Rolling Stone publishes graphic photos and videos from notorious Afghan ‘kill team’

By David Edwards
Monday, March 28th, 2011 -- 11:14 am
rawstory.com

Warning: This report links to highly graphic and disturbing photos

Last week, the German magazine Der Spiegel was the first to publish three photographs from a group of drug-addled American soldiers who posed with innocent Afghans they had killed.

The Der Spiegel article was disturbing enough, with blurred photos of several U.S. soldiers holding up the head of a dead Afghan, and another photo of two dead Afghan men posed together.

The 17 additional photos published by rollingstone.com Sunday (without blurring out the faces of victims) took the horror to the next level.

The Rolling Stone article accompanying the graphic photos is titled simply, "The Kill Team."
One photo shows soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord's 5th Stryker Brigade following the military protocol and cutting off the clothes of Gul Mudin, an Afghan farmer.
A smiling Cpl. Jeremy Morlock and Pfc. Andrew Holmes are also pictured breaking protocol by holding Mudin's head up by his hair, posing with him in subsequent photos.

Another photo shows an Afghani that had been stabbed by "the kill team."
The magazine also noted that the Army may have been trying to suppress evidence of wrongdoing outside the 3rd Platoon. One photo that may have been taken by another platoon shows two dead Afghan men bound together and placed alongside a road.
A sign around the neck of one dead man reads: "TALIBAN ARE DEAD."
Army prosecutors insist that blame for the killings rests with Calvin Gibbs, a squad leader in 3rd Platoon. Morlock, along with five other soldiers, pleaded guilty last week to lesser crimes in exchange for their testimony.
Morlock has been sentenced to 24 years in prison.