[Marxism] 2003 CIA contract murder in Afghanistan

[Brian Shannon <brian_shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The second article is about the only trial so far of a CIA  
contractor. When I saw it I found a Wikipedia article that more fully  
describes the killing of Abdul Wali. We have very little knowledge of  
this in the United States, but it must be widespread on the Middle  
East networks. Part of our loss here is that the American people have  
no idea of how knowledgeable the people of the Middle East are about  
what the U.S. government and Israel do. If they understood this, it  
would go a long way towards building opposition to the U.S. aggression.

The Wikipedia article shows that this is a clear case of murder. Yet  
the government is only putting the accused civilian contractor on  
trial for a beating.

Those who watch Law and Order must wonder: why not charge murder  
along with a complement of lesser offenses and let the jury sort it out?

Notice that the judge first:
"limited the defense's access to several classified documents and e- 
mails, including a memo from the Justice Department to the CIA that  
Passaro contends described the kind of interrogation techniques  
allowed by U.S. law."

Could these documents include the Bybee memos that describe what CIA  
contractors can "legally" do. Surely this would legitimately help the  
defense. The problem of course is that it would put the government on  
trial and raise the question that since certain procedures were  
described as legitimate, weren't they being used throughout  
Afghanistan and Iraq by CIA contractors "legally" and "illegally" by  
others in imitation.

Some soldiers probably just didn't get it. They failed to understand  
that only certain privileged ones (the CIA and its contractors) were  
"legally" allowed to brutalize up to and including major organ failure.

This is one of the reasons for the public opposition of some military  
figures to the claimed authority of the president, as asserted by  
attorneys Alberto Gonzales, John Yoo, and Jay Bybee,* to allow  
torture to be used by CIA contractors. How do you explain the  
difference to your troops? And how can you discipline them for  
"illegally" doing in one room what their CIA associates can "legally"  
do in the room next door?

Brian Shannon
_________________
*All of whom are now appropriately rewarded with the Attorney General  
position, a professorship at the prestigious U.C. Berkeley law  
school, and a Ninth Circuit judgeship. Meanwhile the CIA contractor  
is on trial, unfortunately not for murder.
=======================

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Abdul Wali was an Afghan man who died in US custody on June 21, 2003,  
aged 28. At the time of his death, he had been held for three days at  
the US base 10 miles south of Asadabad, in Kunar province,  
Afghanistan, on suspicion of involvement in a rocket attack on the  
same base. The cause of his death was at first reported to be a heart  
attack, but this came into question when three members of the U.S.  
82nd Airborne Division came forward to testify that CIA contractor  
David Passaro assaulted Wali, kicking him and beating him 10 to 30  
times with a heavy flashlight. Passaro has since been charged of two  
counts of assault and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon  
(the flashlight). He has pleaded not guilty and is being held until  
his trial.

David Passaro, a former Special Forces medic who worked under  
contract with the CIA, is the first civilian to be charged with  
abusing a detainee in the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Passaro  
beat Abdul Wali for two consecutive nights, leading him to plead with  
prison guards to shoot him to end his suffering. Among other  
injuries, Wali suffered a suspected fractured pelvis that would have  
made it impossible for him to urinate. Passaro is charged with four  
counts of assault and accused of using his hands, feet and a large  
flashlight to beat Wali in June 2003. Passaro worked at a U.S.  
military base in Afghanistan that was frequently subject to rocket  
attacks. Wali, a suspect in the attacks, turned himself in  
voluntarily at the gates of the base and was then interrogated. After  
Wali lost consciousness Passaro performed mouth-to-mouth in an  
unsuccessful bid to revive him.

Wali's story in part was told on National Public Radio by Hyder Akbar  
for the show This American Life. Hyder escorted Wali to the US forces  
as a sign of protection and good will, as Hyder's father was  
governnor of the Afghani section under which the incidents happened.  
Some time after Hyder left, Wali died, and Hyder and his father were  
told about it later.


Posted on Mon, Aug. 07, 2006        


Judge rules for govt in CIA testimony

ESTES THOMPSON
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. - Federal prosecutors won their battle Monday to keep  
former CIA Director George Tenet and several other agency employees  
from having to testify at the trial of a one-time CIA contractor  
accused of beating an Afghan detainee.

But U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle said he would allow defense  
attorneys for David Passaro to subpoena six witnesses whose  
identities are classified, and promised to rule on later on four others.

The judge heard the dispute behind closed doors before a jury was  
selected and opening statements began.

Passaro, a 40-year-old former Special Forces medic from Lillington,  
N.C., is the first civilian charged with mistreating a detainee  
during the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Passaro's attorneys have said they want to call Tenet and Attorney  
General Alberto Gonzales, formerly the White House counsel, as part  
of a "public authority defense" - namely, that Passaro was following  
orders. It was nit immediately clear if Gonzales was among those  
Boyle said could not be subpoenaed by the defense.

Before jury selection began, prosecutor Jim Candelmo told the judge  
that even the titles of some of the witnesses sought by defense  
attorneys are classified and cannot be discussed in open court.

But defense attorney Joe Gilbert disputed the government's claim of  
secrecy. At least one of the potential witnesses has appeared on  
national television and been interviewed in newspapers, Gilbert said.

"The government is using it in such a way to deny Mr. Passaro due  
process and they shouldn't be allowed to do this," Gilbert said.

Boyle has previously limited the defense's access to several  
classified documents and e-mails, including a memo from the Justice  
Department to the CIA that Passaro contends described the kind of  
interrogation techniques allowed by U.S. law.

The government contends paratroopers from the Army's 82nd Airborne  
Division saw Passaro beat detainee Abdul Wali with his hands, his  
feet and a flashlight in June 2003 during two days of questioning  
about rocket attacks on a remote firebase housing U.S. and Afghan  
troops.

Wali later died in his cell, although Passaro - who was working under  
contract to the CIA - is not charged with his death. Instead, he  
faces assault charges that carry up to 40 years in prison.

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