President Obama Orders National Security Team to Review 2001 Afghanistan Massacre

If we don't at least pretend to care about mass murder, we betray our ideals and play into the hands of our enemies.

Skip...As usual I again need to repeat..Don't put your make believe spin on my comments..I have NO IDEA what was the reasoning behind the warlords actions, DON'T CARE.. .NOT GOING TO CRY AND LOSE SLEEP OVER THE LOSS OF TALIBAN LIVES; futhermore, unless you were there, you have no idea either. With that said, AGAIN, I am ONLY concerned with our soldiers and if they are required to use force or kill in order to save their or their buddies lives so be it..Something you have obviously do not understand. As far as your opinion on the Geneva Convention rules go, I would say you have an misguided view on international laws...Can't pick and choose..Can't argue for the Geneva Convention for only one side...

Parallex View | Jul 13, 2009 5:44:26 PM

I'm just not going to buy into justification for the 'eye for an eye' argument. To me there is a lot more to being the good guys besides the good guys being us and the bad guys being them. If we're going to claim to be the good guys then we have to really be the good guys and in this case that means conforming to our agreements in regards to the Geneva Conventions regardless of whether our enemies do or not. You certainly cannot prove that our treatment of prisoners does not effect how our POWs will be treated. Several captured soldiers have been rescued which shows that they are not all being immediately killed.

"BUT YOU DO NEED TO BE IN A LIFE AND DEATH SITUATION TO UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF SELF-DEFENSE"

What does this have to do with self-defense? Am I to understand that you believe this warlord's men were in immediate danger and defending themselves when they killed unarmed prisoners by the busload and threw them in a ditch?

Yeah Skip, the Geneva Convention has worked great for our side...LOL As shown below:

Capt Micheal Speicher, (MIA), USArmy Spec Ahemd Alatie (missing/captured), USArmy Spec Keith Maupin (missing/captured), USArmy Spec Byron Fouty (missing/captured), USARMY Alex Jimenez (missing/captured, USARMY J Anzack (missing/captured)found shot and tortured....SHALL I GO ON...Please note that most are missing or captured???? Who knows, but I am pretty sure that according the your "Geneva Convention" there is a protection clause for family rights in other words let the other side know you have captured their person..

As far as my previous statement and your rebuttal, No you do not have to be in the military to have an opinion..BUT YOU DO NEED TO BE IN A LIFE AND DEATH SITUATION TO UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF SELF-DEFENSE AT THE POINT OF KILLING ANOTHER HUMAN IN ORDER TO SURVIVE...DON'T SPIN MY STATEMENT IN ORDER TO FLUFF UP YOUR REBUTTAL...

"An afghany warlord killing Talibans has nothing to do with us. What he was doing n our payroll will also not affect our history."

Well if you're so confident then you shouldn't have any concern over an investigation. After all, Obama has been more supportive of Bush intelligence policies than most Democrats have liked.

danita---------------If there's one thing after my 20 years of military service, I don't see colors, I see people. Black, white. yellow or blue means nothing to me. The effort is what we are all after. While I am sure having Obama as our first is significant to many, it is not surprising at all to me as I have worked with Powell and many high ranking intelligent individuals of color. I want him to get the job done and I don't believe this issue is worthy of our resources and attention. It gives the appearance of trying to take our attention off reall issues affecting us today.

Posted by: danita"""""""""""""""""""""It's just plain sad you don't understand or can't acknowledge the significance of what happened in terms of American history. Even for one brief moment """""""""""
And you don't understand this has NOTHING to do with American History. It has zero significance to American history. An afghany warlord killing Talibans has nothing to do with us. What he was doing n our payroll will also not affect our history.

Axey | Jul 13, 2009 2:49:02 PM

I believe 'chickenhawk' was coined by the new junior senator from Minnesota: Al Franken.

And I don't think I'm making a chickenhawk argument since I'm not a hawk.

lfrichar . ...

It's just plain sad you don't understand or can't acknowledge the significance of what happened in terms of American history. Even for one brief moment . . .

Posted by: danita """""""To throw off those chains and prejudices of the past . ... it's a tremendous light for the entire world.""""""
We don't elect presidents for anything but working for the better of our people. While it is nice that we have this "tremendous light" effect around the world, he wasn't elected because of his skin color. The stimulus was passed to save us "from the brink" in Obama's words. We are no further from the brink now than we were then. If anything, indicators are worsening. We could better use our resources elsewhere.

Posted by: Chip Jul 13, 2009 3:29:05 PM

Now that was a good post.

Posted by: Skip """""""It sounds to me like you guys would desperately like us to ignore this particular article about war crimes for some reason. """""""
Then print the article of a congressionary medal of honor winner dying yesterday. If you are bringing up some warlord killing Talibans, then let's show some respect for the war heros too. ABC is completely in Obama's pocket and it makes me sick. The Talibans certainly haven't shown the same reguard for any of their prisoners or people for that matter. "Eye for an eye" comes to mind, but WE don't know what went on with Taliban and warlords anyway and as crazy as they have all proven to be, we shouldn't care or waste resources on what might have happened. Let's put resources in what we need for our country.

Hi Danita,

You wrote...

What an amazing thing that a descendant of American slaves is now the First Lady in the White House!

-----------

Didn't MLK tell us that it should not be the color of the skin, but the content of the character?

In that light, a certain school-teacher from Texas handled her term in the the White House with grace and class for 8 years. Let's wait to judge Mrs. Obama's handling of this position for a little longer and see how she does...

Hmmm..Dostum who long fought the Taliban, before we even knew who they were decided to take the opportunity to kill captured Taliban...no surprise, he is a warlord. Note that, WARLORD, these guys are not generals who adhere to a West Point Moral Code. Moral codes are different among the tribal elements in Afghanistan. Any book that covers the region explains that clearly. Prior to the US invasion, the Taliban killed thousands of Dostum's people. This is now tribal war is waged. If you are from a different tribe, you can be killed onsite, no questions asked because it is not a crime. As outsiders we try and impose or moral codes on these people and are laughed at for our weakness. These cultures are older and drastically different from ours. While we in the west should not condone it, we should not criticize it either. I suggest people read a few books on Afghanistan and the rise of the Taliban. Its not a clean history, warlords change sides often.

Posted by: danita""""""""""""""'On the other hand, we should not condone horrific acts just cause they're done by 'our' side."""""""""""
I am not condonig them, but I don't put the blame on the CIA just because this guys name was on a list of people we paid off. ABCNews is bltantly quick to try and link the previous administration with anything they can to make their Obama look good. I want Obama to do what he has promised and fix what he has to fix. he also said the past is just that and he wasn't going to worry about it. But, he can't control congress and they are running their own little agenda. Obama needs to control his congressional dems and focus on us right now.

"Are we talking about saving the US of a deep economic hole or are we trying to remember again Bush admon practices ???"

Why are these things mutually exclusive? There are articles today on this ABC page about the stimulus and healthcare. It sounds to me like you guys would desperately like us to ignore this particular article about war crimes for some reason. We've decided to walk and chew gum at the same time.

"Danita, do you hate this country? All of your posts are almost guilty until proven innocent."

I don't hate the country at all, and I think President Obama is excellent!

What an amazing thing that a descendant of American slaves is now the First Lady in the White House!

On the other hand, we should not condone horrific acts just cause they're done by 'our' side.

Why the heck would we care about anything but making sure our honorable George Bush abd his fine, upstanding vp are free of any fault. To hell with anyone who is not a Christian conservative. We're the only "saved ones" that really count.

POLITICS or POLL-ITICS

Polls are the barometer of politicians.
It seems like they only look at the polls to take real decisions.

Latest polls showed an underperforming in Obama´s economic policies, and therefore we have breakfast today with "CHENEY and the secret CIA files".

But, ... are we talking about economy or about Mr Cheney ???
Are we talking about saving the US of a deep economic hole or are we trying to remember again Bush admon practices ???

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have voted for a change. Let´s look into the future and solve current problems. Stop looking back and blaming others. Concentrate please on the real issues affecting us now !!!

Ohio unemployment rate is at 10,8%, together with Indiana, the highest since the 80s.
700 billion dollar stimulus plan is not reacting in a quick manner, and some analysts wonder if a new one is coming ...
We are running out of time, since that huge amount of money put into the system, is not to be having effect in 4 years time. It is a shock plan to react now !!!... At least, that is what mr Obama said to the congress to be approved not that long time ago.

Are we again playing media games to tell people..." Maybe I am not that good predicting economy holes, but look how I try to close GUANTANAMO or how I blame Cheney for those past terms ".

Mr Obama, you received thousands of new democrat votes to do 2 things:

- Improve the economic chaos we are in now.
- Improve our international relations with arabs, russia and China.

Well, till now. You get a C- in all your semester marks.

Let´s hope you receive B or A+ in the next months. But concentrate please on real issues, not in POLLS that make you nervous and make you become as those you criticised so much during your campaign.

Jose Luis Revilla Escudero
Chairman & CEO
WWShares, Inc
-Global Wealth Management-
www.worldwideshares.blogspot.com

All, this is yet another attempt (and a lame one) to attack the previous administration in times of war. Why we can't worry about today is beyond me, but IF this warlord was on the CIA payroll, I have to believe it didn't say "we will pay you to slaughter Talibans". Being on the payroll and his actions are most likely 2 different things.
Danita, do you hate this country? All of your posts are almost guilty until proven innocent. Our country has a serious problem with people trying to enter it not run away. Our morals are just fine, but sometimes bad things happen in war. Our idiots in Congress need to focus on now, not then.