Inquest hears police officers were open to corruption, sometimes lacked commitment and were high on drugs while on duty A rogue Afghan police officer opened fire on British soldiers, killing five and injuring six, after a row over a hat he turned up in for duty, an inquest heard. The man, known only as Gulbuddin, shot soldiers who were mentoring Afghan police officers at a checkpoint in Helmand province. Earlier in the day he had turned up in a “brown Afghan hat” and went off “in a strop” after being told by a British soldier to wear his police issue headgear. The inquest heard claims that Afghan police officers were open to corruption, sometimes lacked commitment and were high on drugs while on duty. In one episode outlined during the hearing an Afghan police officer gave ammunition to the Taliban in exchange for narcotics. It also emerged that the British men were posted at the checkpoint after a “blood feud” between an Afghan police officer and a local Taliban commander. Lance Corporal Liam Culverhouse, who was shot in the eye in the attack, told the inquest at Trowbridge in Wiltshire that he was reading a magazine when the shooting began and saw a “flash of red”. “I realised I’d been shot. I heard a rifle going off in automatic bursts and Gulbuddin shouting something that was like a war cry. I felt the pain and my eye was blind.” “Gulbuddin was screaming. I decided it was time to get out of there so I crawled around the corner and I decided to play dead, close my eyes and hold my breath. All I could hear inside was gunfire, scream, gunfire, scream. From then on I fell unconscious for a period of time. What woke me up was a helicopter going past.” Gulbuddin fled and his motives remain unclear, but Culverhouse described how on one occasion the Afghan police officer had grabbed him by the head and on another had “barged” him off a platform. “It wasn’t just me. He was always trying to wind up members of the platoon and he had been warned about his behaviour,” Culverhouse said. “The police at the checkpoint were a ragged bunch.” On the morning of the shooting he turned up for a patrol not wearing his police hat. He was told to wear his uniform. “He went off with a little strop on, rifle over his shoulder,” said Culverhouse. Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, Sergeant Matthew Telford and Guardsman James Major, all of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, died alongside Corporal Steven Boote and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith from the Royal Military police on 3 November 2009. The men were “relaxing in the sun” at Blue 25 checkpoint in the Nad-e-Ali district and were not wearing body armour or carrying weapons. Lieutenant Colonel Charles Walker, commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, insisted the Afghan police force was full of men determined to do good for their country. But he said that Blue 25 had been beset by problems when his troops arrived in the area. A shura – meeting – was arranged with village elders and it was discovered that there was a blood feud between the local police officer in charge of Blue 25 and a Taliban commander. Walker decided to use his own security detachment – which usually helped guard him as he moved around the area – to mentor the local police at the checkpoint. Questioned by the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner, David Ridley, Walker accepted there were problems within the Afghan police force, giving the example of a checkpoint commander who traded ammunition for drugs with the Taliban. He said some of the officers later got high on the drugs and their police station was attacked by the Taliban that day. Walker said such a series of events was “not untypical”. He said Afghan police officers were poorly paid and so were “susceptible to the influence of money”. Walker told the inquest that after the shooting he made a number of recommendations including setting up separate recreation areas for British and Afghan men and making sure rest areas were better protected. He also suggested that sidearms were carried as a deterrent against “irrational action”. The inquest continues. Afghanistan Military Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
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Inquest hears police officers were open to corruption, sometimes lacked commitment and were high on drugs while on duty A rogue Afghan police officer opened fire on British soldiers, killing five and injuring six, after a row over a hat he turned up in for duty, an inquest heard. The man, known only as Gulbuddin, shot soldiers who were mentoring Afghan police officers at a checkpoint in Helmand province. Earlier in the day he had turned up in a “brown Afghan hat” and went off “in a strop” after being told by a British soldier to wear his police issue headgear. The inquest heard claims that Afghan police officers were open to corruption, sometimes lacked commitment and were high on drugs while on duty. In one episode outlined during the hearing an Afghan police officer gave ammunition to the Taliban in exchange for narcotics. It also emerged that the British men were posted at the checkpoint after a “blood feud” between an Afghan police officer and a local Taliban commander. Lance Corporal Liam Culverhouse, who was shot in the eye in the attack, told the inquest at Trowbridge in Wiltshire that he was reading a magazine when the shooting began and saw a “flash of red”. “I realised I’d been shot. I heard a rifle going off in automatic bursts and Gulbuddin shouting something that was like a war cry. I felt the pain and my eye was blind.” “Gulbuddin was screaming. I decided it was time to get out of there so I crawled around the corner and I decided to play dead, close my eyes and hold my breath. All I could hear inside was gunfire, scream, gunfire, scream. From then on I fell unconscious for a period of time. What woke me up was a helicopter going past.” Gulbuddin fled and his motives remain unclear, but Culverhouse described how on one occasion the Afghan police officer had grabbed him by the head and on another had “barged” him off a platform. “It wasn’t just me. He was always trying to wind up members of the platoon and he had been warned about his behaviour,” Culverhouse said. “The police at the checkpoint were a ragged bunch.” On the morning of the shooting he turned up for a patrol not wearing his police hat. He was told to wear his uniform. “He went off with a little strop on, rifle over his shoulder,” said Culverhouse. Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, Sergeant Matthew Telford and Guardsman James Major, all of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, died alongside Corporal Steven Boote and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith from the Royal Military police on 3 November 2009. The men were “relaxing in the sun” at Blue 25 checkpoint in the Nad-e-Ali district and were not wearing body armour or carrying weapons. Lieutenant Colonel Charles Walker, commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, insisted the Afghan police force was full of men determined to do good for their country. But he said that Blue 25 had been beset by problems when his troops arrived in the area. A shura – meeting – was arranged with village elders and it was discovered that there was a blood feud between the local police officer in charge of Blue 25 and a Taliban commander. Walker decided to use his own security detachment – which usually helped guard him as he moved around the area – to mentor the local police at the checkpoint. Questioned by the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner, David Ridley, Walker accepted there were problems within the Afghan police force, giving the example of a checkpoint commander who traded ammunition for drugs with the Taliban. He said some of the officers later got high on the drugs and their police station was attacked by the Taliban that day. Walker said such a series of events was “not untypical”. He said Afghan police officers were poorly paid and so were “susceptible to the influence of money”. Walker told the inquest that after the shooting he made a number of recommendations including setting up separate recreation areas for British and Afghan men and making sure rest areas were better protected. He also suggested that sidearms were carried as a deterrent against “irrational action”. The inquest continues. Afghanistan Military Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
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Inquest hears police officers were open to corruption, sometimes lacked commitment and were high on drugs while on duty A rogue Afghan police officer opened fire on British soldiers, killing five and injuring six, after a row over a hat he turned up in for duty, an inquest heard. The man, known only as Gulbuddin, shot soldiers who were mentoring Afghan police officers at a checkpoint in Helmand province. Earlier in the day he had turned up in a “brown Afghan hat” and went off “in a strop” after being told by a British soldier to wear his police issue headgear. The inquest heard claims that Afghan police officers were open to corruption, sometimes lacked commitment and were high on drugs while on duty. In one episode outlined during the hearing an Afghan police officer gave ammunition to the Taliban in exchange for narcotics. It also emerged that the British men were posted at the checkpoint after a “blood feud” between an Afghan police officer and a local Taliban commander. Lance Corporal Liam Culverhouse, who was shot in the eye in the attack, told the inquest at Trowbridge in Wiltshire that he was reading a magazine when the shooting began and saw a “flash of red”. “I realised I’d been shot. I heard a rifle going off in automatic bursts and Gulbuddin shouting something that was like a war cry. I felt the pain and my eye was blind.” “Gulbuddin was screaming. I decided it was time to get out of there so I crawled around the corner and I decided to play dead, close my eyes and hold my breath. All I could hear inside was gunfire, scream, gunfire, scream. From then on I fell unconscious for a period of time. What woke me up was a helicopter going past.” Gulbuddin fled and his motives remain unclear, but Culverhouse described how on one occasion the Afghan police officer had grabbed him by the head and on another had “barged” him off a platform. “It wasn’t just me. He was always trying to wind up members of the platoon and he had been warned about his behaviour,” Culverhouse said. “The police at the checkpoint were a ragged bunch.” On the morning of the shooting he turned up for a patrol not wearing his police hat. He was told to wear his uniform. “He went off with a little strop on, rifle over his shoulder,” said Culverhouse. Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, Sergeant Matthew Telford and Guardsman James Major, all of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, died alongside Corporal Steven Boote and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith from the Royal Military police on 3 November 2009. The men were “relaxing in the sun” at Blue 25 checkpoint in the Nad-e-Ali district and were not wearing body armour or carrying weapons. Lieutenant Colonel Charles Walker, commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, insisted the Afghan police force was full of men determined to do good for their country. But he said that Blue 25 had been beset by problems when his troops arrived in the area. A shura – meeting – was arranged with village elders and it was discovered that there was a blood feud between the local police officer in charge of Blue 25 and a Taliban commander. Walker decided to use his own security detachment – which usually helped guard him as he moved around the area – to mentor the local police at the checkpoint. Questioned by the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner, David Ridley, Walker accepted there were problems within the Afghan police force, giving the example of a checkpoint commander who traded ammunition for drugs with the Taliban. He said some of the officers later got high on the drugs and their police station was attacked by the Taliban that day. Walker said such a series of events was “not untypical”. He said Afghan police officers were poorly paid and so were “susceptible to the influence of money”. Walker told the inquest that after the shooting he made a number of recommendations including setting up separate recreation areas for British and Afghan men and making sure rest areas were better protected. He also suggested that sidearms were carried as a deterrent against “irrational action”. The inquest continues. Afghanistan Military Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
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Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said Monday that the flooding threat is changing, after the Army Corps of Engineers lowered its projections for the Mississippi River. (May 17)
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Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said Monday that the flooding threat is changing, after the Army Corps of Engineers lowered its projections for the Mississippi River. (May 17)
Continue reading …Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said Monday that the flooding threat is changing, after the Army Corps of Engineers lowered its projections for the Mississippi River. (May 17)
Continue reading …It looks like China won’t get its coveted peek at the super-secret helicopter that crashed outside of Osama bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound. John Kerry got Pakistan to agree to hand over the tail section to the US during yesterday’s meeting with Pakistani officials. Kerry told reporters “we’ll take possession of…
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The tragic death of New York Rangers forward Derek Boogaard shocked the National Hockey League. Now, sports fans are left to wonder: did the violent nature of Boogaard’s game play a role in his demise? Boogaard was found dead in his Minneapolis apartment. The cause of his death is unknown, and an autopsy is pending.
Continue reading …Study finds Netflix is the largest source of internet traffic in North America
May 17, 2011 No Comment
In your daily Netflix news, the latest report on Global Internet Phenomena for spring 2011 from Sandvine has called out the movie service as the largest single consumer of bandwidth on the internet in North America. The last report in October suggested it made up around twenty percent of internet traffic during prime time, but this time around the stats say it accounts for 30% of traffic during prime time, and 22.2% of daily internet traffic. Sandvine gets the data from ISPs using its broadband technology and now foresees “Real-Time Entertainment” (which includes Netflix) shooting up over 55% of peak internet traffic by the end of this year. It also reports on net traffic from other regions, noting social networking outpaces YouTube traffic in Latin America, while European subscribers use twice as much data as North Americans. We’ll have to wait and see if these stats are waved in our faces to justify the next round of bandwidth caps or throttling, in the meantime you can click through for more stats or hear about it from Sandvine CEO Dave Caputo discuss them in a video embedded after the break. Continue reading Study finds Netflix is the largest source of internet traffic in North America Study finds Netflix is the largest source of internet traffic in North America originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 14:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …After Revealing He Is Gay, CNN’s ‘Objective’ Don Lemon Asks Network to Support Others ‘Who Choose to Come Out’
May 17, 2011 No Comment
CNN anchor Don Lemon grabbed headlines over the weekend with his twitter announcement that he is gay. On Monday his co-workers provided plenty of time for him to share his story and his own views on the issue, and showered him in sympathy. As if that wasn't enough, he asked them in turn to do the same for others “who choose to come out.” “I really appreciate all the support, and I hope you continue to support not only me, but other people who choose to come out,” Lemon told afternoon Newsroom host Brooke Baldwin. In the past, Lemon has himself provided a podium for gay rights activists to makes themselves heard though he claims objectivity on the issue.
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