U.S. commander accused of stalling Afghan hospital abuse probe

Reuters – 22 mins ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. general in Afghanistan sought to stall an investigation into waste, abuse and mismanagement at a U.S.-funded hospital in Kabul for political reasons, a former U.S. military official will tell Congress on Tuesday.

Retired Colonel Gerald Carozza, who served as an adviser to the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan, will accuse Lieutenant General William Caldwell, then head of U.S. and NATO efforts to train Afghan security forces, of delaying a military investigation into allegations of corruption and patient abuse at the Dawood National Military Hospital.

"The evidence is clear to me that General Caldwell had the request (for a probe into the hospital) withdrawn and postponed until after the (November 2010 U.S. congressional) election and then, after the election, tried to intimidate his subordinates into a consensus that it need not move forward at all," Carozza said in testimony submitted ahead of Tuesday's hearing.

Carozza and others who say they sought to bring problems at the U.S.-funded hospital to light will testify before a subcommittee of the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which will examine allegations that military officials blocked or delayed the hospital probe.

Colonel Wayne Shanks, a military spokesman, said Caldwell "would welcome the opportunity to respond to any inquiry and I'm confident that once the facts are presented and examined, all allegations will be proven false."

Last month, Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz sent Defense Secretary Leon Panetta a letter on behalf of the Oversight Committee and asked the Defense Department to examine whether military leaders had sought to cover up reports of abuse at the hospital in 2010.

U.S. lawmakers began looking into the hospital last year after The Wall Street Journal reported abuse and neglect of Afghans receiving medical treatment there.

Lawmakers have voiced concerned not only by the allegations that a probe may have been blocked but that mismanagement and fraud were widespread at the hospital, just the latest case raising questions about the U.S. effort to rebuild Afghanistan and ensure stability as most foreign forces withdraw in coming years.

The Pentagon has acknowledged problems at the hospital and has said that "investigations and corrective action" were underway.

Caldwell, who is now a senior Army official in the United States, was not invited to testify at Tuesday's hearing.

Schuyler Geller, another retired colonel who served in Afghanistan, accused the U.S. leadership in his prepared testimony of "providing half-truths" in the hospital case, including about widespread corruption in the Afghan government.

After over a decade of Western aid efforts in Afghanistan, which have cost tens of billions of dollars, rampant corruption remains a major concern.

(Reporting By Missy Ryan; Editing by Eric Beech)

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Poisoning at Afghan Girls School Proof that Violence Against Women Will Get Worse

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COMMENTARY

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Afghan killing spree suspected to occur in two stages

Reuters – 16 hrs ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army sergeant accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians is believed to have carried out the rampage in two stages, returning to base after the first shootings and then going out to kill again, a U.S. official said on Saturday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not offer further details about the investigation into the March 11 shooting spree in southern Afghanistan, which has further eroded U.S.-Afghan relations already frayed by a decade of war.

But the disclosure points to an extended timeline for the alleged killing rampage by Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, a decorated 38-year-old veteran of four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bales, who is being held at Leavenworth military prison in Kansas, was charged with 17 counts of murder on Friday for killing eight adults and nine children. He was also charged with six counts each of assault and attempted murder for attacking two other adults and four children.

Bales is charged with going off-base under cover of darkness and opening fire on civilians in their homes in at least two different villages in Panjwai district in Kandahar province. It was not immediately clear which village Bales is suspected of attacking first but his ability to repeatedly leave the base on a rogue killing spree raises questions about base security.

Defense officials have said four men, four women and nine children were killed. A man, a woman and four children were wounded or shot at.

The killings seriously strained relations between Kabul and Washington, with Afghan President Hamid Karzai demanding that NATO forces leave Afghan villages and withdraw to major bases.

Karzai also demanded foreign combat troops, most of whom are due to leave the country by the end of 2014, stop carrying out controversial night raids of Afghan homes, seen by NATO commanders as one of the most effective anti-insurgent tactics.

Taliban insurgents vowed to take revenge on NATO forces for the killings, saying they had no faith in any court proceeding.

Premeditated murder is a capital offense under the U.S. military justice code, so Bales could face the death penalty if convicted. He would face a mandatory minimum sentence, if convicted, of life imprisonment with eligibility for parole.

(Reporting By Phil Stewart; editing by Todd Eastham)

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Afghan killing spree suspected to occur in two stages

Reuters – 16 hrs ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army sergeant accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians is believed to have carried out the rampage in two stages, returning to base after the first shootings and then going out to kill again, a U.S. official said on Saturday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not offer further details about the investigation into the March 11 shooting spree in southern Afghanistan, which has further eroded U.S.-Afghan relations already frayed by a decade of war.

But the disclosure points to an extended timeline for the alleged killing rampage by Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, a decorated 38-year-old veteran of four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bales, who is being held at Leavenworth military prison in Kansas, was charged with 17 counts of murder on Friday for killing eight adults and nine children. He was also charged with six counts each of assault and attempted murder for attacking two other adults and four children.

Bales is charged with going off-base under cover of darkness and opening fire on civilians in their homes in at least two different villages in Panjwai district in Kandahar province. It was not immediately clear which village Bales is suspected of attacking first but his ability to repeatedly leave the base on a rogue killing spree raises questions about base security.

Defense officials have said four men, four women and nine children were killed. A man, a woman and four children were wounded or shot at.

The killings seriously strained relations between Kabul and Washington, with Afghan President Hamid Karzai demanding that NATO forces leave Afghan villages and withdraw to major bases.

Karzai also demanded foreign combat troops, most of whom are due to leave the country by the end of 2014, stop carrying out controversial night raids of Afghan homes, seen by NATO commanders as one of the most effective anti-insurgent tactics.

Taliban insurgents vowed to take revenge on NATO forces for the killings, saying they had no faith in any court proceeding.

Premeditated murder is a capital offense under the U.S. military justice code, so Bales could face the death penalty if convicted. He would face a mandatory minimum sentence, if convicted, of life imprisonment with eligibility for parole.

(Reporting By Phil Stewart; editing by Todd Eastham)

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