Dawood Military Hospital Scandal: The Most Shocking Photos And Testimony (WARNING: Graphic photos)

[mia]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rebeccaelliott/horror-hospital-the-most-shocking-photos-and-test

An explosive Congressional investigation revealed horrific new details this week about a U.S. funded military hospital in Afghanistan that kept patients in "Auschwitz-like" conditions.

The investigation also revealed that Lt. General William B. Caldwell, then commander of the $11.2 billion dollar a year Afghan training program, tried to block the probe and ordered a cover-up.

There are currently two ongoing investigations looking into the Dawood Military Hospital abuses: one centered around the Military Whistleblower Protection Act, the other concerned with Caldwell’s politically-motivated decision to delay investigations into the hospital until after the 2010 elections.

What follows is a very disturbing look inside the Dawood National Military Hospital. It was compiled with sworn eye-witness testimony from the three U.S. Army colonels who blew the whistle on the scandal, as well as never-before published photos obtained by BuzzFeed


Unbelievably sad.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Dear God! How could we let that happen? How could medical personnel actually

act that way towards other human beings? Whatever happened to the Hippocratic oath?

[mia]

6. Corruption in Kabul

...The articles by the WSJ and Buzzfeed as well as the subsequent congressional investigation have uncovered wrongdoing on the part of senior U.S. military officials as well as a chain of corruption that runs to the very top of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Ministry of Defense (MoD). The scandal is proof that the Afghan War has failed and should be ended immediately.

The original Wall Street Journal article found that patients at Dawood Hospital routinely died from malnourishment and routine infections resulting from intentional neglect by hospital staff. In some instances, the staff refused to treat patients who were not from their own tribe or whose families could not pay gratuities in exchange for their care even though the staff’s salaries are fully funded by the U.S. taxpayer. The congressional investigation later revealed that U.S. Army Lt. Gen. William Caldwell knew about the inhumane conditions of patients at the hospital but actively tried to prevent an investigation for personal political reasons.

Further allegations have emerged that the ANA’s Surgeon General, Gen. Yaftali and the MoD’s Director of Finance, Major General Amiri, embezzled $20 million from the MoD and pilfered $153 million worth of medical supplies intended for patients at the hospital and ANA troops in the field. Both Yaftali and Amiri are directly connected to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The most poignant testimony on this subject during the Congressional investigation came from retired U.S. Army Colonel, Gerald N. Carozza, who was the senior legal advisor for the ANA and the MoD. Col. Carozza speaks at length about the allegations against Yaftali and Amiri and provides this assessment of the Afghan leadership as a whole:

"They are not leaders in the sense that we think of officers. They steal their soldiers’ pay, medicine, food, fuel, bullets and blankets and sell them on the black market – even to the Taliban who might shoot their undersupplied subordinates. They use U.S. taxpayer supplied vehicles and aircraft to further their own business interests over the well being of their armed forces or nation. The ANA soldiers in turn go AWOL at official rates close to 30% with Afghans having told me the rate was 40% in early 2011. The same generals told me of those who do serve, 70 to 80 percent are stoned on hash (11)."


http://www.policymic.com/articles/12003/dawood-national-military-hospital-kabul-scandal-should-spell-end-of-afghan-mission1

[nanabugg]

20. Mr. President, tear down this hospital!! nt

[enough]

2. Sad is not the word. (nt)

[Scuba]

3. What the fuck is wrong with this Country?

[zeemike]

12. In one word...Greed.

The war is a highly profitable industry and they will protect that profit at all cost.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. K&R

OMFG

[nc4bo]

5. And some wonder why we are so despised. nt/

[Bonobo]

7. A war crime and a crime against humanity.

The US should feel great shame and yes, Obama owns this. Afghanistan is his war.

[mia]

8. He owns it , however "Foreign aid, when misspent, can fuel corruption,

distort labor and goods markets, undermine the host government’s ability to exert control over resources, and contribute to insecurity,” said the report by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Although the US has invested nearly $60 billion dollars in Afghanistan since the start of the war, the report examined only the $18.8 billion appropriated by Congress to the State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Those two agencies alone spend $320 million each month on development in Afghanistan....

Despite the mass influx of aid money, there has been extremely limited oversight of how the money is spent once it’s doled out to contractors and development partners.

In Paktika, Mr. Katawazai says he’s seen US officials build a clinic against the wishes of the local people. More than a year after its completion, he says it still does not have doctors or medicine. Stories such as this about empty schools and hospitals are common throughout Afghanistan....

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2011/0608/Afghans-concur-with-Congress-that-aid-money-is-often-misspent

[Posteritatis]

9. Caldwell needs, at the very least, one hell of a prison sentence

Other people more directly involved with that hospital probably warrant worse.

[Bonobo]

10. You mean "He (Obama) calls me Bill" Caldwell?

"How could we make this request with elections coming?" Caldwell reportedly said, referring to President Obama. "He calls me Bill."

[Posteritatis]

11. I mean the guy who thinks keeping a hospital in 1860s condition's okay, yes. (nt)

[Blue_Tires]

29. And someone should put his finances under a microscope

[bemildred]

13. Dang, you could just knock me over with a feather.

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. Sorry if at this point I am all but shocked

Remember the John Reed Scandal? If that did not reveal the kind of rot we have in the military at the highest levels...

What this shows is the rot consuming TWO militaries and let me see, ANA senior staff pilfering things and selling them in the black market, and us turning a blind eye... Empires do this.

Now, what I would love to see is a few court martials at least on our side... I won't hold my breath.

As to this leading to the end of the war... in your dreams... way too many people are getting very rich thank you very much.

Go ahead, call me cynical, I will even admit to it.

[mia]

16. The cover-up often gets more attention than the crime.

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 will tell the panel. "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."

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."


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20120724/us-afghan-military-hospital/

[L0oniX]

15. I hope these people don't come home and get work in our medical system.

[mia]

34. It looks like most of the workers are Afghans,

Some are refusing to treat members of other tribes.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

17. How could we turn a blind eye to this?

I just have no words to describe my feelings of shock and revulsion.

Blessings on the three U.S. Army Colonels.

[Bonobo]

37. Surprisingly

I find that some hosts on DU are locking this story. So I decided to kick the first one that was posted.

If this is locked as well, I think there should be many complaints.

[A Simple Game]

18. I'm against the death penalty but I think public hangings may be in order!

Could not look at all of the pictures, horrible.

On edit: We have to stop just giving these people a slap on the wrist. No fear of punishment helped lead to this.

[riderinthestorm]

19. Terrible, disgusting (and a whole slew of profanity). End the Afghan debacle NOW! nt

[Hissyspit]

21. kick nt

[sabrina 1]

22. Horrible, but should anyone be surprised? I wouldn't be surprised if the whistle-blowers are

prosecuted and a few lower level scape-goats thrown in jail for a while and nothing happens to the superior officers. That's been the pattern in all of these cases when war crimes and corruption are exposed.

11 years of killing and torture and huge profits and no sign of 'winning'. That's a perfect formula for War Mongers. I don't it failed, not for them.

[Yeah Its Spin]

23. hmmm...

Michael Hastings wrote The Runaway General, that cost General Stanley McChrystal his job.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-runaway-general-20100622

Rolling Stone Michael Hastings reports, US Army Lt. Gen. William Caldwell illegally ordered a team of soldiers, who specialized in psychological operations, to manipulate, without their knowledge, visiting American politicians to provide more funding and troops for the Afghanistan war.

[mia]

26. He probably has a very good idea of the context of this current horror.

Thanks for the link. I'm looking forward to reading the article.

[chervilant]

24. So...

I suppose Caldwell will get the boot, now?



The comments in response to that article are appalling. The pictures evoke extreme anger, sadness, and disbelief; yet the people posting comments are whinging about 'government-run healthcare.'

Our nation has become an international embarrassment. I remain thankful that our species cannot defile the rest of this universe.

[woo me with science]

25. Blood, devastation, suffering for profit.

When will we have had enough?

[mia]

35. It depends who's calling the shots.

US citizens may have had enough, but the corporations are just getting started.

[just1voice]

27. Let's just forget about it and "look forward"

while our TV land sociopaths ask us how we feel about torture. Also, let's not hold anyone accountable otherwise everything will collapse.

[uponit7771]

28. TIME TO LEAVE!!

[riverbendviewgal]

30. I agree

what a waste of money and blood

[Earth_First]

31. Speechless.

[Quantess]

32. Disgusting!!!

[99Forever]

33. Always nice to see our MIC proving...

... that we are teh Good Guys.

No wonder we are so loved around the World.

[Bonobo]

36. This should stay kicked (at least more than rescued dogs I hope)

Hearts and minds, blood and guts, maggots and necrosis.