened is, according to the constitution, the party with the most votes should have gone on a round of organizations to form a coalition government. The the Prime Minister of akp did not do is actually take these negotiations seriously and offer real chances for the other parties to get together to form the coalition. President 45 days, erdogan actually called for new elections. We dont have a government. There is no stability. And in the meantime, what happened also was that the akp called off the Peace Process, which was a difficult one, which was going on for years between the kurdish separatist militants and the government. The pkk, which is the guerrilla toanization, also decided sort of take up arms and began to hit army and police divisions. The Armed Conflict is escalating. Nermeen i would like to bring in ayse berktay who joins us from istanbul. She is a Party Assembly member. Could you talk about what the situation is there any simple . In istanbul, what you hear of the besieged city that politicians have been prevented from entering . And the fact that hdp remains associated with the pkk, licorice and workers party, which is, of course, according to the turkish government as well as the u. S. Government, a terrorist organization . Hello. Tonks for this opportunity let us have our voice heard in other parts of the world. We need it very much, especially in these days. If we start with what is pening in cizre, the news i could not let the cell phone i kept holding it in my hand and friends had to say, put it away. It is because everything happens every minute in cizre. September,ourth of it is under curfew. It is not just curfew, it is under siege. There is a siege of tanks and military special operations teams around the city blocking all injury and a partner from the city. And departure from the city. And the roads that pass by the city. There is a whole line of thousands of cars. Times, it is open for one hour and everyone rushes along to other cities and passing by the highway. Is, what their blocking the fact their blocking and not anything be heard about what is happening in that, makes one understand i mean, you can get that they people you to hear outside hear about what is going on in there, what theyre doing in their. Of course, theres some connections with internet at times and i dont know, some ways of reaching inklings of just half anknow our ago, on the second or third hdpve deputies deputies inside the city after a long struggle, they have to fight the police, literally. They were able to walk in those days. Them just said half an hour ago, there is violent explosion that took place next to us and we cant go out. There is curfew. And the penalty, normal penalty for curfew and breaking the curfew is youll have to pay a 100 euro fine. But today, you get shot. You have snipers and arms carriers all around the city, but are blocked from entering , the streetsoods of the neighborhoods. They cannot go in there. They want to go in there. And people are keeping them out of there because they know once they get in, it will be a massacre. It isut snipers miles from the area around this. Located near the mosques. No longer we have the call to prayer in cizre. There are snipers located around the hills and Tall Buildings around his neighborhoods. Three out of the 4 there are four neighborhoods in cizre and 130,000 People Living there. And three out of these four neighborhoods have been blocked from any access from outside. The other neighborhood is filled with all the special operations teams. This is the situation. We have civilian deaths. Civilians dying in cizre, and the number is now 22. And many of them are children who are playing outside. Amy i want to go to professor Zeynep Gambetti for one minute and ask you about the significance of cizre. Were talking about southeastern turkey and it is located at the border of syria just to the northwest of the turkish serineiraqi try point where they all come together. So the significance of this, why this siege is happening in cizre , and other attacks on hdp as w . Of course. I was going to say before cizre, the were several other towns that had been under siege in the same way, but they stayed under seizure for three days whereas cizre is now in the 8th day. It is situated a Strategic Point and it is sort of on the route of the passage toward syria and iraq of the kurdish population, teams,o off of medical peace workers, of those in kobani, which is an independent region that the kurds have saved from the hands of isis, and syria were there basically practicing a less autonomous government. So it is at a Strategic Point. , youre a berktay member of the hdp. Can you explain what it is . It is not just a party of kurds. Explain how it came together. We only have about a minute. Hdp is a very democratic party. It is bringing together armenians and arabs and turks all the different People Living in turkey, a different believes in different social groups, women, into bt, villagers, workers lgbt, villagers, workers, government off not government, but people working for the state like teachers. It is an organization with the philosophy of making sure to represent all the different voices of the country who have not been heard until now. To allow space in the political structure and in the political system, allow space and voice and will for those who have not been heard until now. And to find a democratic solution to problems of turkey, to achieve democratization of and not to the rule of the majority, who gets the majority in the election. It is not just a problem of majority ruling as one party majority, but we believe in a system, decentralized system as opposed to the very centralized preferences of the turkish system. And we got together all these different groups the kurdish party, and all the different groups for socialist party and people who are rulest the authoritarian akp, and also the antireligious [indiscernible] freedom ofg more all. N and organization for i mean, if you look for a reference, nermeen we only have a minute, and i would like to ask zeynep quickly before we conclude, how turkeys antiterror laws have been used by the erdogan government in the present crisis, and quickly, what the kurdish role in fighting the Islamic State in syria and iraq, how that has played a role in how erdogan is responding . Antilaws were more to akoni and then the patriot act draconian than the patriot act in the u. S. , so it basically criminalizes opposition and criminalizes critique, criminalizes demonstration. So they can be used in very bad ways. Secondly, your question concerning does what was it again . Nermeen the kurdish role in fighting the Islamic State. The kurds that are affiliated , a lot of those that are affiliated with the federal kurdish government in iraq, are doing a very good job. And there really wants holding out against isis in syria. They are the ones who have experienced fighting syria. And the u. S. Knows that, actually, that they need these kurd to confront s amy we will continue to follow this story. Professor Zeynep Gambetti from a symbol joining us here and, ayse berktay, thank you for joining us from a symbol of a member of hdp party. We will be back in a moment. [music break] amy masters of war, sung by odetta. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. States ishe united marking the 14th anniversary of the september 11 attacks today. Three weeks after the World Trade Center and pentagon were attacked, he was launched airstrikes in afghanistan beginning what would become the longest war in american history. Reopenedtary recently a criminal investigation into some of the most serious allegations against u. S. Forces in afghanistan since 2001, involving the murder of at least 17 afghan men in wardak province, west of kabul in 2012 and 2013. Eight afghans were killed during u. S. Military operations, while several disappeared after having been arrested by special forces in nerkh, a wardak district. Their bodies were later uncovered just outside the u. S. Base in the area. Afghan military investigators had concluded at the time that a u. S. Special forces unit known as the ateam was responsible. The u. S. Military command in afghanistan conducted multiple investigations, each of which exonerated the unit. Amy for the first time, one of the afghan men detained by u. S. Special forces has decided to speak out on camera. His name is qandi. He was held for nearly a year then released without charge. They came to my house and arrested me in front of my guests. They brought me straight to the Afghan Army Base and from there, they took me to the american base. They took me along to a cell inside the base made of plywood like they use for doors. Amy that video was produced by Matthieu Aikins who first reported on the massacre in afghanistan and 2013 Rolling Stone article headlined the , ateam killings. His latest piece for the nations headlined u. S. Special u. S. Special forces may have , gone on a murder spree in afghanistan did the army cover it up exposed was the have been these allegations, protest by locals saying this mysterious u. S. Army unit and its translators were killing people and torturing them, but the dean of special it was shrouded in a lot of mystery. U. S. Military denied and exonerated themselves. What we did was we went in and did an interview and eventually tracked down one of the translators for this unit had been arrested and put an afghan prison. By doing that, we found out what unit was. Am that had been based there. Amy describe what happened to qandi and his connection. Qandi was picked up by u. S. Forces in november 2012. He was one of many men who were rounded up by this unit. Everything he says after that is his own testimony, but it is consistent with many other witnesses we also spoke to. He says he was taken to this space, accused of being an , beatent and tortured with cables, sexual torture, subjected to mock drownings, threatened with death many times. What is interesting is he was actually in bagram prison, so we spent 45 days their them was transferred to bagram. We did this investigation and he was not available, was in bagram, but he said to the red cross and his relatives that witnessed visited him, that he witnessed murders, had seen some of the disappeared men beaten to death by the special forces. After he was released a year later without charges from bagram, we tracked him down and got his story. What he told us was pretty horrific. Nermeen i would to go to another part of the interview athq, where he talks about man. N that was an excerpt from Matthieu Aikins. Could you talk about what qandi says, he was picked up by special forces, when he says they that is who he is referring to, specifically, was at the ateam . You point out in the piece that what happened in nerkh, the killings of standout in the course of the invasion, despite the us military was often accused of human rights abuses, so what was it about what happened there that establishes it from past such incidents . Qandi identified the unit as a special forces unit based at the time in nerkh. Transferredquently to bagram, so they would have records of who picked him up. As for this incident itself and white stands out in the war that is marked with so many war , i think are three reasons. First, the gravity of what happened. Were talking about torture and murder of at least 17 people, disappearances come often people rounded up in broad daylight. Second, were not talking about some deranged soldier. Were not talking about Sergeant Robert bales who went crazy and killed afghan civilians in the course of a night, were talking about an elite u. S. Military unit that conducted this over a of time as part of their operations. Finally, the question of why u. S. Military to three investigations without finding anything, exonerating itself, given that everything so sick really has come to light through reports like my own, to the red cross investigation, through the u. N. Investigation as well as now there is a criminal investigation how could they have done three investigations and not found anything without someone covering it up . Amy lets turn to another part of the interview that you did with qandi where he describes how he was transferred to bagram air base. Amy that was a neck to from the video produced by Matthieu Aikins for the nation. As he describes what happened to him when he was brought to bagram. This is very official. This is all on the record. The u. S. Was running this race and the investigations were talking about of the ateam, this was during the george bush just this wasnt during the george bush era of it well into the Obama Administration. Why now, a few years later, have they reopened this investigation . That is a very good question. We dont know at the moment why you reopened, but in the case review process that sort of goes up the chain of command, they thought the original investigation overlooked one thing and needed a second look. So in that sense, it is kind of encouraging, at least the process isnt dead. And many of these cases that been documented, in a recent Amnesty International report, theres no followup whatsoever when there is clear evidence of violations of laws by u. S. Forces. It is does surprise, because the military sort of investigate itself and responsible for holding itself accountable, not an independent prosecutorial mechanism within the military justice system. It is controlled by the commanders of the men who are basically being charged. Nermeen Amnesty International in that report raises some concerns and has issued a statement recently after they said this case was going to be reopened, but it is still the military that is investigating the case. So the same concerns that existed before exist now. In other words, why wouldnt they simply exonerate the team again . Why cant the military be tried by a civilian court . Because that is just not how the laws of the United States work. The military has its own jurisdiction over violations come along the war. So in this case, it is up to the military. There is sort of an independent criminal investigation command handling this and it is not like theyre going to just cover this up at this level, but two years into it, the evidence has gone cold in a lot of cases and you have to wonder when i did this original report, which came out in the end of 2013, none of the witnesses that i had spoken byhad ever been interviewed u. S. Military investigators. It wasnt until that winter that they finally began talking to people, almost a year after it happened. Nermeen i want to ask you about the one person who had been prosecuted in connection with these killings. Youre one of the few journalists or perhaps the only one who has met him. Can you talk about this person . He was summoned who came up really early on in these incidents. He was accused by locals of torturing and executing people, then he sort of fled. A video emerged of him beating a man whose body showed earlier, a body found outside the special forces base. Andas a figure of mystery the beginning. The u. S. Military really disavowed him and said he wasnt an actual paid interpreter and supposedly a special forces team said, no, he escaped and we dont know anything about him. When he was arrested later on by the Afghan Intelligence service at the prison, that is when i met with him. He told me he of and working multiple tours with the u. S. Military as a paid interpreter and carried a weapon with them and he blamed the killings and the torture on the special forces guys. He said he did not do it, even though many witnesses say he did. He named specific members of the special forces teams, specific soldiers and said, no, they are responsible. He is the only person really convicted to date in connection with the incident and he has placed the blame on the americans he worked for. Nermeen and he received 20 years in prison . 20 years in prison for treason, which is interesting, rather than murder or these alleged crimes. I think the Afghan Government does not want to go much deeper into it, want to kind of shove it under the corner. Amy and wouldnt the u. S. Government want him put away as well since he has information . Transferred to bagram, which is under afghan control now. If they wanted to get information from him or meet with him, it would be easy to do so. Amy by your estimation, how many people died as a result of the ateam killings . We know of at least 17 individuals by name. Nermeen what do you think this says about the elite special forces like the ateam and how they operated in afghanistan . Do you think it is likely amnesty raised the question of whether there are many more incidents like this other abuses by the u. S. Military that we may or may not know of. What happened is shockingly extreme. But when i talked to the dust other translators who knew him in the same unit, said he had killed before with the same unit, killed prisoners. I think this case raises very series questions about what kind of oversight and account ability there are for these elite units that are working out in remote and dangerous areas on their own that have been through eight or nine or 10 deployments, some of the most brutal parts of afghanistan, whether or not this kind of torture and extended interrogations and just the practices in this case are in fact more widespread than we would like to know. Amy where is the ateam now . As far as i know, theyre back at fort bragg him of the home of the special forces. Nermeen for the names of the officers or soldiers named, are they public . We decided to go public with a few of the names who are named specifically by people who helped held key positions in the group. We were asked not to publish their names. But their Civil Servants. Desperate their Civil Servants and we felt in this case it was he central for purposes of account ability to name the key members. Nermeen what is the best outcome of this reopened investigation . The best outcome would be a transparent and accountable process. So whateveyoyou ea through freef information requests, which we will certainly do, but that is another major flaw in the military justice system, complete lack of transparency. Amy do you think some members of this ateam should be brought up on charges of murder and tried . That is not really something for me to decide. I think it is clear in this case that there is very strong evidence that crimes were committed. There are dead bodies being recovered outside the base. What should happen is it should be a thorough investigation, if there is evidence, the people should be charged. Amy we are in october, moving into the 15th year of the war in afghanistan. Our operations like you exposed with the ateam continuing . They are not continuing in the same way, because you dont have the same military footprint, so i dont think there are isolated special bases living on remote like you had at the time, but definitely, there are still expensive extensive u. S. Military involvement in the war. We just had to special forces Members Guild in how one province last week in a frilly fire incident because they were trying to fight the taliban, which again, is not really what the authorization for president obamas current does it is must be Training Missions and going after al qaeda, but it is clear the u. S. Is still fighting a war in afghanistan. Amy awardwinning journalist aipa funding for christina cooks is provided by astavita, manufacturers of skin defense complex, designed to help protect skin from free radicals with Astareal Astaxanthin and tocotrienol. Astavita skin defense complex more than skin deep. Additional funding provided by kuhn rikon, manufacturers of swissmade tools for the kitchen. 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