Rolling Stone: Inside the Afghan Kill Squad
How did the US Army’s self-proclaimed “kill team” get away with murdering unarmed Afghan civilians for so long, with little to no intervention by officers? That’s the question Hurt Locker screenwriter Mark Boal addresses in a lengthy Rolling Stone article on the murders and the cover-ups, in which no officers or senior officials have yet been charged. Boal traces the evolution of the plot, from the moment Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs joined the 5th Stryker Brigade’s Bravo Company as squad leader for the 3rd Platoon. Gibbs, who replaced a squad leader whose legs had been blown off by an IED, was already “an extreme version of a relentless attacker,” writes Boal. His new squad was suffering from low morale, and Gibbs had a solution: Hatch a plot within the troops to avenge their losses by killing civilians and hiding the evidence.
Gibbs has been portrayed as a “crazy” sociopath, but Boal reports that Gibbs was actually well-liked by those both above and below him in the ranks. The article tracks the platoon’s actions from the first kill last January—a teenage boy in the isolated farming village of La Mohammad Kalay, whose finger Gibbs sliced off as a trophy—through those that followed over the next four months, claiming at least three more innocent lives. The soldiers involved were never disciplined or punished, and they got bolder as leadership continued to seemingly ignore their activities, despite warning signs and suspicious details. Boal shows that, far from the “rogue unit” the Army framed it as, the “kill team” actually operated quite openly, and the murders were common knowledge among the platoon. Furthermore, he writes, there is “evidence that the killings of civilians went beyond a few men in 3rd Platoon.” Click for the full piece, which also includes newly released—and very graphic—photos.
About Post Author
Professor Mike
More Stories
Parlez-vous and Red Roses Too
Roses are a girl’s best friend, or so I’ve been told; at the same time, wondering why I wasn’t my...
Living In A Dead Man’s Town
The following contains extremely violent images some may find distressing. This is Part One of my anthology—you can find Part...
Sacred and Profane: The Complexity of Prison Spirituality
I’ve watched this unfold repeatedly, and I'm struck by the theater of it all each time. The inmates walk into...
MMA Is Saying Goodbye To Politics and Hello To People and Pets
Just in time for Christmas, I am changing our format from politics to just people and pets. Life is too...
The Best Tips On Interviewing Someone for a Job
One of the most essential elements of a recruiting process is to conduct interviews to choose the right candidates.
Major New York Times Investigation Reveals Trump’s Decades Long Tax Fraud
President Trump is a criminal! Read all about it! At least that’s what the paperboys would have been screaming in Times Square decades ago.
I went and view the Rolling Stone site, these are some disturbing individuals. God help American society when they finish their time in the military.
I agree Holte. These are the type folks that I think we need a faraway island to send them to and let them live all by themselves. When they hit the streets of America they will become some cop’s nightmare.