Jeremy Morlock receives 24 years in prison following plea deal to give evidence against fellow soldiers A US soldier who pleaded guilty to the murders of three Afghan civilians has been sentenced to 24 years in prison after saying “the plan was to kill people” in a conspiracy with four fellow soldiers. The military judge said he initially intended to sentence Jeremy Morlock to life in prison with possibility of parole but was bound by the plea deal. Morlock, the first of five soldiers from the 5th Stryker Brigade to be court-martialed in the case, will receive 352 days off of his sentence for time served and could be eligible for parole in about seven years, his attorney, Frank Spinner, said. He will be dishonourably discharged as part of his sentence. The 22-year-old is a key figure in a war crimes investigation that has raised some of the most serious criminal allegations to come out of the war in Afghanistan. Army investigators accused him of taking a lead role in the killings of three unarmed Afghan men in Kandahar province in January, February and May 2010. His sentencing came hours after he pleaded guilty on Wednesday to three counts of murder, and one count each of conspiracy, obstructing justice and illegal drug use at his court martial at the Lewis-McChord military base in Washington state. Under his plea deal, he has agreed to testify against his codefendants. Asked by the judge whether the plan was to shoot at people to scare them, or to shoot to kill, Morlock replied: “The plan was to kill people.” Speaking after the sentencing, Spinner read a statement prepared by Morlock in which the soldier apologised for the pain he had caused his victims’ families and the people of Afghanistan and asked for forgiveness from his fellow soldiers. The plea deal had been in place for nearly two months, so the sentence “wasn’t really a surprise” to Morlock, Spinner told reporters. Morlock told the judge that he and the other soldiers first began plotting to murder unarmed Afghans in late 2009, several weeks before the first killing took place. To make the killings appear justified, the soldiers planned to plant weapons near the bodies of the victims, he said. Morlock said he had second thoughts about the murder plot while home on leave in March 2010, after the first two killings. “It was really hard to come back,” he told the judge, adding that he no longer wanted to “engage or be part of anything” like the killings that had already occurred. Morlock said he did not voice his doubts to his fellow soldiers, however, and he went on to participate in the third killing in May. Morlock also admitted to smoking hashish while stationed in Afghanistan, though he said he was not under the influence of the drug at the time of the killings. In addition, he admitted to being one of six soldiers who assaulted a fellow platoon member after that man reported the drug use. Morlock, his voice shaking at times, told the judge he had asked himself “how I could become so insensitive and how I lost my moral compass”. “I don’t know if I will ever be able to answer those questions,” he said, adding that he believed he “wasn’t fully prepared for the reality of war as it was being fought in Afghanistan”. Earlier this week, the German news magazine Der Spiegel published three graphic photos showing Morlock and other soldiers posing with dead Afghans. One image features Morlock grinning as he lifts the head of a corpse by its hair. US military Afghanistan United States guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Jeremy Morlock receives 24 years in prison following plea deal to give evidence against fellow soldiers A US soldier who pleaded guilty to the murders of three Afghan civilians has been sentenced to 24 years in prison after saying “the plan was to kill people” in a conspiracy with four fellow soldiers. The military judge said he initially intended to sentence Jeremy Morlock to life in prison with possibility of parole but was bound by the plea deal. Morlock, the first of five soldiers from the 5th Stryker Brigade to be court-martialed in the case, will receive 352 days off of his sentence for time served and could be eligible for parole in about seven years, his attorney, Frank Spinner, said. He will be dishonourably discharged as part of his sentence. The 22-year-old is a key figure in a war crimes investigation that has raised some of the most serious criminal allegations to come out of the war in Afghanistan. Army investigators accused him of taking a lead role in the killings of three unarmed Afghan men in Kandahar province in January, February and May 2010. His sentencing came hours after he pleaded guilty on Wednesday to three counts of murder, and one count each of conspiracy, obstructing justice and illegal drug use at his court martial at the Lewis-McChord military base in Washington state. Under his plea deal, he has agreed to testify against his codefendants. Asked by the judge whether the plan was to shoot at people to scare them, or to shoot to kill, Morlock replied: “The plan was to kill people.” Speaking after the sentencing, Spinner read a statement prepared by Morlock in which the soldier apologised for the pain he had caused his victims’ families and the people of Afghanistan and asked for forgiveness from his fellow soldiers. The plea deal had been in place for nearly two months, so the sentence “wasn’t really a surprise” to Morlock, Spinner told reporters. Morlock told the judge that he and the other soldiers first began plotting to murder unarmed Afghans in late 2009, several weeks before the first killing took place. To make the killings appear justified, the soldiers planned to plant weapons near the bodies of the victims, he said. Morlock said he had second thoughts about the murder plot while home on leave in March 2010, after the first two killings. “It was really hard to come back,” he told the judge, adding that he no longer wanted to “engage or be part of anything” like the killings that had already occurred. Morlock said he did not voice his doubts to his fellow soldiers, however, and he went on to participate in the third killing in May. Morlock also admitted to smoking hashish while stationed in Afghanistan, though he said he was not under the influence of the drug at the time of the killings. In addition, he admitted to being one of six soldiers who assaulted a fellow platoon member after that man reported the drug use. Morlock, his voice shaking at times, told the judge he had asked himself “how I could become so insensitive and how I lost my moral compass”. “I don’t know if I will ever be able to answer those questions,” he said, adding that he believed he “wasn’t fully prepared for the reality of war as it was being fought in Afghanistan”. Earlier this week, the German news magazine Der Spiegel published three graphic photos showing Morlock and other soldiers posing with dead Afghans. One image features Morlock grinning as he lifts the head of a corpse by its hair. US military Afghanistan United States guardian.co.uk
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Man, 47, arrested as police find two dead, one believed to be missing Swindon woman Police searching for Sian O’Callaghan , who disappeared after leaving a nightclub in Swindon last week, have said they have found two bodies, including one which is thought to be O’Callaghan. A 47-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of kidnap and two murders, officers told a news conference. Detective superintendent Steve Fulcher said: “The location of two bodies have been identified to me, one of whom has yet to be identified formally, but I am quite clear is Sian. “I have informed Sian’s family, who are obviously deeply distressed, and I would ask to give them time and space to come to terms with what’s happened. Police reportedly arrested the suspect outside an Asda in Swindon. A green Toyota was also taken away on the back of a trailer. Meanwhile, police began searching a house in Ashbury Avenue, Swindon. Neighbours said the man who lived there was a cab driver who drove a green taxi. A white police tent was erected in the front garden of the semi-detached house, which was cordoned off and had three police vans parked outside Sian, aged 22, disappeared after leaving a nightclub in Swindon on Saturday in the early hours. Police have been combing the Savernake forest 12 miles away. Analysis of O’Callaghan’s mobile phone records suggests that about 30 minutes after she left the club, her phone was somewhere in the 1,800-hectare (4,500-acre) forest, near Marlborough. O’Callaghan, an office administrator, was caught on CCTV leaving the nightclub in Swindon’s Old Town area, after an evening out with friends. She lived in a flat just half a mile away with her boyfriend Kevin Reape, 25. O’Callaghan’s family thanked the public for their help in the search for “our beautiful girl”. In a statement released by police they said: “We have been so touched by the support shown by the community that we wanted to express our thanks. “The sheer numbers of people who have given up their time to help search for Sian and distribute appeal posters are overwhelming and we couldn’t ask for better support from the public, police and media.” Crime Police Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Man, 47, arrested as police find two dead, one believed to be missing Swindon woman Police searching for Sian O’Callaghan , who disappeared after leaving a nightclub in Swindon last week, have said they have found two bodies, including one which is thought to be O’Callaghan. A 47-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of kidnap and two murders, officers told a news conference. Detective superintendent Steve Fulcher said: “The location of two bodies have been identified to me, one of whom has yet to be identified formally, but I am quite clear is Sian. “I have informed Sian’s family, who are obviously deeply distressed, and I would ask to give them time and space to come to terms with what’s happened. Police reportedly arrested the suspect outside an Asda in Swindon. A green Toyota was also taken away on the back of a trailer. Meanwhile, police began searching a house in Ashbury Avenue, Swindon. Neighbours said the man who lived there was a cab driver who drove a green taxi. A white police tent was erected in the front garden of the semi-detached house, which was cordoned off and had three police vans parked outside Sian, aged 22, disappeared after leaving a nightclub in Swindon on Saturday in the early hours. Police have been combing the Savernake forest 12 miles away. Analysis of O’Callaghan’s mobile phone records suggests that about 30 minutes after she left the club, her phone was somewhere in the 1,800-hectare (4,500-acre) forest, near Marlborough. O’Callaghan, an office administrator, was caught on CCTV leaving the nightclub in Swindon’s Old Town area, after an evening out with friends. She lived in a flat just half a mile away with her boyfriend Kevin Reape, 25. O’Callaghan’s family thanked the public for their help in the search for “our beautiful girl”. In a statement released by police they said: “We have been so touched by the support shown by the community that we wanted to express our thanks. “The sheer numbers of people who have given up their time to help search for Sian and distribute appeal posters are overwhelming and we couldn’t ask for better support from the public, police and media.” Crime Police Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Man, 47, arrested as police find two dead, one believed to be missing Swindon woman Police searching for Sian O’Callaghan , who disappeared after leaving a nightclub in Swindon last week, have said they have found two bodies, including one which is thought to be O’Callaghan. A 47-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of kidnap and two murders, officers told a news conference. Detective superintendent Steve Fulcher said: “The location of two bodies have been identified to me, one of whom has yet to be identified formally, but I am quite clear is Sian. “I have informed Sian’s family, who are obviously deeply distressed, and I would ask to give them time and space to come to terms with what’s happened. Police reportedly arrested the suspect outside an Asda in Swindon. A green Toyota was also taken away on the back of a trailer. Meanwhile, police began searching a house in Ashbury Avenue, Swindon. Neighbours said the man who lived there was a cab driver who drove a green taxi. A white police tent was erected in the front garden of the semi-detached house, which was cordoned off and had three police vans parked outside Sian, aged 22, disappeared after leaving a nightclub in Swindon on Saturday in the early hours. Police have been combing the Savernake forest 12 miles away. Analysis of O’Callaghan’s mobile phone records suggests that about 30 minutes after she left the club, her phone was somewhere in the 1,800-hectare (4,500-acre) Savernake forest, near Marlborough. O’Callaghan, an office administrator, was caught on CCTV leaving the nightclub, in Swindon’s Old Town area, after an evening out with friends. She lived in a flat just half a mile away with her boyfriend Kevin Reape, 25. O’Callaghan’s family thanked the public for their help in the search for “our beautiful girl”. In a statement released by police they said: “We have been so touched by the support shown by the community that we wanted to express our thanks. “The sheer numbers of people who have given up their time to help search for Sian and distribute appeal posters are overwhelming and we couldn’t ask for better support from the public, police and media.” Crime Police Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The EU government was hit with a “serious” cyberattack the day before a summit in Brussels. “We’re often hit by cyberattacks, but this is a big one,” said an insider. Officials didn’t provide details of the attack, which targeted the European Commission and the EU’s External Action Service. The hack…
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Keith Stuart gets his hands on Nintendo’s new handheld console, the first to feature 3D gaming without the need for glasses Keith Stuart Richard Sprenger
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Tension mounts over military action as Ankara accuses Sarkozy of pursuing French interests over liberation of Libyan people Turkey has launched a bitter attack on French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s and France’s leadership of the military campaign against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, accusing the French of lacking a conscience in their conduct in the Libyan operations. The vitriolic criticism, from both the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the president, Abdullah Gül followed attacks from the Turkish government earlier this week and signalled an orchestrated attempt by Ankara to wreck Sarkozy’s plans to lead the air campaign against Gaddafi. With France insisting that Nato should not be put in political charge of the UN-mandated air campaign, Turkey has come out emphatically behind sole Nato control of the operations. The row came as France confirmed that one of its fighter jets had destroyed a Libyan air force plane just after it landed at the Misrata base. This was the first time the no-fly zone had been breached by pro-Gaddafi forces. The clash between Turkey and France over Libya is underpinned by acute frictions between Erdogan and Sarkozy, both impetuous and mercurial leaders who revel in the limelight, by fundamental disputes over Ankara’s EU ambitions, and by economic interests in north Africa. The confrontation is shaping up to be decisive in determining the outcome of the bitter infighting over who should inherit command of the Libyan air campaign from the Americans and could come to a head at a major conference in London next week of the parties involved. Using incendiary language directed at France in a speech in Istanbul, Erdogan said: “I wish that those who only see oil, gold mines and underground treasures when they look in [Libya's] direction, would see the region through glasses of conscience from now on.” President Gül reinforced the Turkish view that France and others were being driven primarily by economic interests. “The aim [of the air campaign] is not the liberation of the Libyan people,” he said. “There are hidden agendas and different interests.” Earlier this week, Claude Guéant, the French interior minister who was previously Sarkozy’s chief adviser, outraged the Muslim world by stating that the French president was “leading a crusade” to stop Gaddafi massacring Libyans. Erdogan denounced the use of the word crusade yesterday, blaming those, France chief among them, who are opposed to Turkey joining the EU. Senior Nato officials are meeting in Brussels for the fourth day in a row to try to hammer out an agreement on who should assume command of the no-fly zone over Libya from the Americans who are determined to relinquish command within days. Sarkozy has agreed to give Nato military planners operational command of the campaign, but refused to grant the alliance political and strategic control, insisting this should be vested in the broader “coalition of the willing” taking part. Turkey has responded by blocking Nato planning operations for Libya while stressing that Nato should be given “sole command”, senior Nato diplomats said. Turkey, Nato’s second biggest army after the US and its only Muslim member, appears bent on winning the argument. It is already taking part in Nato patrols in the Mediterranean to police an arms embargo on Libya. It wants to limit and shorten the air campaign and proscribe ground attacks on Libya by Nato aircraft. If Nato is given political command of the air effort, Turkey would be able to exercise a veto in a system run on consensus. The US’s top military officer in Europe, Admiral James Stavridis, Nato’s supreme commander Europe, has gone to Ankara to try to mediate a deal. The Turks are incensed at repeated snubs by Sarkozy. The French failed to invite Turkey to last Saturday’s summit in Paris which presaged the air strikes. French fighters taking off from Corsica struck the first blows. The Turkish government accused Sarkozy of launching not only the no-fly zone, but his presidential re-election campaign. While the dispute over Libya is substantive and political, it also appears highly personal, revealing the bad blood simmering between the French president and the Turkish prime minister. Sarkozy went to Turkey last month for the first time in four years as president. But the visit was repeatedly delayed and then downgraded from a state presidential event. He stayed in Turkey for five hours. “Relations between Turkey and France deserve more than this,” complained Erdogan. “I will speak with frankness. We wish to host him as president of France. But he is coming as president of the G20, not as that of France.” While the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, is also opposed to Turkey joining the EU, she has voiced her objections moderately. Sarkozy has declared loudly that culturally Turkey does not belong in Europe, but in the Middle East. France has blocked tranches of Ankara’s EU negotiations on the grounds that it should not be seen as ever-fit for membership. Arab and Middle East unrest Turkey Nicolas Sarkozy Nato Libya Muammar Gaddafi European Union Middle East France Europe Ian Traynor guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Love—or lust—was in the air, and we failed to take action, or took the wrong action. That’s the biggest regret of our lives, according to a recent study. Nearly one of five survey respondents named a lost love connection as the one thing in their lives they regretted…
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