Frontline Special: Kill-Capture

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

Shown last night on PBS this powerful condemnation of targeted killings in Afghanistan could have been subtitled how to create enemies. Here is an action step you can take to address the issues raised in the program.

"Behind the strike that killed Osama bin Laden on May 1st was one of the U.S. military's best kept secrets: an extraordinary campaign by elite U.S. soldiers to take out thousands of Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. A six-month investigation by FRONTLINE has gone inside the "kill/capture" program to discover new evidence of the program's impact -- and its costs."

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"The U.S. military report that 12,000 Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters have been either killed or captured in the past year using a secretive program ramped up by Gen. David Petraeus.

They're known as "JSOC" -- Joint Special Operations Command. They report directly to the president and, as National Journal reporter Marc Ambinder put it "operate worldwide based on the legal (or extra-legal) premises of classified presidential directive." John Nagl, a former counterinsurgency adviser to Gen. Petraeus, described JSOC's kill/capture campaign to FRONTLINE as "an almost industrial-scale counterterrorism killing machine.""

Today’s New York Times also makes the link to targeted killings and new legislation in Congress

“The new authorization to use military force against Al Qaeda was unveiled by the committee chairman, Representative Howard P. McKeon, Republican of California. The committee is scheduled to vote Wednesday on amendments to the bill.

The provision states that Congress “affirms” that “the United States is engaged in an armed conflict with Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated forces,” and that the president is authorized to use military force — including detention without trial — of members and substantial supporters of those forces.

That language, which would codify into federal law a definition of the enemy that the Obama administration has adopted in defending against lawsuits filed by Guantánamo Bay detainees, would supplant the existing military force authorization that Congress passed overwhelmingly on Sept. 14, 2001. It instead named the enemy as the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks.”

Action Step: This link from last week’s Wage Peace Newsletter takes you to a site where you can send a letter to your representative urging them to reject this bill.

Beauty to Expose the Brutality of War

If you have never travelled to Afghanistan, these images can start to fill the gap, giving you a sense of the timeless beauty. It is a narrated homage (of sorts) by Simon Norfolk to John Burke’s photographs of the second Anglo-Afghan war from 1878-1880.

It’s not neutral.

It is a remarkable travelogue/political commentary documenting the scale of the international intervention in Afghanistan and the tremendous challenges Afghans face in designing a better future for themselves.

Take the time to watch.

Targeted Assassinations | AAN

The mural image Hidden Children is from the travelling exhibit Windows and Mirrors: Reflections on the War in Afghanistan.

The image was created by the Guilford College Community with Hannah Swenson, Courtney Mandeville and Layth Awartani.

"The targeted killing of Osama Bin Laden has given a boost to those in the US who believe this is also an effective strategy to defeat – or at least degrade – the Taleban in Afghanistan. This new report from senior analyst Kate Clark (Afghanistan Analysts Network), warns against this strategy, stressing that the legality of targeted killings depends on the accuracy of the intelligence which drives them."

The Takhar attack:
Targeted killings and the parallel worlds of US intelligence and Afghanistan
Kate Clark | 10 May 2011 | Afghanistan Analysts Network

"On 2 September 2010, ISAF announced that ‘coalition forces’ had killed the Taleban deputy shadow governor of Takhar who was also a ‘senior member’ of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) in an air attack. Immediately, Afghans, including the provincial governor, police chief and President Karzai insisted an egregious mistake had been made and civilians who had been campaigning in Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections had been targeted. Ten were killed and seven injured. The military has remained adamant to this day that it got the right man."

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"The findings of this investigation raise systemic concerns over the intelligence that drives this and other targeted killings in Afghanistan. Targeted killings – as one element of the so‐called ‘kill or capture’ strategy – are one of the main metrics of success claimed by General Petraeus and an ever more important aspect of international military policy in Afghanistan…"

Click here for the full report.

Addition Resource: Frontline | Kill-Capture | 10 May 2011

ISAF | 1,400 Attacks in 90 Days

The US/NATO strategy. Escalating violence to foster diplomacy.

This morning Canadian General Chris Whitecross confirmed that the International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF) is increasing armed attacks. Although General David Petraeus is the commander of ISAF the figures below do not include the actions of US special forces that operate independently. Here is part of what she had to say.

"We will continue to support capacity and capability development of the Afghan National Security Forces and transition process through 2014. In fact, our pace is higher than usual. In the last 90 days, ISAF has conducted more than 1,400 operations, captured or killed more than 500 insurgent senior leaders, and captured or killed more than 2,700 lower-level insurgents..."

Last week Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said:

"In Afghanistan, we have to continue to take the fight to al Qaeda and its Taliban allies. Perhaps now they will take seriously the work that we are doing on trying to have some reconciliation process that resolves the insurgency…"

" [O]ur message to the Taliban hasn't changed; it just has even greater resonance today. They can't wait us out, they can't defeat us; they need to come into the political process and denounce al Qaeda and renounce violence and agree to abide by the laws and constitution of Afghanistan."

In addition to escalating armed attacks General Petraeus has expanded the controversial Afghan Local Police Initiative - essentially creating local militia forces.

The initiative is being tested in 70 districts with about 300 ALP per district, a total of about 20,000.

"...General Petraeus describes the ALP as a "night watch with AK-47's". They are expected to man checkpoints, detain individuals and turn them over to regular forces, and to provide intelligence on Taliban activities. For other issues, they are expected to call in ANSF or ISAF for support. The intent is to allow villages to resist intimidation and to prevent the Taliban from creating safe havens.

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US Special Operations Force trainers are assigned to each unit, along with Afghan Interior Ministry personnel. Training may take from 5 days to 3 weeks. Units are paid through the Ministry of Interior, and participants are paid 60% of an Afghan National Policeman's salary. Equipment provided consists of AK-47 rifles, radios, and uniforms."

To read more on ALP click here.

Deadly Embrace – The War in Afghanistan

The mural image Eternal Scream is from the travelling exhibit Windows and Mirrors: Reflections on the War in Afghanistan. The image is by Michael Schwartz in Tucson Arizona.



Deadly Embrace
May 4th, 2011 | Zaher Wahab

"The suicide bomber, dressed in police uniform, hugged commander K.M Mujahed, Kandahar’s chief of police as he was leaving his office this afternoon, and detonated the explosives strapped to his body, shredding both of them, and two others, into pieces. The Karzai government, the International Security Assistance Force, and the US embassy all condemned Mujahed’s assassination.

This was the third “hug and kill” of a prominent figure and the latest incident in a series of nine spectacular, violent episodes the occupation and resistance have inflicted on each other in the last few days in the war-torn country. There has been a sharp escalation in anti-American and anti-Western feelings in recent months expressed in various forms. COIN has failed miserably. The insurgency has penetrated all organs of the Afghan state."

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"Most Afghans are exhausted by 32 years of bloody turmoil and the decade-long brutal American occupation without an end date or endgame in sight. Hence, appearances notwithstanding, there is a strong undercurrent of anti-foreign (especially anti-American) sentiment throughout the country with frequent street demonstrations and burnings of the US flag and Obama’s effigy. Demonstrators chant “death to America” and “go home America.

The deadly embrace continues."

Zaher Wahab, a professor from Lewis and Clark College, is currently teaching in Kabul. His latest dispatch (4 May 2011) is a cautionary tale; a vivid description of the on-going violence in Afghanistan and the failure of the United States military policy. The growing animosity against the United States and other foreign armies is spelled out.

To read the entire story click here.

Growing up in the Shadow of 9/11

Growing up in the shadow of 9/11 is a fascinating project from American University that was completed last week - before the assassination of Osama bin Laden. It is a site you should visit.

Perhaps no other segment of society has been as well covered as the student celebrations over the news. In part because they were awake and ready to respond to the announcement, but more importantly, 9/11 was an event that defined a whole generation.

While the depiction of jubilant flash mobs has been covered in pictures, the real story is that these young people were deeply influenced by the path laid out by President Bush. That the world was divided into good and evil. That there were choices to be made. You were either with us or against us.

A dangerous simplistic way to understand complex conflicts. It would also be dangerous and simplistic to say a particular segment acted in one way. The video project makes that clear and we will revisit that issue soon.

The Pictures

In Washington, college students spilled in front of the White House chanting “U.S.A! U.S.A.!” and puffing cigars. In State College, Pa., 5,000 students waved flags, blew vuvuzelas, and sang the national anthem and the chorus to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” Cheering students jumped into Mirror Lake at Ohio State — as they do with big football games — and swelled the Common in Boston.

"We are the 9/11 generation," "We've grown up with Osama bin Laden in our lives, the same way the previous generation grew up with Vietnam over their heads.

"Now he's gone; it's shocking. To many, it meant that the war on terrorism is over, but as the days go on, more people are starting to ask, 'Where do we go from here?'"

Madeline Novey, editor in chief of The Rocky Mountain Collegian at Colorado State University.

Ending the War on Terror

Commentary on the assassination of Osama bin Laden by US special forces in Pakistan.


Beyond Retaliation | Voices for Creative Nonviolence

In the past, President Obama has said that “we stand on the shoulders of giants like Dr. King, yet our future progress will depend on how we prepare our next generation of leaders.” (Jan. 18, 2010). In a historic speech, “Beyond Vietnam—A Time to Break Silence”, King said: “We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. And history is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate.”

Justice or Vengeance | Phyllis Bennis

Today, the Arab Spring is on the rise across the Middle East and North Africa. It's ineffably sad that President Obama, in his claim that bin Laden's death means justice, didn't use the opportunity to announce the end of the deadly U.S. wars that answered the attacks of 9/11. This could have been a moment to replace vengeance with cooperation, replace war with justice.

But it was not. Regardless of bin Laden's death, as long as those deadly U.S. wars continue in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and beyond, justice has not been done.

The Legacy for Afghanistan | Jonathan Steele

It was understandable that Americans wanted justice after the appalling atrocities of 9/11, but justice should never be confused with revenge. Revenge is hot-blooded, but justice needs to be cool and controlled. Rushing to topple the Taliban looked more like a response governed by revenge and a desire to show that something was being done rather than a response that fitted the crime.

The Muslim World Sounds Off | Juan Cole

Usama Bin Laden, a mass killer, passed virtually unmourned from the scene. There were no demonstrations against his killing in the Arab world. A few Taliban protested in Quetta and Afghanistan, as one might expect. Mostly Muslims denounced him and expressed relief he was gone.

Bin Laden carried out 9/11 to begin a big political and social movement. Nearly 10 years later the vast majority of Muslims did not trust him and many seem glad to see the back of him, while large numbers had decided that he was irrelevant to their lives.