-Caveat Lector-
From
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=2012523207
}}}>Begin
The Times of India Online
Printed from timesofindia.indiatimes.com > Europe
US 'hero' may have triggered Mazar revolt
RASHMEE Z AHMED
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
ONDON: The United Nations has joined human rights groups in
demanding an urgent inquiry into the carnage at the Qala-i-Jhangi
fort near the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, even as new
information is emerging about how it started and the two Pakistani
Taliban reported to be the last men alive in the fort, until the
violence finally subsided on Wednesday.
Even as the CIA saluted its slain colleague, the first American
fatality in Afghanistan, "American hero" Johnny �Mike� Spann, who
died in the prison revolt, British journalists in Mazar-i-Sharif have
begun reporting that Spann was less an innocent victim than the one
who allegedly provoked the riot.
With allegations of "war crimes" against the US and UK coming in thick and fast for
ignoring the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war, United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights Commisioner, Mary
Robinson, has echoed Kate Allen, director of the London-based Amnesty International in
calling for an urgent inquiry.
Amnesty has said it is willing to send an observer to Afghanistan to monitor an
inquiry.
On Wednesday night, the BBC�s authoritative domestic television programme Newsnight
interviewed Oliver August, correspondent for The Times, London, in Mazar-i-Sharif, who
said that Spann and his CIA colleague, Dave, were
thought to have set off the violence by aggressively interrogating foreign Taliban
prisoners and asking, "Why did you come to Afghanistan?". August said their questions
were answered by one prisoner jumping forward and an
nouncing, "We�re here to kill you".
The Guardian�s Mazar-i-Sharif correspondent said the CIA "operatives had apparently
failed on entering the fort to observe the first rule of espionage: keep a low
profile".
The Times�s August said Spann subsequently pulled his gun and his CIA colleague shot
three prisoners dead in cold blood before losing control over the situation.
Spann was then "kicked, beaten and bitten to death," the journalists said, in an
account of the ferocity of the violence that lasted four days, leaving more than 500
people dead and the fort littered with "bodies, shrapne
l and shell casings".
Meanwhile, graphic reports are appearing of two Pakistani Taliban fighters� final
stand in the fort, alongside comments from the Northern Alliance that the dead
prisoners were the most hardline of Osama Bin Laden�s al-Qae
da recruits.
The revelations, which may be a public relations disaster in the making for the
Pakistani establishment, say that the two men, who survived 72 hours of targeted
American bombing and missile strikes, were heard speaking Ur
du.
Long after hundreds of their comrades were dead, according to one newspaper, the pair,
dressed in flimsy salwar-kameezes, remained hidden in a deep basement in the fort and
it took several rockets to restore the fort to a
"tomb-like silence".
In the aftermath of the bloodbath at Qala-I-Jhangi, the British press has focussed on
graphic images, including what they are calling the blatant defiance of the rules of
war. One photograph, plastered across several pape
rs, allegedly shows a Northern Alliance fighter using a long metal spike to prise out
a dead Taliban soldier�s gold tooth. The Independent newspaper sardonically headlined
its report, "How our Afghan Allies applied the Ge
neva Convention" in an indication that the US-led, UK-backed
coalition may now be doomed to launch urgent rearguard action to
quell public distaste about the conduct of Tony Blair�s "just war for
a just cause".
Amnesty International has highlighted public concern by demanding an
investigation "into the proportionality of the response by the
Northern Alliance, US and UK forces".
In a statement released here, it said the enquiry "should make urgent
recommendations to ensure that other instances of surrender and
holding of prisoners do not lead to similar disorders and loss of
life".
� Bennett, Coleman and Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.
End<{{{
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is distributed without charge or profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information
for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking
new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe
simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not
believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do
not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not
believe in anything merely on the authority of Teachers, elders or wise men.
Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it
agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all.
Then accept it and live up to it."
The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sutta
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled
one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller,
German Writer (1759-1805)
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that
prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless
of frontiers."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will
teach you to keep your mouth shut."
--- Ernest Hemingway
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
