Jeremy Morlock, 23, tells US military court he was part of a ‘kill team’ that faked combat situations to murder Afghan civilians An American soldier has pleaded guilty to being part of a “kill team” who deliberately murdered Afghan civilians for sport last year. Army Specialist Jeremy Morlock, 23, told a military court he had helped to kill three unarmed Afghans. “The plan was to kill people, sir,” he told an army judge in Fort Lea, near Seattle, after his plea. The case has caused outraged headlines around the world. In a series of videotaped confessions to investigators, some of which have been broadcast on American television, Morlock detailed how he and other members of his Stryker brigade set up and faked combat situations so that they could kill civilians who posed no threat to them. Four other soldiers are still to come to trial over the incidents. The case is a PR disaster for America’s military and has been compared to the notorious incidents of torture that emerged from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. This week the German magazine Der Spiegel published three pictures that showed American soldiers, including Morlock, posing with the corpse of a young Afghan boy as if it were a hunting trophy. Some soldiers apparently kept body parts of their victims, including a skull, as souvenirs. In a statement issued in response to the publication of the photos the US army apologised to the families of the dead. “[The photos are] repugnant to us as human beings and contrary to the standards and values of the United States army,” the statement said. Morlock has told investigators that the murders took place between January and May last year and were instigated by an officer in his unit, Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs. He described how elaborate plans were made to pick out civilian targets, kill them and then make their deaths look like they were insurgents. In his confession Morlock described shooting a victim as Gibbs tossed a grenade at him. “We identify a guy. Gibbs makes a comment, like, you know, you guys wanna wax this guy or not,” Morlock said in the confession. Morlock now stands to be sentenced to at least 24 years in jail but with eligibility for parole after seven years. That has come about because Morlock struck a plea bargain that will see a lighter sentence in return for testifying against his fellow soldiers. US military United States Afghanistan Paul Harris guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media SodexoUSA has filed a RICO lawsuit against the SEIU , claiming it is using strongarm tactics to force the company to unionize. According to their corporate website , they allege that SEIU is trying to force workers to replace other unions with theirs. The complaint alleges that the SEIU, in face to face meetings, threatened Sodexo USA’s executives that it would harm Sodexo USA’s business unless they gave in to the union, and then carried out its threats through egregious behavior, including: throwing plastic roaches onto food being served by Sodexo USA at a high profile event; scaring hospital patients by insinuating that Sodexo USA food contained bugs, rat droppings, mold and flies; lying to interfere with Sodexo USA business and sneaking into elementary schools to avoid security; violating lobbying laws to steer business away from Sodexo USA, even at the risk of costing Sodexo USA employees their jobs; and harassing Sodexo USA employees by threatening to accuse them of wrongdoing. Ordinarily this wouldn’t garner much of my attention, but given the multi-pronged attacks on the SEIU by every right-winger in the land, I decided to look closer at SodexoUSA and their executives in particular to see if there were any relationships or donations to Republican governors. Since their business is privatized food services to hospitals and other concerns, it seemed like something to investigate. They’re not all that transparent on corporate governance, but in the process of looking, I found this nugget : Sodexho Alliance is a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, Co. is engaged in two main activities: the Food and Facilities Management Services and the Service Vouchers and Cards. The Food and Facilities Management Services segment provides food services and facilities management services to businesses and industries, armed forces, correctional services, healthcare services, seniors, school and colleges and remote sites. The Service Vouchers and Cards segment offers 2 products for companies and governments. The first one plays a role in the motivation of employees and the second one supports public authorities in implementing and monitoring their social aid programs. Remember Susie’s article last week about Minnesota’s plan to issue state-approved cards to people on public assistance? Makes me wonder whether or not one of their approved vendors is this company, or whether they’re positioning themselves to bid on these state contracts. I don’t know. I haven’t been able to find anything. Yet. But it seems strange to me that this company with what appears to be a history of antagonism with unions is going full-tilt hard-hit with the RICO lawsuit. They’ve got a history of controversy, especially around their unionized workers. In April, 2010, 200 workers walked off the job at the University of Pittsburgh, along with workers on 5 other campuses. “Sodexo doesn’t respect us. I can’t afford to put my kids on the company insurance, but I don’t want to keep them on state insurance,” says Danielle Rue, a Sodexo worker whose children rely on state-provided health care. “How can a company that made a billion dollars force me and my kids onto welfare? When we tried to stand up for ourselves, they violated our rights. They do it to non-union workers, too. ” Sodexo food service workers who belong to a union are not the only ones supporting the UPitt food service workers who are taking a stand. Other union workers have pledged their solidarity. “Our union and others are going to support striking SEIU Sodexo workers,” said Bill Cagney of International Union of Operating Engineers Local 95, who represents workers at the university. “Pitt is a responsible employer. But when the big multinational companies like Sodexo come into Pittsburgh and refuse to follow the law or provide family sustaining jobs, labor will stand together.” There was also a walkout in Ohio , where workers alleged Sodexo was blocking their right to unionize. Danny Glover was arrested while protesting outside their corporate headquarters in Maryland last year. This is the private side of the war on unions waged in conjunction with the public side in state legislatures. The end goal is the same: union-busting, union defunding, maximize corporate profits, and spend lots of money litigating cases against them. When is union organizing racketeering? When you’re a multinational company with lots of profits waiting to be taken out of the mouths of employees. In a somewhat ironic twist, Sodexo’s philanthropic bent is toward ending world hunger . You’ve got to wonder if paying their employees a decent working wage and providing health insurance might be one step toward that goal.
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A reality TV collaboration between the action star and Arizona sheriff would be hilarious – if real law and order was not involved There are some news events that are simply beyond parody – when a current trend loses the plot so badly that you can do nothing but gasp in stunned amazement. But the invasion of ever more extreme reality television shows into modern American culture should be immune to this phenomenon. After all, this is a medium defined by demented Z-list wannabes trapped in an arms race of outrageousness designed to grab their 15 minutes of fame. In a post-Jersey Shore world surely nothing could emerge from reality TV that could actually shock? Well, not until now. This week, a bizarre incident unfolded in Phoenix , Arizona, involving 115 roosters, an out-of-control sheriff, several tanks, a Swat team, a suspected cockfighter, a bomb robot and – like a muscular, suntanned cherry on top of the whole pile – faded action star Steven Seagal. The setup was simple enough. Police suspected local man Jesus Sanchez Llovera, 43, of running an illegal cockfighting ring (the huge flock of roosters on his property no doubt being the clinching clue). So they decided to arrest him. While he was at home. Alone. Unarmed. With no police record of owning any weapons. Still, that should have been simple enough. A lone squad car, maybe two, could have done it. But things are rarely that simple with the sheriff of Maricopa County: the notoriously headline hungry figure of Joe Arpaio . For Arpaio’s department is working with Seagal, who is shooting a reality TV show and has signed up as a police volunteer. The show is called Lawman . So, instead of pulling up outside Llovera’s house and knocking on his door, Arpaio assembled a mini-army of police deputies, two armoured vehicles, a fully-armed Swat team and the bomb robot. They descended on Llovera’s house and smashed his windows, knocked down his gate with one of the tanks and arrested him. Seagal, dressed in combat fatigues and sunglasses and sporting a gun on his hip, was riding in one of the police tanks. Seagal’s film crew taped the whole thing. No doubt, after heavy editing, it will make for a few dramatic moments of television. The reasons to be stunned and shocked at this barely need describing and should appall anyone of any political background (which would be a rare thing in as polarised a state as Arizona). First off is the cost: across America, cities are slashing policing to the bone to cope with severe budget cuts. Yet, in Arizona, the needs of an ageing action star’s reality show resulted in a raid that some lawyers estimate would have cost thousands of dollars. Second, it has emerged that Seagal has a contract with the sheriff’s department that allows him free reign to go along on any arrests the sheriff makes. In a country notoriously – and often admirably – obsessed with individual freedoms and constitutional rights, why has so much privilege in the realm of law and order been granted to a reality TV star? Finally, there is the horrific blending of policing and entertainment that this incident represents. The two should be kept utterly apart. Here, they are not only mixed, but it appears that reality TV has the upper hand, calling the shots. Arpaio, for his part, denies staging the whole thing for Seagal and his show. What about Seagal’s thoughts? In his low, grumbling monotone, he explained to one local TV reporter the reasoning for his presence on the raid. “Animal cruelty is one of my pet peeves,” he said. That’s nice. But keeping idiotic reality TV shows away from the operation of a police force and the administration of justice is one of mine. Reality TV Arizona Animal welfare United States US television Paul Harris guardian.co.uk
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Gingrich leads the right-wing hypocrisy brigade on Libya: First slams Obama for not acting, then slams him for acting
March 23, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Of course you knew that no matter what President Obama did in regards to Libya, right-wingers were going to slam him for it — damned if he did, damned if he didn’t. But few have been quite as naked in their two-faced hypocrisy as Newt Gingrich. Via George Zornick at ThinkProgress , here’s Gingrich giving Greta Van Susteren his prescription for dealing with Libya two weeks ago, on March 7: Exercise a no-fly zone this evening. Communicate to the Libyan military that Gadhafi is gone, and that the sooner they switched sides the more likely they were to survive. Provide help to the rebels to replace him. I mean, the idea that we’re confused about a man who has been an anti-American dictator since 1969 just tells you how inept this administration is. They were very quick to jump on Mubarak, who was their ally for 30 years, and they’re confused about getting rid of Gadhafi. This is a moment to get rid of him. Do it. Get it over with. … We don’t need to have the United Nations. All we have to say is that we think that slaughtering your own citizens is unacceptable and that we’re intervening. Then there he was last night on Fox News with Sean Hannity: HANNITY: So, did he make a mistake by not seeking Congress’ authorization, and do you view that as a violation of the War Powers Act? GINGRICH: Well, no, the War Powers Act technically gives him 45 days. But it’s a violation of common sense. And then he went on Today this morning with Matt Lauer and actually said he wouldn’t have intervened: GINGRICH: The standard [Obama] has fallen back to of humanitarian intervention could apply to Sudan, to North Korea, to Zimbabwe, to Syria this week, to Yemen, to Bahrain. … The Arab League wanted us to do something. The minute we did something, the Arab League began criticizing us doing it. I think that two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is a lot. I think that the problems we have in Pakistan, Egypt — go around the region. We could get engaged by this standard in all sorts of places. I would not have intervened. I think there were a lot of other ways to affect Qaddafi. I think there are a lot of other allies in the region we could have worked with. I would not have used American and European forces. Of course, what else do you expect from Newt Gingrich? If nothing else, we can always count on him to explore new depths in naked hypocrisy.
Continue reading …Gingrich leads the right-wing hypocrisy brigade on Libya: First slams Obama for not acting, then slams him for acting
March 23, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Of course you knew that no matter what President Obama did in regards to Libya, right-wingers were going to slam him for it — damned if he did, damned if he didn’t. But few have been quite as naked in their two-faced hypocrisy as Newt Gingrich. Via George Zornick at ThinkProgress , here’s Gingrich giving Greta Van Susteren his prescription for dealing with Libya two weeks ago, on March 7: Exercise a no-fly zone this evening. Communicate to the Libyan military that Gadhafi is gone, and that the sooner they switched sides the more likely they were to survive. Provide help to the rebels to replace him. I mean, the idea that we’re confused about a man who has been an anti-American dictator since 1969 just tells you how inept this administration is. They were very quick to jump on Mubarak, who was their ally for 30 years, and they’re confused about getting rid of Gadhafi. This is a moment to get rid of him. Do it. Get it over with. … We don’t need to have the United Nations. All we have to say is that we think that slaughtering your own citizens is unacceptable and that we’re intervening. Then there he was last night on Fox News with Sean Hannity: HANNITY: So, did he make a mistake by not seeking Congress’ authorization, and do you view that as a violation of the War Powers Act? GINGRICH: Well, no, the War Powers Act technically gives him 45 days. But it’s a violation of common sense. And then he went on Today this morning with Matt Lauer and actually said he wouldn’t have intervened: GINGRICH: The standard [Obama] has fallen back to of humanitarian intervention could apply to Sudan, to North Korea, to Zimbabwe, to Syria this week, to Yemen, to Bahrain. … The Arab League wanted us to do something. The minute we did something, the Arab League began criticizing us doing it. I think that two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is a lot. I think that the problems we have in Pakistan, Egypt — go around the region. We could get engaged by this standard in all sorts of places. I would not have intervened. I think there were a lot of other ways to affect Qaddafi. I think there are a lot of other allies in the region we could have worked with. I would not have used American and European forces. Of course, what else do you expect from Newt Gingrich? If nothing else, we can always count on him to explore new depths in naked hypocrisy.
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Tension high after first bomb explosion in six years in the holy city leaves one dead and dozens injured The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has vowed to react “aggressively” after a suitcase bomb exploded in Jerusalem, killing a 60-year-old woman and injuring dozens of others. The bombing, the first in the city for almost seven years, follows several days of rising tension along the Gaza border. The violence poses a serious threat to the prospects of reactivating peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Three people were seriously hurt and about three dozen suffered minor to moderate injuries in the attack. “Israel will act aggressively, responsibly and wisely to preserve the quiet and security that prevailed here over the past two years,” Netanyahu said. Earlier he told MPs: “It could be that this matter will entail exchanges of blows, and it may take a certain period of time, but we are very determined to strike at the terrorist elements and deny them the means of attacking our citizens.” The bombing was swiftly condemned by the Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, who said the “terrorist operation” damaged the Palestinian cause and contradicted “our people’s legitimate endeavour to gain its freedom by peaceful means”. President Barack Obama criticised the bombings but also expressed condolences to the families of Palestinians killed in recent Israeli air strikes in Gaza. “There is never any possible justification for terrorism,” he said. “The United States calls on the groups responsible to end these attacks at once and we underscore that Israel, like all nations, has a right to self-defence.” But he added: “We also express our deepest condolences for the deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza yesterday. We stress the importance of calm and urge all parties to do everything in their power to prevent further violence and civilian casualties.”The US defence secretary, Robert Gates, said he did not believe the bombing would cause the situation in Israel deteriorate. “It’s obviously a horrific terrorist attack. I extend sympathy to the families of those who have been injured. But I think, I don’t think I would characterize the situation there as deteriorating,” Gates said. There has been relative calm in Israel and the Palestinian territories in the past few years, partly as a result of efforts by Palestinian Authority security forces to rein in militant operations. But in the past week a barrage of missiles has been fired into Israel from Gaza, followed by retaliatory air strikes and tank shelling by the Israeli military. Schools in at least two major Israeli cities were closed for the rest of the week as a series of missiles were fired from Gaza and more were expected. At least 10 Palestinians have been killed. Israel Gaza Palestinian territories Binyamin Netanyahu Middle East Conal Urquhart Ewen MacAskill guardian.co.uk
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• Campaign launched to reintroduce terracing at English grounds • We are totally against it, say relatives of 1989 disaster victims Proposals to bring back standing areas at top-flight football grounds in England have been condemned by the Hillsborough Family Support Group (HFSG). As reported by the Guardian, The Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF) have launched an online petition calling for the return of standing areas in the top two divisions of English football . The campaign already looks to be foundering, however, with the HFSG and Premier League opposing the move, and the government saying there has been no compelling case to bring back terraces. Standing at matches in the top two divisions was banned following the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, and the HFSG chairman Margaret Aspinall said: “The Hillsborough Family Support Group are totally against any form of standing whatsoever. We are absolutely against it and always will be. Our football clubs should remain all-seater stadiums. “People always say they have standing areas in Germany, but we don’t play any part over what happens in that country – we just believe there’s no such thing as safe standing in this country. We will not be encouraging the government to change the law.” The issue of allowing some standing areas has been revisited a number of times since all-seat stadiums became compulsory in 1994. Kate Hoey tried to back a scheme when she was sports minister in 2001 but the then Government blocked it. The FSF held a meeting on Monday with representatives from the police, government and football authorities. In attendance, the sports minister, Hugh Robertson, said he would examine the evidence for safe standing but played down any likelihood of a change to the law. Hillsborough disaster guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …• Campaign launched to reintroduce terracing at English grounds • We are totally against it, say relatives of 1989 disaster victims Proposals to bring back standing areas at top-flight football grounds in England have been condemned by the Hillsborough Family Support Group (HFSG). As reported by the Guardian, The Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF) have launched an online petition calling for the return of standing areas in the top two divisions of English football . The campaign already looks to be foundering, however, with the HFSG and Premier League opposing the move, and the government saying there has been no compelling case to bring back terraces. Standing at matches in the top two divisions was banned following the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, and the HFSG chairman Margaret Aspinall said: “The Hillsborough Family Support Group are totally against any form of standing whatsoever. We are absolutely against it and always will be. Our football clubs should remain all-seater stadiums. “People always say they have standing areas in Germany, but we don’t play any part over what happens in that country – we just believe there’s no such thing as safe standing in this country. We will not be encouraging the government to change the law.” The issue of allowing some standing areas has been revisited a number of times since all-seat stadiums became compulsory in 1994. Kate Hoey tried to back a scheme when she was sports minister in 2001 but the then Government blocked it. The FSF held a meeting on Monday with representatives from the police, government and football authorities. In attendance, the sports minister, Hugh Robertson, said he would examine the evidence for safe standing but played down any likelihood of a change to the law. Hillsborough disaster guardian.co.uk
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Officers narrow down search of Savernake Forest in Wiltshire and say further searches will take place in daylight Police searching for Sian O’Callaghan have said they are “very close” to identifying her whereabouts. Officers have narrowed down a search of Savernake Forest in Wiltshire after a day spent trawling through dense woodland and more analysis of mobile phone records. Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher, who is leading the inquiry, said further searches, involving specialist sniffer dogs, would take place in daylight and that the public’s help was no longer needed. Fulcher said: “We have made good progress in narrowing the search using a number of technologies and techniques and I believe we are getting very close to identifying Sian’s whereabouts. “Searches will be limited by available daylight but we will be further assisted by specialist dog teams who arrive tomorrow and resume the search as soon as daylight permits. While I still want anyone with information to contact police I am not asking for any more public assistance with searches at this time.” A force spokeswoman refused to expand on the statement and declined to say whether the statement meant police believed O’Callaghan – or her body – was actually in the forest. O’Callaghan, 22, disappeared after leaving Suju nightclub at about 2.50am on Saturday to walk the half mile home to the flat she shared with her boyfriend, Kevin Reape. Analysis of O’Callaghan’s mobile phone records suggests that around 30 minutes after she left the club her phone was somewhere in the 4,500-acre Savernake Forest, near Marlborough, 12 miles from Swindon. Hundreds of members of the public helped the police search the forest on Tuesday and as many as 1,000 had been preparing to join the search for office administrator O’Callaghan again. Coach parties had been organised and some taxi drivers were offering free lifts out to the site. However police requested that people stay away after narrowing the search area down. Chief Superintendent Steve Hedley, area commander for Swindon, said earlier in the day that further analysis of mobile phone records had produced several “hot spots” that specialist search teams were examining. Colleagues of O’Callaghan told how she was in good spirits and looking forward to the weekend before she disappeared. Liz Watson, operations director at industrial storage company Dexion, said: “We are all very worried about her at the moment and hope that further developments of her whereabouts will come to light soon.” Crime Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
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