US Officials Continue To Conceal Identity Of Accused Soldier – OpEd
By Paul Woodward - War in Context
Over three days after 16 Afghan citizens were murdered, U.S. military officials have still not revealed the identity of the American soldier who is believed to have shot them.
Earlier today the Associated Press reported:
Afghan lawmakers have demanded that the shooter, identified by U.S. officials as a staff sergeant, face a public trial inside Afghanistan. They have called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to suspend any negotiations with the U.S. on a long-term military pact until this happens.
“No final decision has been made yet” on the location of the trial, said Col. Gary Kolb, a U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan.
“We have done court martials in Afghanistan before, so we have the capability,” Kolb said. “They’ll take a look at all the circumstances and determine if they do it here or if it goes back to the States.”
The AP now reports that the soldier has been whisked out of the country:
The soldier was taken aboard a U.S. military aircraft to a “pretrial confinement facility” in another country, the official said, but would not confirm if that meant an American military base or another type of facility. The official spoke anonymously because the information had not yet been publicly announced.
The official did not provide a reason for the move, saying only that legal proceedings would continue outside of Afghanistan.
