How the US is winning hearts and minds in Afghanistan: murdering civilians and taking their fingers as trophies:
Twelve American soldiers face trial over an secret "kill team" that allegedly blew up and shot Afghan civilians at random and collected their fingers as trophies.And then they wonder why Afghans don't like them...Five of the soldiers are charged with murdering three Afghan men who were allegedly killed for sport in separate attacks this year. Seven other soldiers are accused of covering up the killings as well as a violent assault on a new recruit who exposed the murders when he reported other abuses, including members of the unit smoking hashish stolen from civilians.
But this doesn't just affect the Americans - these yahoos are also endangering kiwi soldiers by their actions. Every atrocity committed by the Americans feeds the insurgency, increasing the chance that we'll have more kiwis coming home in bodybags. Its bad enough that there are kiwis over there, propping up a corrupt, torturing, religiously intolerant government; having them endangered by being on the same side as monsters like this is just icing on the cake.
