Military Resistance 10G25
Hysterical U.S. General Blocked Investigation Of Corruption And “Auschwitz-Like” Hell At Kabul Military Hospital:
He Knew About “Open Vats Of Blood Draining Out Of Soldiers’ Wounds, Feces On The Floor’ And Patients Suffering With Maggots”
“Lt. Gen. Caldwell Screamed At These Three Officers, Waving His Finger At Them For Trying To Bring In The DOD IG”
“The General Did Not Want Bad News To Leave His Command”
Defense Department Later Issued A Memorandum Ordering “The Destruction Of Evidence”
[Thanks to Garett Reppenhagen, Iraq Veterans Against The War & Alan Stolzer, Military Resistance Organization, who sent this in.]
At the hearing, the military officers spoke of the lack of discipline and rule of law that informed corruption in Afghanistan on a grand scale which prevented them from realising their mission.
One committee member described as “the most honest and unvarnished assessment of Afghanistan that Congress has ever heard”.
24 July 2012 By Karen McVeigh in New York, Guardian News and Media Limited & By LARRY MARGASAK, The Huffington Post & 25 Jul 2012 Al Jazeera
Lieutenant General William Caldwell was in charge of training Afghan forces when complaints about corruption and conditions at US-funded Dawood National Military Hospital, including “open vats of blood draining out of soldiers’ wounds, feces on the floor” and patients suffering with maggots, were brought to his attention.
US military officers told Congress on Tuesday he obstructed an investigation into the hospital because he was under “enormous pressure to present a positive image of the war effort” during the 2010 US midterm election year.
One active-duty officer testified that the three-star general, Lieutenant General William Caldwell, who headed the training mission in Afghanistan, forced him to retract a request for an inspector general’s investigation into the Dawood national military hospital.
Colonel Mark Fassl, said he was shocked when Caldwell brought up the 2010 congressional elections and said: “How could we do this or make this request with an election coming? He calls me Bill.”
Fassl, who was inspector general for the compound, said he believed it was a reference to President Barack Obama.
Fassl, testified that the Afghan generals he tried to train in investigative techniques were themselves people who had taken bribes. He said Afghans used the techniques he taught to continue their corruption without getting prosecuted.
Two retired colonels who worked with training command also told the House oversight and government reform committee that Caldwell did not want an inspector general’s report of the hospital. In testimony submitted ahead of the hearing, retired Colonel Gerald Carozza, who served as adviser to the US campaign in Afghanistan, said:
“The evidence is clear to me that General Caldwell had the request for a probe withdrawn and postponed until after the election and then, after the election, tried to intimidate his subordinates into a consensus that it need not move forward at all.”
He went on: “The general did not want bad news to leave his command before the election or after the election.”
At the hearing, officers described the extent of human suffering at the hospital, where the lack of care forced families of soldiers to empty “vats of blood draining from their wounds”. When asked to describe the scene at the hospital, Fassl said it lacked basic facilities. Hygiene was poor and the hospital lacked soap, heat and the means to boil water, he said.
“There were open vats of blood draining out of soldiers’ wounds, there was feces on the floor. There were many family members taking care of their loved ones. The family members were emptying these vats of blood to help their patients out.”
Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Afghan soldiers often died from neglect or lack of food as some Afghan doctors and nurses demanded bribes for food.
Fassl said he had expected Caldwell to insist on going to the hospital to find out what was going on.
Caldwell is now head of the US army north command and senior commander of Fort Sam Houston in Texas. Colonel Wayne Shanks, spokeman for the command, said: “I am sure that Lieutenant General Caldwell would welcome the opportunity to respond to any inquiry, and I’m confident that once the facts are presented and examined, all allegations will be proven false.”
At the hearing, the military officers spoke of the lack of discipline and rule of law that informed corruption in Afghanistan on a grand scale which prevented them from realising their mission.
One committee member described as “the most honest and unvarnished assessment of Afghanistan that Congress has ever heard”.
A memo written by another committee witness, retired air force colonel Schuyler Geller, a command surgeon attached to the training mission, confirmed poor treatment and corruption and that Caldwell did not want an inspector general’s investigation.
Geller told the hearing that when military officials came to visit the hospital they got a “dog and pony show” that covered up the abuse.
Geller wrote in a memo that he was at a briefing presented to Caldwell about the need for an investigation.
“LTG Caldwell continued to press for why any external review should be called,” Geller said. “It became clear he did not support the investigation.”
Geller said Caldwell raised his voice and told one participant, “You should have known better.” He said Caldwell then made the same statement to Geller and another participant.
The surgeon added he was not allowed to speak to the media about his memo.
Caldwell eventually agreed to request a limited investigation, but Carozza said it “would not mention the Auschwitz-like conditions at the national military hospital”.
Committee officials said the inspector general has now opened two investigations in response to complaints over the response of Caldwell and a deputy, now Major General Gary Patton.
One concerns the Military Whistleblower Protection Act, which stops commanders from restricting subordinates’ communication with the inspector general.
The second involves allegations of reprisal from a complainant who alleged that Caldwell and Patton cited partisan reasons for requesting postponement of an investigation until after the 2010 elections.
Retired Army Col. Gerald Carozza Jr., who was chief of legal development assisting the Afghan Army and defense ministry, also said Caldwell expressed concern that the request was too close to the 2010 congressional elections.
But Carozza added that in his view, Caldwell “did not want the request to go to the DOD IG (Defense Department inspector general) at all.”
Carozza said he spoke to three officers who were called to a meeting with Caldwell, and all of them offered the same description of the general’s comments.
“Lt. Gen. Caldwell screamed at these three officers, waving his finger at them for trying to bring in the DOD IG,” Carozza said.
The general was quoted as saying, “There is nothing wrong in this command that we can’t fix ourselves.”
Carozza said he was in a meeting with Caldwell’s deputy, Patton, when Patton “informed the group that Lt. Gen. Caldwell was upset about making the request to DOD IG so close to the election and we were to consider postponing it until afterwards.”
“It was a stunning moment for me,” Carozza said.
Carozza said the committee should be considering a broader issue than conditions at the hospital. “What this hearing should about are attempts to over-control the message,” he said in his testimony.
“It is about some leadership that puts the best foot forward and relies on the hard built reputation earned by the military to soften any belief that there is a need to see the other foot.”
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who chaired the panel, told the witnesses, “It takes commitment and guts” for them to testify. He added, “this is not over.” Chaffetz displayed pictures of patients with horrible injuries who were not receiving care from medical personnel.
Chaffetz introduced a Sept. 12, 2011, memo from the training command that he described as an attempt to destroy evidence.
The memo ordered destruction or deletion of unofficial audio and video recordings and photos of patients and conditions at the hospital.
“Under no circumstances will they be shared outside of this command, transmitted via email, posted to the internet, or duplicated in any way without prior approval of the Command Surgeon....” the memo said.
Chaffetz said after the hearing: “With an ongoing IG investigation and a looming congressional inquiry, the Defense Department issued a memorandum announcing the destruction of evidence.
“The lack of transparency with lawmakers, the inspector general, and the American people is stunning.”
MORE:
Photos From The Dawood Military Hospital:
“If Any Soldier Left Over There Still Thinks That The Mission Is Just, Or That Our Intentions Are For The Benefit For The Afghan People, He Should Take A Look At This:
“From Abu Ghraib To Walter Reed To Dawood Hospital, The Only Theme That Stays Consistent Is:
“It Is Not In The Economic Or Political Interests Of American Oligarchy To Observe Democracy, Freedom, Or Human Rights”
“These Elitist Pigs Do Not Care About The People They Colonize, And They Sure As Fuck Don’t Care About You!”
Comment:
By Jeff Englehart, Iraq Veteran & Military Resistance Organization, who sent this in.
“Did you see this shit?!
“This is one for GI RESISTANCE.
“If any soldier left over there still thinks that the mission is just, or that our intentions are for the benefit for the Afghan people, he should take a look at this and think long and hard what our “War on Terror” really means.
“From Abu Ghraib to Walter Reed to Dawood Hospital, the only theme that stays consistent is this: It is not in the economic or political interests of American oligarchy to observe democracy, freedom, or human rights.
“These elitist pigs do not care about the people they colonize, and they sure as fuck don’t care about you!”
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Comment by Pham Binh, Military Resistance Organization:
“Maybe this is why Afghan soldiers and cops keep killing our guys.”
***************************************************************************************
Jul 27, 2012 By Rebecca Elliott & Michael Hastings; BuzzFeed Staff [Excerpts]
The photos and corresponding descriptions were collected by U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan.
Colonel Gerald Nicholas Carozza: “Patients were lying in filth, in some cases starving and with grotesque bed sores. One patient was on the brink of starving to death.”
A patient’s untreated wound:
“The Patients’ Bill of Rights posters were found ripped off the walls lying on the ground torn to pieces ‘to allow for painting of the walls’”
“The Auschwitz like conditions at the National Military Hospital.”
Maggots began falling out of this patient’s wounds. He died a week later.
Gangrene set in, making this patient a candidate for amputation. The surgeon refused to “address the issue for days,” according to the investigation.
External Fixation device. Bandages unattended for > 1 week, soiled, malodorous. Wound management team summoned on insistence of mentor(s). Maggots found among purulent draining fixation sites.”
Investigators described this as “a sacral decubitus lesion with high grade tunneling.” There were no plans for surgery for this patient.
“Drain insertion through and through sinus track. No pre-procedure pain Rx, non-sterile technique done in ‘wound care room.’”
This patient was not treated for three days, given no wound checks, and his dressings were soiled.
He was not given any analgesics prior to his surgery, and remained conscious. U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan at the time described his surgery taking place in “semi-sterile conditions.”
This patient died 4 days later of peritonitis related sepsis without ever going back to operating room for care.
Col. Geller: “When Col Pagel, accompanied by a young USMC Capt. attorney, asked me if there was any reason to believe LTG Caldwell delayed the investigations into the NMH I replied: ‘Any reason to believe? I know it for a fact.’”
Col. Geller: “Today, not just in 2010 or 2011, individuals...who perpetrated...unspeakable abuses upon Afghan soldiers, civilians and family members walk the halls of the Daoud Khan hospital unrepentant, unscathed, enriched, and still unprosecuted.”
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AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS
Cascade Native Killed In Afghanistan
This undated photo provided by the Department of Defense shows Sgt. Michael E. Ristau, 25, of Rockford, Ill. Ristau died July 13, 2012, from wounds sustained when his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device in Zabul Province in Afghanistan. He was assigned to 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Stryker Brigade at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, in Washington state. (AP Photo/Department of Defense)
July 19, 2012By DUBUQUE TELEGRAPH HERALD
CASCADE, Iowa --- A U.S. Army sergeant who was a native of Cascade was killed Friday after his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.
Sgt. Michael E. Ristau, 26, of Rockford, Ill., died in Qalat in the Zabul province from wounds he received in the enemy attack, according to a release on the U.S. Department of Defense website.
Ristau’s family issued the following statement Sunday afternoon: “Sgt. Michael Ristau, husband, father, son, brother, died serving the country that he loved. He will live on forever in our memories. Though his time on Earth was short, his impact was huge. We have lost our Michael, but we are still so proud of him and his choice to serve our nation. He had a tremendous love for life and was passionate about bull riding. He leaves behind a wife, two sons and many family and friends. We want to thank all of our friends, family, community and the nation for their prayers and support during this time of great loss.”
Ristau was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., the agency said. He was in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Ristau graduated from Lincoln’s Challenge Academy in Waveland, Miss., in 2004.
Ristau joined the Army in July 2004 and had been at Lewis-McChord since he completed his training. The Army said he deployed to Afghanistan with his brigade in December. It previously served in Iraq from June 2006 to August 2007.
He was married to Elizabeth Ristau, and they have one son, Hyle Lee Ristau, who was born at Tacoma on Nov. 28, 2011, just days before Michael Ristau deployed to Afghanistan.
According to Battle Company Project, the 26-year-old was a “brave, quiet young soldier.” He was one of 160 soldiers in the Battle Company Project.
POLITICIANS REFUSE TO HALT THE BLOODSHED
THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THE WAR
MILITARY NEWS
Soldier-Killing Traitors In Command At DoD:
Army Denying Life-SavingPalantirIED DetectionSoftware To Troops:
“The Army Stands Accused Of Destroying Internal Reports That Favor Palantir Over Its Own System”
July 26, 2012By Justin Fishel, FoxNews.com
Congress is set to launch an investigation into a brewing Army scandal over the difficulty some units have had in securing a software system designed to predict the location of roadside bombs -- the No. 1 killer of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Though the software, called Palantir, is already being used by some troops in Afghanistan, more units have been requesting it and some of those requests remain unfulfilled.
The 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division sent a request in May citing an “urgent need” for the intelligence-gathering system and has yet to receive it.
What’s more alarming, said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a member of the House Armed Services Committee, is that the Army stands accused of destroying internal reports that favor Palantir over its own system.
“The problem is (the Army) fell in love with their own software,” Hunter told Fox News.
Hunter, a former Marine who has served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, sees it as a life-or-death issue and has formally requested an investigation by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. “Lives are at stake,” Hunter told Fox News.
“The idea that ground combat units in Afghanistan are being denied intelligence tools that are requested and readily available is unsettling and underscores a major failure in a process that is intended to deliver resources to the warfighter as quickly as possible,” Hunter wrote in a letter to the committee. “This is evidently a systemic problem that cannot go unaddressed.”
His office expects the investigation to be announced in the coming days.