Afghan who died in U.S. custody complained of snake bite, American command

[Judi Lynn]

Afghan who died in U.S. custody complained of snake bite, American commander says



Associated Press
January 3, 2005

KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan who died in U.S. military custody last year had complained that he was bitten by a snake hours before an army medic found his lifeless body, an American commander said Monday, rejecting suggestions that the man had been mistreated.

Sher Mohammed Khan died in September at Camp Salerno, an American base in the eastern province of Khost. U.S. forces detained him during a raid on his home in which his brother was fatally shot.
(snip)

Human Rights Watch last month cited the case in an open letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld accusing the Pentagon of dragging its feet on clearing up the circumstances in which at least eight detainees have died in Afghanistan.

Khan's family told Afghan rights investigators his body had bruises when they retrieved it from the base, Human Rights Watch said.
(snip/...)

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/8762.html

[jukes]

1. i'll buy that

for a dollar.

[leftchick]

2. how uh, *cough* imaginative!

:eyes:

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. Oh that's a good excuse

I suppose it's possible.

Nice of us to take such good care of our POW's, oh excuse me, enemy combatants.

Even if this is true, the prisioner reported the problem and nothing was done about it, then we are still responisble for his death. It is fairly easy to check and see if he had fresh puncture wounds or other signs of being biten and it's not like our troops are not educated about the dangers of venomous snakes that live in the region.


Army Docs, Nurses Offer Health Care To Soldiers, Afghan Citizens

<snip>

And there were other hazards. Rodents were a problem at camp, not so much for disease but for the predators they attracted - snakes. Afghanistan has 270 varieties of snakes and 52 are poisonous, including the aggressive Saw-Scaled Viper. A bite from this snake could prove fatal. Soldiers received strong and consistent guidance regarding the storage of food in their tent that could attract rodents and, subsequently snakes.

http://www.goarmy.com/amedd/news_detail.jsp?pr=pr2004104e&sec=common

[Pam-Moby]

4. Like they would tell the truth

Like the Army's Criminal Investigation Division would truthfully state that he wwas beaten to death if they had found him that way. Someone would pay with their career with a statement such as that.

[CRK7376]

5. I saw

several nasty, vicious vipers while I was in Afghanistan. Gave them a wide margin. I also had a young 10yo Afghan boy die on our team when his family brought him to our compound 3-4 days after he too had been bitten by a viper. We called for a MEDEVAC, it got there, loaded the boy and began to fly away, then relanded, the boy had died. We tried our best, but this kid was too far gone when the parents first brought him to us.

As for how we treat the POWs that is despicable! Makes my job 10x harder when I deal with the local populace, knowing that they know how we treat prisoners, that we fail to follow Geneva COnventions. Land of the Free and Home of the Brave...gets very, very frustrating. Thankfully, I'm no longer in Afghanistan or the other quagmire, but back in the states, for now...

[0007]

6. cough cough...

[0007]

7. The only bad ass snake I could in Afghanstan, I'm sure there's many!

Characteristics: Very little is known about this species. It apparently is rare or seldom seen. This viper is very irritable; it hisses, coils, and strikes at any intruder that ventures too close. Its venom is highly hemotoxic, causing great pain and tissue damage.