Outsourcing the Dirty War in Afghanistan

[Judi Lynn]

Erica GastonHuman rights lawyer based in Kabul, Afghanistan
Posted: September 29, 2010 09:17 PM
Outsourcing the Dirty War in Afghanistan

A big revelation from Bob Woodward's new book "Obama's Wars" is that the CIA maintains a 3000-strong Afghan paramilitary force that conducts cross-border operations into Pakistan. Though news to the U.S. public, these abusive paramilitary forces are unfortunately far too well known to many Afghan civilians.

As a human rights researcher in Afghanistan for the last two years, I have found that some of the worst behavior toward civilians comes from these CIA paramilitary forces. Civilians described how these groups, often called "campaign forces", used disproportionate and indiscriminate force, throwing grenades or firing into homes without provocation during night-time house raids. Those who were detained by these paramilitary forces described being beaten, gun-butted, or otherwise abused.

Many civilians believe that assassinations and targeted killings that are publicly blamed on NATO forces or insurgents are actually carried out by these paramilitary forces. In the most publicized incident to date, these paramilitary forces attacked the police headquarters in Kandahar city, killing the chief of police.

Former detainees frequently report semi-permanent detention facilities at the campaign force bases. Given the secrecy surrounding these forces, verifying any of these claims is nearly impossible. Although significant reforms have been made to improve the transparency of U.S. detention practices, the detention practices of these rogue forces, like the rest of their conduct, is a black hole.

More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erica-gaston/outsourcing-the-dirty-war_b_744618.html

[Scuba]

1. Criminal.