[Marxism] 2003 CIA contract murder in Afghanistan -- earlier article

[Brian Shannon <brian_shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

This earlier article more fully describes the murder of Abdul Wali.  
My comments are indented.

Brian

=====================

By Susan Schmidt and Dana Priest
Washington Post, June 18, 2004

. . .
Abdul Wali died in his tiny mud-walled cell last June 21, three days  
after he surrendered for questioning at the front gate of Asadabad  
Base. Justice Department officials said that Passaro was charged with  
assault rather than murder because no autopsy had been performed on  
Wali that would have established the cause of death.

> This is not a legal reason. And the body could have been exhumed if  
> accepted by relatives. And, as you can see from my first post on  
> this today, there is other testimony about beatings, which are what  
> would have been revealed in an autopsy.

> Keep in mind that the Abdu Wali was only 28 years old and was in  
> U.S. custody and the beatings were witnessed. It speaks for itself.
. . .
Passaro was part of a clandestine paramilitary team made up of U.S.  
Special Forces and CIA personnel who capture and interrogate Taliban  
and al Qaeda members. He had worked for the CIA since December 2002. ...
Passaro trained as a police officer in Hartford, Conn., but was fired  
in 1990 during his probationary period after he was arrested by state  
police on an assault charge, according to Hartford police spokeswoman  
Nancy Mulroy. Passaro pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, she said.

> [Obviously a perfect candidate for the CIA. Blame the thug instead  
> of the organization that employed him.]

A member of the U.S. military who was based in Asadabad when the  
death occurred said three CIA workers -- one full-time employee and  
two contractors -- took part in interrogating Wali. Special Forces  
guards checked on him every several hours. About an hour after one  
interrogation session, guards entered the holding cell and discovered  
that "the man was dead," he said.

Immediately after Wali's death, he said, the CIA personnel left the  
base by helicopter.

> Why weren't all three charged with murder? Probably because he  
> already had a record of assault. He was thus just a loose cannon to  
> sacrifice when murder was outed.

[CIA TRIED TO BLAME SPECIAL FORCES, BUT FAILED]

The soldier later learned that the CIA station chief in Kabul had  
been told that Special Forces troops had killed the man, according to  
the military source and an official in Washington. When the Special  
Forces team threatened to make the case public, the military source  
said, the CIA personnel admitted what had happened. An intelligence  
official in Washington yesterday called that allegation "flat wrong."
. . .
Wali's final days were chronicled by an American, Hyder Akbar, 18,  
whose father, Sayed Fazl Akbar, had returned to his native Kunar  
province to become the governor there after the fall of the  
Taliban. . . .

[Abdu Wali] was deeply fearful of turning himself in to the  
Americans, said the elder Akbar, so [he] sent his son [Hyder Akbar]  
to go with him "as a sign of trust."

> In other words, the U.S. government completely undermined its own  
> lackey, its appointed Governor: Sayed Fazi Akbar.

Said [his son]: "So I took him to the Americans. And, like, they're  
asking him where he was 14 days ago on the night of the three  
rockets. And this guy, like, don't have calendars, you know? . . . I  
just put my hand on his shoulder and I let him know: 'Just say the  
truth. Nothing is going to happen if you just say the truth.' And he  
was absolutely petrified, and he could barely whisper the okay."

Three days later, Hyder Akbar and his father returned to Asadabad to  
check on Wali. A translator named Steve . . . said, "Unfortunately,  
Abdul Wali passed away."

Hyder Akbar said: "My jaw dropped. It's like 'Oh, my God.'  . . .  
They said that . . . he just collapsed and they tried to make him  
stand again. And he stood for a second, but then he fell again and  
then they did the whole routine with the CPR and they said no  
expenses were held [spared?], just like they would have treated an  
American life."

The Americans told [Hyder Akbar that] Wali was well treated, but that  
he had "put rocks in his mouth," tried to break free of his shackles  
and "hit his head against the wall a couple of times." Akbar said he  
was taken to see the body and saw no marks on Wali.

> This must be from a CIA manual or at least a course of study. Thus  
> he killed himself by chocking on the "rocks" when he "hit his head  
> against the wall."
. . .
Ashcroft said the Wali investigation has been slowed somewhat by the  
exigencies of war, classification issues and the dispersal of  
witnesses to other international locales.

> "other international locales" --

> Poof, they're gone. Even the CIA agents themselves are rendered,  
> and Ashcroft was powerless to do anything. So the government can  
> send 200,000 troops to a foreign country, but the Attorney General  
> of the United States, who exercises the full powers of the  
> Commander in Chief, couldn't round up a handful of witnesses  
> because they are [torturing or hiding] in places out of his control.

Ashcroft said a team of prosecutors experienced in cases involving  
classified information and national security issues has been created  
to handle other cases of alleged prisoner abuse.

> Ashcroft didn't say that they are experienced in prosecuting  
> murder, but that they are experts in "classifying" and covering up  
> "national security" issues. They are there not to prosecute but to  
> defend the U.S. government. The art of Kafka is not needed. All we  
> need is reality.

. . .

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A50792-2004Jun17? 
language=printer>
OR http://makeashorterlink.com/?G40A2188D





________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism