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| Afghanistan | |
| US military destroyed my soul: Afghan reporter | |
| 2008-09-24 | |
| An Afghan journalist held for nearly a year in Afghanistan said Tuesday he would stop at nothing to get justice to compensate for the "hell" he went through at the torturing hands of the U.S. military. Jawed Ahmad, a 22-year-old reporter who worked for Canadian TV (CTV), was detained Oct. 26, 2007, at a NATO base near the southern city of Kandahar. He was initially labeled by the U.S. military as "an unlawful enemy combatant" but was released 11 months later without charge. Ahmad was accused of having contact with Taliban leaders, including possessing their telephone numbers and video footage of them.
"I was tortured and jailed for 11 months and 20 days for doing nothing," he said in Kabul. "They have destroyed my future, my soul. I'll fight until they apologize to me and give me back what I have lost," he said. Ahmad, also known as Jo Jo, said his U.S. captors had tortured him by depriving him of sleep for nine days, beating him and putting him in a cell with "mentally sick" prisoners who had attacked him and broken two of his ribs. Ahmad also said he was repeatedly kicked, that his head was slammed into a table and forced to stand barefoot in the snow, which led to him to pass out twice. Asked how he would fight, Ahmad said: "I'm not a terrorist, I have never been a terrorist. I'm a journalist. With the help of other journalists and human rights (organizations), I'll fight for my rights." His allegations could not be independently verified and the U.S. military headquarters at Bagram rejected the charge. "We don't have any evidence of his mistreatment while in detention here," U.S. Captain Christian Patterson said. | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #24 Sorry about the 2x post. Middle of a satellite transmission error. |
| Posted by: Skunky Glins 5*** 2008-09-24 21:59 |
| #23 "I want justice. I'll knock the doors of (U.S.) Congress, I'll go to (U.S. President George W.) Bush, I'll go to (Democratic presidential hopeful) Obama, to everywhere and everyone until I get justice," ... Sure, Jawed, talk to everyone, just avoid McCain, the one person who might just explain to you what real torture looks like. |
| Posted by: Skunky Glins 5*** 2008-09-24 21:55 |
| #22 "I want justice. I'll knock the doors of (U.S.) Congress, I'll go to (U.S. President George W.) Bush, I'll go to (Democratic presidential hopeful) Obama, to everywhere and everyone until I get justice," ... Sure, Jawed, talk to everyone, just avoid McCain, the one person who might just explain to you what real torture looks like. |
| Posted by: Skunky Glins 5*** 2008-09-24 21:54 |
| #21 Who destroyed the souls of the rest 1300 million Muslims? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-09-24 19:29 |
| #20 #18 Sometimes I get the idea that there's no difference between Islam and America. Posted by: Ebbavins the Wicked1478 2008-09-24 13:46 Jeeez Eb, it looks like you may have used a little too much chickenwire while crafting your tin-foil hat. |
| Posted by: Uncle Phester 2008-09-24 17:10 |
| #19 ""I want justice. I'll knock the doors of (U.S.) Congress.." How's that rock n roll song go: " I'd like to help you sone, but You're too dumb to vote..." something like that. go away little boy. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2008-09-24 14:29 |
| #18 Sometimes I get the idea that there's no difference between Islam and America. |
| Posted by: Ebbavins the Wicked1478 2008-09-24 13:46 |
| #17 If the US were the Great Satan portrayed we would have handed him over to allies who are not squeamish about actual torture. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-09-24 12:28 |
| #16 his U.S. captors tortured him by ... putting him in a cell with "mentally sick" prisoners who had attacked him and broken two of his ribs. Sounds like regular Taliban and Al Qaeda suspects to me. |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2008-09-24 11:18 |
| #15 I'm very confused : reporters have souls? Wow. That's very interesting, in fact, it means they are a whole lot more like human beings than I thought, it's as if they only lack the ability to distinguish right from wrong. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2008-09-24 11:07 |
| #14 "We don't have any evidence of his mistreatment while in detention here," U.S. Captain Christian Patterson said Nobody keeps evidence of torture. This kind of shit doesn't make anyone look good. |
| Posted by: Shumble Peacock2142 2008-09-24 10:16 |
| #13 We need to stop these catch and release tactics. It only emboldens the enemy. Now catch and string 'em up... |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-09-24 09:43 |
| #12 Will they be selling it on EBay? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-09-24 08:55 |
| #11 he's gonna knock on the doors of congress huh. someone thinks alot of himself especially since he's not an american citizen For some congressman - being a journalist-terrorist would give him far greater access than mere american citizenship would IMHO. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2008-09-24 08:40 |
| #10 Get back Jo Jo Get back where you belong |
| Posted by: Mullah Lodabullah 2008-09-24 08:29 |
| #9 Ahmad was accused of having contact with Taliban leaders, including possessing their telephone numbers and video footage of them. How many of those Taliban leaders have met the booming end of a missile since then, I wonder? And how many of those who didn't will be willing to be video taped by their dear friend Mr. Ahmad, now? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-09-24 08:11 |
| #8 he's gonna knock on the doors of congress huh. someone thinks alot of himself especially since he's not an american citizen |
| Posted by: sinse 2008-09-24 08:00 |
| #7 "I want justice. I'll knock the doors of (U.S.) Congress, I'll go to (U.S. President George W.) Bush, I'll go to (Democratic presidential hopeful) Obama, to everywhere and everyone until I get justice," ..... |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2008-09-24 07:59 |
| #6 Some terrorists fight with a gun, some with a camera. I'm sure that they don't arrest and jail people for being journalists, though I can think of a few I'd love to see in the slam. Suck it up son, you got busted and did a relatively short stretch for an unlawful enemy combatant. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-09-24 07:57 |
| #5 Kill him and lose the body? Its still not too late. Find someone who needs the money and get a cutout to offer to pay him what the job is worth. Then bye-bye Jawed Ahmad. Put a tail on him and find out where he goes, then tag him in a quiet spot between point A and Point B. Then: Just do a snatch and put him in a mailbag. Do we have any flights to somewhere about 35,000 feet over the Indian Ocean? Get Guido to handle it. Allocate the money thru Clemenza. |
| Posted by: Angleton9 2008-09-24 06:38 |
| #4 if we were the Great Satan. The World would be a better place. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-09-24 06:31 |
| #3 Because we're not the Great Satan. If we were the Great Satan, we'd kill him and when Amnesia International complained we'd say, "Sure. Of course we killed him. We're the Great Satan. It's in the rules, we're allowed to wax him. And you too if you get too yippy. Now scram." That is, if we were the Great Satan. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2008-09-24 02:47 |
| #2 Come to think of it, why didn't we? |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-09-24 00:45 |
| #1 If we are as evil as he claims, then why did we not just kill him and lose the body? |
| Posted by: GlenmoreInColorado 2008-09-24 00:34 |