Why a Cover Up of Canada's JTF2 'Improper Killing' in Afghanistan ? Here's One Possible US Answer

23 posts / 0 new

Tue, 2010-09-28 02:21

NDPP

Tapes Describe US Servicemen Killing For Sport ( and vid)

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/09/27/afghanistan.sport.murder...

"Tapes obtained by CNN of interrogations of a group of US servicemen charged with unprovoked killings of Afghan civilians describe gruesome scenes of cold blooded murder.."

Deaths Focus of JTF2 Probe (and vid)

http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/deaths-focus-of-jtf2-probe-21...

"Two criminal investigations launched by military police into the actions of Canadian special forces soldiers in Afghanistan probed the killing of Afghans..."

Hello Canada anybody home? Shouldn't there be loud and persistent questions being asked about this? Why isn't it happening? Shouldn't our 'representiatives' be on this? WTF!?

Tue, 2010-09-28 03:43

NDPP

JTF2 on Execution Missions?

http://stopwarblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/jtf-2-on-execution-missions.html

"Canadian military silent on Afghan civilian deaths: UN Investigator...

The United Nation's special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, told CBC News that senior Canadian officers, among those from other NATO countries operating in Afghanistan, have refused to provide him with information..."

Tue, 2010-09-28 14:21

NDPP

JTF2 in Iraq

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?134032-JTF-2-in-Iraq

Canada in Iraq - picture of now Canadian Army Chief Peter Devlin with Stryker Brigade soldiers. Devlin was trained at the US Army War College and under a Canada US officer exchange program became essentially part of the US military, Third Corps ('The Hammer')

Tue, 2010-12-07 02:10

NDPP

Make Our Spy Network a Priority - by Scott Taylor

http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/1215638.html

"While very few details were made public, the gist of the CBC revelations centered on the alleged killing of unarmed Afghans by members of the unit commonly referred to as JTF2 and their American allies [ overlords]

Tue, 2010-12-07 02:21

Cueball

What is most disturbing about that is the link between JTF2 and its domestic branch.

Tue, 2010-12-07 08:16

Slumberjack

Yeah, I suppose it isn't common knowledge that they provide close security protection for VIPs, both within and outside Canada. Not sure if it was actually a state secret though, because I had become aware of it several years ago from the JTF2 neighbors which surrounded me at Uplands on the backyard BBQ circuit. Unfortunately they were fairly tight lipped about most other things, which was to be expected in any event, and especially so after falling out with the immediate neighbors. I grew weary of looking after their sun baked and long abandoned mutt chained up at the back fence during the many extended and unremarked upon absences, and delivered it to the SPCA.

Wed, 2011-01-19 05:37

NDPP

JTF2 Command 'Encouraged' War Crimes Soldier Alleges

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2011/01/18/military-jtf2-probe.html

"A member of Canada's elite special forces unit says he felt his peers were being 'encouraged' by the Canadian Forces chain of command to commit war crimes in Afghanistan, according to new documents obtained by CBC News. The member alleged that a fellow JTF2 member was involved in the shooting death of an Afghan who had his hands up in the act of surrender...

The soldier who raised these allegations also claimed that in January 2008, his team was sent to conduct a mission alonside an American special operations team. He said he witnessed the US forces kill a man who was wounded and unarmed.."

'these are detestable murderers and scumbags...We are the Canadian Forces and our job is to be able to kill people'

Chief of Defence Staff, General Hillier

Out of NATO! Out of Afghanistan!

Wed, 2011-01-19 05:41

NDPP

"Concerns about prisoners taken in those clandestine operations were raised in 2007 by the respected International Committee of the Red Cross. In an unusual confidential briefing, it reported to Canada that three insurgents captured by JTF2 disappeared behind Afghan prison walls, where they were either killed or delivered to the US for interrogation at 'black sites'.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/afghanmission/article/840415--travers...

Wed, 2011-01-19 22:33

Frmrsldr

NoDifferencePartyPooper wrote:

"Concerns about prisoners taken in those clandestine operations were raised in 2007 by the respected International Committee of the Red Cross. In an unusual confidential briefing, it reported to Canada that three insurgents captured by JTF2 disappeared behind Afghan prison walls, where they were either killed or delivered to the US for interrogation at 'black sites'.

Stephen Harper, Peter MacKay, Lawrence Cannon and Stockwell Day were among those present at the International Committee of the Red Cross presentation.

So the government cannot profess ignorance in this case.

Signatories to the Geneva Conventions (Canada is one) have a legal and moral duty under the Conventions to stay informed of the treatment of prisoners transferred to (a) third party/parties. If the prisoners are tortured or abused, then the transferring power has a legal duty to make the third party stop. If the third party is unwilling or unable to stop, then the transferring power must retake custody of the prisoners. If the transferring power is unable to accommodate the prisoners, then the power must transfer them to another Geneva (signatory) power that can.

Fri, 2011-01-21 00:18

#10

Frmrsldr

The question is, will enough Canadian soldiers have the guts to demand an end to the war now, like their American counterparts?

Fri, 2011-01-21 00:47

#11

NDPP

'War Crimes' Complaint Centered Around Role of Chain of Command, Documents Show

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/war-crimes-complaint-centre...

"A Canadian special-forces soldier approached military overseers two years ago with complaints about 'war crimes' in Afghanistan - a state of affairs he suggested could only be corrected if the ultra-secret JTF2 unit were pulled from the conflict:

'The only solution, he finds, is the pulling of JTF2 from that operation. He adds that he feels more and more of his peers are being encouraged to commit war crimes by the chain of command', reads a portion of the document."

Secrecy and the JTF2 (vids)

http://video.ca.msn.com/watch/video/secrecy-and-the-jtf2/16a1suni9

Special Forces Afghan Probe

http://video.ca.msn.com/watch/video/special-forces-afghan-probe/16a3jpwfl

Clearly the military is unaccountable and just as obviously, there's not much concern about it either.

Fri, 2011-01-21 00:47

#12

NDPP

NO.

Fri, 2011-01-21 12:02

#13

N.Beltov

Canadian death squads. (Added as an aid to babble searches in the future.)

Fri, 2011-01-21 13:15

#14

Fidel

Frmrsldr wrote:

The question is, will enough Canadian soldiers have the guts to demand an end to the war now, like their American counterparts?

Not as long as some large minority of Canadian voters give them a rubberstamp of approval every four years, no. Not as long as they go unchallenged by the moral majority opposed to what they've been instructed to do by Washington. It's their licence to murder. And if it ever came down to a war crimes trial, they might simply say that they were only following orders.

Fri, 2011-01-21 13:22

#15

NDPP

The JTF2 member who broke this story is a true Canadian hero, who has, and will continue to go through hell for it. Almost nobody cares, least of all the pols, unless it's useful to hustle votes. None of them will take on the empire. We all know that here.

Fri, 2011-01-21 13:37

#16

Fidel

The NDP doesn't want to stoke a colder war, no. Been there done that. There are perfect party options in Canada though.

And in the 2008 election they [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_federal_election,_2008]finished 8th and 11th[/url] with zero seats in Parliament. Our mathematically absurd electoral system dictates that their democratic voices should never be heard by the public.

I'm sorry it's not a perfect world, I really am. But there's not much we can do to change that in good time in order to mean anything to the real situation. We might as stop babbling and hold our collective breath until such time as all Canadians decide to make perfect choices, whether by ballot or by force. By then I expect Morlocks to be in power in Ottawa. And by then we'll have a really difficult job on our hands.

Sat, 2011-01-22 04:07

#17

NDPP

Multi-billion Dollar Jets Buy 'Best Value For Canada' Top Soldier Says

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/multibillion-dollar-jets-buy-bes...

"He also played down war-crimes allegations arising from within the military. A member of the ultra-secretive Joint Task Force Two has approached oversight bodies with a litany of complaints about the Afghan mission. He said JTF2 soldiers are conducting themselves honourably during missions to capture and kill terrorists in Afghanistan.

'Man for man, woman for woman, unit for unit - our special forces are as good as the Special Air Service of the UK or Delta Force in the US.'...US troops have surged into Kandahar province in the last year. The deployment has started to make Afghan tribal elders feel more confident about taking on the Taliban, said General Natynczyk.

He went so far as to compare this dynamic to the so-called 'Sunni Awakening' in Iraq..."

And he should know. CF Maj. General Walter Natynczyk commanded ten brigades totalling 35,000 troops in Iraq and was awarded Canada's Meritorious Service Cross for 'his pivotal role in the development of numerous plans and operations which resulted in a tremendous contribution to Operation Iraqi Freedom and brought great credit to Canadian Forces and to Canada.'

so what's a few more NATO war crimes in Afghanistan eh?

Sat, 2011-01-22 21:46

#18

Frmrsldr

Whenever the word "terrorist" is used, I always get confused thinking it's U.S./NATO/ISAF troops that are being referred to.

I don't think I'll ever be able to understand how people defending their country, culture, community and family are "terrorists."

I guess I'm a 'hopeless basketcase' to the pro-war propaganda machine.

Sat, 2011-01-22 23:20

#19

N.Beltov

You might be interested to look at a recent book here in Canada which notes that the first Canadians smeared with the terrorist label were ... the communists, socialists and other activists after WW1. Check out Seeing Reds: The Red Scare of 1918-1919 Canada's First War on Terror

Sun, 2011-01-23 01:44

#20

Fidel

Yup it wasn't so long ago that NDP politicians were considered enemies of the state and blacklisted for imprisonment if things ever got out of hand. The local gestapo would have had shoot to kill orders in the event they attemped to evade the roundups.

Sun, 2011-01-23 05:35

#21

NDPP

'Canada's First War on Terror' was on 'The Imaginary Indian', not NDP pols (1961). Still going on too. 'National Dreams' indeed...

now there's thread-drift for you

Sun, 2011-01-23 06:01

#22

Fidel

And guess which two dirty rotten old line parties orchestrated the terror against Indians long time from their colonial outpost in Ottawa?But that's okay, because we're waiting for the perfect revolution before doing a proper house cleaning.[/major drift]

Tue, 2011-02-08 03:49

#23

NDPP

Military Names New Commander For JTF2

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/afghanmission/article/934786--militar...

"Brig-Gen Dennis Thompson, who is currently the chief of the army's land operations and formerly commanded Canadian troops in Afghanistan, will assume command of the Canadian Special Forces Command. One of the most public challenges on Thompson's plate will be an ongoing investigation into JTF2's past activities in Afghanistan. "

he also served as Deputy Director General International Security Policy