Afghan delegation attacked at site of US killings

The story is still coming out on this, U.S. DOD, State Department obviously attempting to throw water on this inferno

Associated Press
By Mirwais Kahn
03/12/2012

BALANDI, Afghanistan -- 

Militants have attacked an Afghan government delegation visiting the site in one of the two villages in southern Afghanistan where a U.S. soldier is suspected of killing 16 civilians.

The attackers opened fire at the delegation from several sides on Tuesday.

An Associated Press reported witnessed the attack, which is still under way. It's unclear if anyone has been wounded or killed.

The delegation includes two of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's brothers and senior security officials.

A U.S. soldier has been detained in connection with Sunday's shooting rampage that left 16 civilians dead in the villages of Balandi and Alkozai in Panjwai district of Kandahar province.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Hundreds of students in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday shouted angry slogans against the United States and the American soldier who killed 16 Afghan civilians in a shooting spree, the first significant protest in response to the tragedy.

The killings before dawn Sunday in southern Kandahar province have caused outrage in Afghanistan. But even though most of the dead were women and children, they have not sparked the kind of violent protests seen last month after American soldiers burned Muslim holy books and other Islamic texts.

The more muted response could be a result of Afghans being used to dealing with civilian casualties in over a decade of war. Some have said the slayings in two villages in Panjwai district were more in keeping with Afghans' experience of deadly night raids and airstrikes by U.S.-led forces than the Quran burnings were.

But the students protesting at a university in Jalalabad city, 80 miles (125 kilometers) east of the capital Kabul, were incensed.

"Death to America!" and "Death to the soldier who killed our civilians!" shouted the crowd.

Some carried a banner that called for a public trial of the soldier, who U.S. officials have identified as a married, 38-year-old father of two who was trained as a sniper and recently suffered a head injury in Iraq.

Other protesters burned an effigy of President Barack Obama.

"The reason we are protesting is because of the killing of innocent children and other civilians by this tyrant U.S. soldier," said Sardar Wali, a university student. "We want the United Nations and the Afghan government to publicly try this guy."

Obama has expressed his shock and sadness and extended his condolences to the families of the victims. But he has also said the horrific episode would not speed up plans to pull out foreign forces, despite increasing opposition at home to the war in Afghanistan.

 Associated Press photographer Rahmat Gul contributed to this report from Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/03/12/1926842/afghan-youth-recounts-us-soldiers.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/03/12/1926842/afghan-youth-recounts-us-soldiers.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/03/12/1926842/afghan-youth-recounts-us-soldiers.html#storylink=cpy

Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The 5^th Estate.

Images:  Google royalty free unless otherwise attributed.

This news site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.  We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

Read more »

‘US forces burned bodies of Afghans after massacre’

It appears now that the perpetrator of this mass killing is a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant, although positive identification remains pending at this point and as additional charges are leveled  

PRESS TV
03/13/2012

Afghan eyewitnesses say US troopers have burnt nearly a dozen bodies of the Afghan victims, whom American servicemen had killed during an earlier massacre.

Confirmed numbers of dead children are conflicting

Early Sunday, US forces opened fire on Afghan civilians inside their homes in the district of Panjwaii in the southern province of Kandahar, killing at least 17 civilians and injuring several others. The Taliban militants said at least 50 people were killed in the massacre.

Earlier reports said the assassin was a lone US sergeant.

Villagers said the US forces later collected 11 of the bodies, including those of four girls under the age of six, and set them on fire.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has condemned the bloodshed, calling it an inhuman, intentional, and unforgiveable act.

“When Afghan people are killed deliberately by US forces, this action is murder and terror and an unforgivable action," Karzai said in a statement.

"The government and the people of Afghanistan demand an explanation from the United States government of this incident."

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan have been a major source of tension between Kabul and Washington.

Defense secretary Panetta cringes, whithers under media scrutiny

The outrages came in the wake of violent clashes in several Afghan provinces over recent desecration of the Holy Qur’an by the United States forces at the US-run Bagram Airbase in the province of Parwan in northeastern Afghanistan. The violence left over 30 people, including six American forces, dead and around 180 others injured.

The US-led invasion of Afghanistan was launched in 2001. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across the country, despite the presence there of tens of thousands of US-led troops.

GJH/MF/HN 

Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The 5^th Estate.

Images:  Google royalty free unless otherwise attributed.

This news site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.  We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

Read more »

Questions Remain Over Killings in Afghanistan

There is continuing confusion over initial reports of a U.S. Marine killing 16 civilians in Afghanistan and reports now are that it was instead an Army Staff Sergeant that committed the killings.

The 5th Estate is suspending it's reporting on this story until solid confirmation of the perpetrator's branch of service is obtained.  There are also conflicting reports from the field in Afghanistan.

http://socyberty.com/issues/american-marine-goes-berserk-and-kills-16-afghans-in-kandahar-province/

Read more »

EXCLUSIVE - BREAKING: More "Smoking Gun" E-Mails from Dr. C.A Nidom to Kobe University Virologist Teridah Ernala Ginting : H5N1 Espionage in Indonesia

The continuing e-mails from Dr. Nidom to Teridah Ernala Ginting

The 5th Estate
By Robert S. Finnegan
03/13/2012 

This is the third e-mail segment in the continuing H5N1 "novel" series that outlines actual espionage committed against Indonesia and Indonesian authorities by Yoshihiro Kawaoka, Teridah Ernala Ginting, virus thief Akiko Makino and others.  It is a clear-cut case, as the below evidence proves and all involved need to be arrested and charged accordingly.  English translation by Imas Kurniawati followed by the original in Bahasa Indonesia.

This letter from Dr. C.A. Nidom proves espionage/H5N1 virus theft by Kobe/Tokyo/Wisconsin virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka, who ordered his Kobe lab workers to steal H5N1 from Indonesia for weaponization.

It now appears Dr. Nidom is panicking, attempting to "get the story straight" with Ernala, or attempting to get her to conform to the "party line" in order that they all tell the same story to Indonesian authorities, who were understandably quite angry at Makino's attempted theft of Indonesian H5N1 and her lies regarding the samples being for Wisconsin University, which helped her to escape immediate arrest and imprisonment on espionage charges.

The Indonesian customs authorities at Juanda International Airport should be commended for their vigilance and professionalism in catching Makino and preventing the theft of Indonesian H5N1 at the airport. 

The Indonesian customs authorities at Juanda International Airport should be commended for their vigilance and professionalism in catching Makino and preventing the theft of Indonesian H5N1 at the airport.  

BACKGROUNDER: From "novel" weaponized H5N1 virus creator Teridah Ernala Ginting to Robert S. Finnegan, The 5th Estate:

"They have samples actually, but no recent human samples since MOH banned the material transfer to other countries. That's why this is very illegal. "

For your information:

Yoshi sensei - Yoshihiro Kawaoka, my professor. The authority. Everything done by these following two names are for his sake.

Shinya - Kyoko Shinya, my associate professor also my boss in this project. She's always using me and telling lot of lies.

Makino - Akiko Makino, new assistant professor from Tokyo Univ. She carried the illegal samples from Indonesia.

Yamaoka - Masaoki Yamaoka, a Japanese researcher assigned in Indonesia.

Dr Hatta - Shinya got the human samples from dr Hatta, but claimed it as dr Nidom's samples at Surabaya airport.

Re: Apa kabar?

From: C. A. Nidom <nidomca@sby.centrin.net.id>
To: "Ida - Teridah Ernala" <ida_lutu@yahoo.com>

Dear Miss,

Thanks for the information you gave me, which is very helpful for me to analyze the current increasing situation in a better way. It is a very useful source to lead to a better condition. But I am very sorry that I really had no idea that you went along to Sulsel (Southern Sulawesi) and I had not known that you were here when Makino was in Surabaya. The only information I received from Sulsel (Southern Sulawesi) was only about Shinya.

Dr. C.A. Nidom

1. Since the very beginning of this cooperation, the delivery of materials / equipments from Kobe had always been addressed to me. I would then store them in AI lab. If the Seasonal Flu (upper floor) needed, then they could just go ahead take them and the take will be noted down by Vivien. At a certain period of time, the updated stock to Nakagawa-san.

Yes I have heard Shinya and Yoshi Sensei complaining about the import taxes required by the Indonesian Government. I had approached Indonesian Customs authority in Jakarta and sent the request to get the deliveries free of taxes. You might wonder why I had to go through customs authority in Jakarta? That’s because Nakagawa always sent them via DHL (NOTE: DHL delivery has to go through Jakarta first before distributed to other cities/towns in Indonesia). Actually, my request had been granted, but the customs authority required us to provide them the list (both quantity and values) of the goods that would be imported and the estimated times of arrival in Indonesia. The customs then would issue some kind of a “ticket” for one-year use. So, the ticket will be used for each delivery. But in the middle of the process, all of sudden the address of delivery changed and was addressed to Yamaoka and the materials/equipments were immediately stored upstairs without my knowledge. Vivien kept making reports about in-and-out of the materials and when she couldn’t find some materials there, she would directly ask Nakagawa. So now all the goods/materials ordered were directly addressed to Yamaoka and we didn’t know when they arrived.

Shinya

There was no prior notice from Shinya or Yamaoka in regard to this changing. It’s OK with me if this is what Kobe had decided so (or if any other reason), but is it hard to tell me about it? Honestly, I took offense on this. That just goes to show me that Shinya or Shinya or those in Kobe didn’t believe in me and my staffs with these materials, just like when Mikiko accused us of having marked-up the surveillance cost 2 years ago.

2. Since the beginning of 2009, Yamaoka has been acting ‘weird’, he often bad-talked one staff to another so they would fight each other. When he talked to “A” he would talk bad things about “B” and vice versa, he even spread an untrue rumor about me and my staff, but I didn’t really care because that might have entertained him. But when he forcefully asked for “specimen” or data from our staffs, that was when I decided to talk to him. I told him that if he needed anything, he had to come to me (instead of my staffs). If I was not around, he could send me a message on my cell phone or just email me. But he never did. He just kept asking for samples from my staffs. The reason I had to do this was because I didn’t want any of my staffs getting accustomed to give away samples to any third party (it could anybody, not just Yamaoka) without my knowledge and authorization. The last sample he directly asked from my staff was the samples of ducks and pigs. Especially for pig samples, I didn’t allow anybody to analyze it for the time being because according to the information I received, the pig samples from “Bulan Island” was in dispute with Singapore due to allegedly had been infected by Swine Flu. At that time, it had not been published in the media. I was just afraid that if he was the one who analyzed it, I wouldn’t be able to prevent him from presenting the sample in Bangkok that Indonesian pig had been infected with swine flu, which is not good for all of us. I was not sure if I could even prevent him to do so because a while back I once asked Yamaoka not to take H1 to Tokyo, but he was very persistent. It was OK with me because it was the real data but he should have postponed it to avoid any suspicion from the government about me and/or our collaboration.

Happy viral assassins, thieves:  Shinya, Kawaoka, Ernala, Makino

But he insisted that he must have the pig sample. I was running out of excuse, so I told him that I needed to discuss it with Yoshi sensei first because this had something to do with the papers I was working on about the pig. Unfortunately, he reported this to Shinya, so Shinya emailed Yoshi sensei and then Yoshi sensei emailed me to give the two samples of the pigs to Yamaoka. I was very disappointed with all of them. All they thought about was their own agenda without having any concerns about how this would affect Indonesian farmers and government. I have never been disappointed with Yoshi sensei before, but now I am. But no matter how bad Yoshi sensei is, I remain respecting him. But it was really a shame that it had to be Yoshi sensei who asked for the two pig samples for Yamaoka. At that time I thought about resigning from collaboration with Kobe. But I sensed that Yoshi sensei might have not known of what actually was going on. So I told my reasons to him and he understood. Yamaoka and Shinya should have understood that I disagreed with them taking the samples and that it should have been postponed.

3. As far as I’m concerned, until now the PIC (Persons In Charged) in this collaboration are me (Indonesia) and Yoshi sensei (Kobe). Meanwhile, one of the activities in this AI Collaboration is “Seasonal Flu” by Yamaoka (Japan) and Dr. Palilingan (University of Airlangga). But lately Yamaoka had always been interfering with AI lab activities in general and mostly without my knowledge. Shinya also did the same, so I made a rule in the lab to forbid everyone giving any information or specimen in AI lab without my approval. Anybody who breaks the rule will be expelled from the lab. FYI, I almost fired Vivien because she sent data to Shinya without prior approval. Yusuf had also been suspended from giving information to Yamaoka without my permission.

4. Why did I do that? Because this collaboration between Unair and Kobe has aroused some suspicions. Indonesian government has obviously defied any foreign involvement from using (Indonesian) biological materials but Unair has done just the opposite, which is collaborating with Kobe. As for me, I was trying to prove to Indonesian government that foreigners were not as bad as they thought. Other Indonesian instances might have also envied us for getting this collaboration, so any wrongdoings in using available data/information (such as surveillance location, etc.) or specimens could arise suspicions. The perfect example was what has happened with Unhas (University of Hassanudin – South Sulawesi). Learning from what happened there, precautions and patience were needed to take further step.

5 Especially now that we received 130 billion Rupiah from Indonesian Department of Health to build Animal BSL-3 (4 animal cages: mice, ferrets, chicken and monkeys) and to buy equipments for AI research. We now have 8 PCR machines, 2 real time PCR, 4 capillaries sequencing, 4 deep freezers, TEM, 6 BSCs, and many more. I need to keep our image good for that. Right now I have received human samples of H5N1 from Indonesian Department of Health, both old and new samples, to be characterized. So it doesn’t mean that I put this collaboration with Kobe as 2nd priority, but there needs to be some kind of “arrangement” between working with Kobe and keeping our image with Indonesian government. If we just gave away and sent out the samples to Japan just like before, what would they think about us? The Indonesian government has given us all the equipments we needed but we still send the samples out to Japan? Anyway, I and my staffs agreed that this collaboration need to be treated as priority, but there must be some kind of a little “tweak” because I was very much aware of why Madame Minister of Health and the President (of Indonesia) wanted to help Unair on this. They knew how serious we were on this and how they saw there was help and good collaboration with Kobe (Japan).

This is kind of different than the surveillance or research for seasonal flu. It was not as complicated as this AI research/surveillance. For example, when we received fund from the Department of National Education (Diknas) or Research and Technology (ristek), the question that reviewers asked was always whether or not the collected data and specimens would be sent out to Japan? As you might have been aware, almost all of Indonesian stakeholders know that Unair (and me) had a stronger collaboration with Japan than with any other instances on this AI research. So I and my team didn’t want to be in any position to choose with whom we should collaborate with.

I therefore regretted if Shinya accused me of trapping Makino to get caught. Yes I was very close with my quarantined friends but I wouldn’t be that stupid to get myself hung by Indonesian government and Unair leaders. Come to think of it, it must have been the three of them: Makino, Yamaoka and Shinya who got me trapped so Indonesian government and people lost faith in me. Something that obviously didn’t come from Unair was said it came from Unair. Something that was not zoonosis was said to be zoonosis. Two words that cannot be separated from me are Unair and Zoonosis. So, nobody should have blamed those people in Airport Monitoring Team (including those quarantined people) for contacting me. Unfortunately I was in Jakarta at that time and only reachable at noon.

If I were the one who trapped Makino, the whole time Makino was in Surabaya, I never met her because I had a meeting with FAO-WHO-Health Department (of Indonesia) in Jakarta, and according to those working in the lab, Makino never showed up at AI Lab at all. So how was I supposed to know her activities and her departure-arrival schedule? According to the information received from the airport, there was indeed instruction from Jakarta. It was not only in Surabaya, but it was also in Jakarta, Medan, Bali and Makassar that an operation (at international airports) was taking place. I heard that at the very same day there were some other guys also got caught carrying biological materials at other airports. They said that (this operation was done) because there had been some attempts smuggling a protected plant out of Indonesia. At that time I told Shinya to postpone Makino’s plan, at least until the election of ministers done, may be around October. I heard that these days there had been a lot of government officials showing off by doing impromptu operations, that way they hoped they could be re-elected for the next term. Honestly, I tried to control the press really hard in order to avoid any news about this incident. According to the “Quarantine” team, the Government Official was very angry at the Airport Officer for not holding Makino. Maybe what Shinya, Yamaoka or Makino and even Yoshi sensei (if had been persuaded by Shinya) have in mind right now is angry toward me. That’s OK with me because I don’t think they understand what actually is going on. They only care about their own agenda without thinking about everybody else.

6. Back to the sample and data of AI virus, it’s only me who can take them out (sorry, if this sounds very authoritative). So there must be some differences between the data reported by Yamaoka as well as what Shinya sensei has and the actual one in Surabaya lab. Surveillance activity is still going on, including the one with LDCC Team in South Sulawesi and Maros. So is in West Java and Medan. Including pigs from bali and Bulan Island, through passive surveillance. Our team conducting surveillance at markets in Surabaya every 3 days started at 3:00AM and stored at certain places because they have to get back to their classes in college. So the samples were usually taken in the afternoon, around 10:00PM or 11:00PM. So how Yamaoka knew about this? Yamaoka didn’t do anything almost everyday (because there was someone else who did everything for Yamaoka) and left for home latest by 05:00PM. Never showed up on Saturday or Sunday.

7. Honestly, Miss, I don’t like this kind of situation. I want it to be like it used to be, believed in each other, respected and understood each other’s position. I don’t know if this situation can be fixed or not. I just hope this misunderstanding can be straightened out somehow. But if it can’t, then be it. We’re ready for even the worst possibility. I have instructed all AI team to limit using materials from Kobe’s aid. So that they won’t get used to with high-quality materials such as tips, syringes, etc. We have started using wholesale-purchase tips, and do-it-yourself autoclaved. We encouraged them that we could do it with or without any (foreign) aid. I told them that back in 2003, I could discover AI virus in Indonesia with anybody’s aid. This cooperation has given me a good lesson that we should not stop trying just because an aid has been given from this cooperation. For PPE (BSL-3 Clothing), we have been trying to get aid from Bird Flu national Committee. WHO will also fund us to do surveillance at the endemic areas. So I’m looking forward to Shinya’s good deeds to get back into this cooperation like it used to be. Or she might believe in her own thoughts and those who are contra-productive to this cooperation. Of course, Shinya has the desire to recover this condition to a better one, but it has to be in one condition: trust and respect each other and most importantly no “betrayal” (just joking)…

I can’t believe that I have poured my heart out in [more than] one page [of a newspaper] long! Sorry for taking your time.

Thank you and God bless you, Miss Ida.

Saluut,

Nidom

This weaponized H5N1 series by The 5th Estate continues and will continue - indenfinitely.  

Japanese government authorities along with Kobe University have refused to comment on this series despite many repeated requests from The 5th Estate.

Bahasa Indonesia English translation by Imas Kurniawati-Finnegan 

Images:  Google royalty free unless otherwise attributed.

Robert S. Finnegan is a retired journalism professor and investigative reporter/editor.  He served on active duty as an NCO in the United States Marine Corps between 1975 and 1984, and continues to serve the Marine Corps today, once in - never out.  He resides in Jakarta and Garut Indonesia with his spouse photographer and Indonesian national Imas Kurniawati.

Read more »