The Dasht-i-Leili massacre occurred in December 2001 during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan where between 250 and 3,000 (depending on sources) Taliban prisoners were shot and/or suffocated to death in metal truck containers, while being transferred by U.S. and Northern Alliance soldiers from Kunduz to Sheberghan prison through the Dasht-i-Leili desert in Afghanistan. The transferred prisoners were under supervision of forces loyal to General Rashid Dostum and some of them were survivors of the Battle of Qala-i-Jangi in Mazar-i-Sharif. . In 2009 Dostum denied the accusations. According to all sources, many of the prisoners died from suffocation inside the containers and some witnesses claim that those who survived were raked with gunfire. The dead were buried in a mass grave under the authority of Commander Kamal. Those who participated in the burial included Commander Taher Charkhi, who voices no regret for their deaths. "Thousands should have died, not hundreds," he has said.

The allegations have been investigated since 2002 by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). PHR conducted two forensic missions to the site under the auspices of the UN in 2002.

In 2008, PHR, working with the UN, documented that the grave had been tampered with.

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Controversy over responsibility and scale

In late 2001, around 8,000 Taliban fighters, including Chechens, Pakistanis and Uzbeks as well as suspected members of al-Qaeda, surrendered to the forces of Northern Alliance General Abdul Rashid Dostum, a U.S. ally in the war in Afghanistan, after the siege of Kunduz. Several hundred of the prisoners, among them American John Walker Lindh, came to be held in Qala-i-Jangi, a fort near Mazar-i-Sharif, where they staged a bloody uprising which took several days to quell. The remaining 7,500 were loaded onto containers for transport to Sheberghan prison, a journey that in some cases took several days. Human rights advocates say hundreds or thousands of them went missing.

The first allegations that dozens of prisoners had suffocated in the containers appeared in a December 2001 New York Times article.] A 2002 documentary named Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death by Jamie Doran produced testimony from eyewitnesses alleging hundreds or even thousands of prisoners had died, either during transport in the containers or being shot and dumped in the Dasht-i-Leili desert after arriving at hopelessly overcrowded Sheberghan prison. Witnesses presented in the documentary also alleged that wounded and unconscious survivors of the container transports had been executed in the desert under supervision of U.S. soldiers. Allegations of American involvement were disputed by Robert Young Pelton, who had been in the area reporting for National Geographic and CNN. Pelton also said the number of prisoners who had died in the containers had been far smaller than alleged in Doran's documentary. Doran's documentary, which was viewed by the European and German parliaments, caused widespread concern in Europe and among human rights advocates. It was not reported on in the United States mass media.

Subsequent investigations

In 2002, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) carried out preliminary investigations of alleged mass gravesites at Mazar. A UN forensic team found fifteen recently deceased bodies in a six-yard trial trench dug at a 1-acre (4,000 m2) grave site and performed an autopsy on three of them, concluding that they had been the victims of homicide, the cause of death being consistent with suffocation, as described by the eyewitness reports featured in Doran's film.A major Newsweek article on the massacre appeared in August 2002, raising questions about America's responsibility for the war crimes committed by its allies. It quoted Aziz ur Rahman Razekh, director of the Afghan Organization of Human Rights, asserting "with confidence" that "more than a thousand people died in the containers."

The 2002 Newsweek article stated that "death by container" – locking prisoners in containers and leaving them to die in them – had been an established method of mass execution in Afghanistan for some years. As the containers were sealed, the prisoners began suffering from lack of air soon after being locked in them.[18] According to witnesses in Doran's documentary, air holes were shot into the sides of some containers, killing several of those inside. Newsweek reported that drivers were punished for giving water to the prisoners, or punching holes into the containers.[ Survivors of the container transports, interviewed by Newsweek, recalled that after 24 hours the bound prisoners were so thirsty that they resorted to licking the sweat of each other's bodies. Some bit into the bodies of fellow prisoners. In the containers of these survivors, only 20 to 40 prisoners of an original 150 or more were still alive when the containers arrived at their destination.

Further investigation of the mass grave sites were impeded by Rashid Dostum's continuing military control over the area and due to intimidation. Physicians for Human Rights have claimed that the Bush administration consistently refused to respond to PHR's calls for investigation. According to a document PHR obtained through a suit brought under the Freedom of Information Act, the Bush administration itself estimated that the number of prisoners killed was "higher than the widely reported 1,000" and "may approach 2,000"

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Ahmed Rashid wrote in 2008 that the prisoners were "stuffed in like Sardines, 250 or more per container, so that the prisoners' knees were against their chests". According to Rashid, only a handful survived in each of the thirty containers and UN officials reported that just 6 out of an original 220 survived in one of the containers.The dead were buried by bulldozers in pits in the desert. Rashid called the massacre "the most outrageous and brutal human rights violation of the entire war", which had occurred "despite the presence of US SOF in the region."

Obama calls for probe in 2009

On July 10, 2009, an article on the massacre by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James Risen appeared in the New York Times. Risen stated that human rights groups' estimates of the total number of victims "ranged from several hundred to several thousand" and that U.S. officials had "repeatedly discouraged efforts to investigate the episode". Questioned about the article by Anderson Cooper of CNN during a trip to Africa, United States President Barack Obama was reported to have "ordered national security officials to look into allegations that the Bush administration resisted efforts to investigate a CIA-backed Afghan warlord over the killings of hundreds of Taliban prisoners in 2001."

Excerpts from Doran's documentary Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death were broadcast on Democracy Now! on 13 July 2009, with images from the documentary shown on the programme's website. The programme, which featured James Risen and Susannah Sirkin, Deputy Director of Physicians for Human Rights, claimed that "at least 2,000" prisoners of war had perished in the massacre. Sirkin confirmed the claims made in Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death that eyewitnesses who had come forward with information on the incident had been tortured and killed, and stated that a FOIA document showed that the "U.S. government and, apparently, intelligence agency – it's a three-letter word that’s redacted of an intelligence branch of the U.S. government in the FOIA – they knew and reported that eyewitnesses to this massacre had been killed and tortured."

Risen commented in the programme that in writing his article he "tried not to get caught up in something that I think in the past has slowed down some of the efforts by journalists to look into this. I think in the past one of the mistakes some journalists made was to try and prove a direct involvement by the U.S. personnel in the massacre itself. I frankly don't believe that any U.S. military personnel were involved in the massacre. And, you know, U.S. Special Forces troops who were traveling with Dostum have long maintained that they knew nothing about this. And, you know, so I tried not to go down that road." He added that "the investigation should focus rather on what happened afterwards in the Bush administration."

A New York Times editorial on July 14, 2009 called the Bush administration's refusal to investigate a "sordid legacy". Noting that Dostum was "on the C.I.A. payroll and his militia worked closely with United States Special Forces in the early days of the war", the editorial asked President Obama to "to order a full investigation into the massacre. The site must be guarded and witnesses protected." Edward S. Herman, writing in Z Magazine, commented that this renewed interest by the New York Times in the massacre, after a 7-year silence on the matter, was rather late in coming and coincided with Dostum's restoration to a position of power in Afghanistan prior to the August 2009 elections, in a move that the U.S. administration disapproved of. Herman said that the New York Times had essentially looked whichever way the current U.S. administration had wanted it to look for the best part of a decade, and that this was also "part of the sordid legacy of the New York Times."

On July 17, 2009, in an article published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Dostum, recently reappointed to his government job by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, again described Doran's film as a "fake story", saying that the whole number of prisoners of war captured by his troops was less than the number Doran's film claimed had been killed, and denying there could have been any abuse of prisoners. Dostum's column was sharply criticised by human rights groups. In a rebuttal published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in parallel to Dostum's piece, Sam Zarifi, the Asia-Pacific director for Amnesty International and a human rights investigator in Afghanistan in 2002, stated that "investigations carried out shortly after the alleged killings by highly experienced and respected forensic analysts from Physicians for Human Rights established the presence of recently deceased human remains at Dasht-e Leili and suggested that they were the victims of homicide."

In December 2009 Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) renewed its call for the Obama administration’s Department of Justice to investigate why the Bush administration impeded an FBI criminal probe in the wake of the July 10, 2009 front page article in The New York Times. On December 26, 2009, the Asian Tribune published the full transcript of a video interview given by the officials of Physicians for Human Rights, detailing nearly eight years of advocacy and investigation.

This is not a college thesis, and so I do not mention all my sources. If you want to know what those are, then its just a matter of asking,

It is 1064. In the Royal Palace of Westminster Edward the Confessor, King of England since 1042, is talking to his brother-in-law Harold, Earl of Wessex. After this Harold, holding a hawk, makes for the south coast with his followers and hunting dogs. They are heading for Bosham in Sussex, Harold’s family estate.

Harold and a companion enter the church at Bosham, to pray for a safe voyage. The night before they leave a feast is held in one of Harold's many houses - the manor house at Bosham. Harold boards his ship and sets sail. He is still carrying his hawk.

Harold’s ship is driven across the channel. From the mast a lookout spies land. It is Ponthieu, north of Normandy, the territory of the fierce Count Guy. Harold is shown twice. At the left he stands on the ship, ready to land. As soon as he climbs down, he is seized by the soldiers of Count Guy who directs operations from horseback.

Harold, now a prisoner, is treated with respect; he rides in front, with his hawk, towards Beaurain, Guy’s capital town. Guy sits on his throne and speaks with Harold.

The next three segments continue the story in reverse order. Here, two messengers arrive from Count Guy's overlord Duke William of Normandy to demand Harold’s release. Turold may be the very short figure, or one of the two messengers. On the right, the messengers ride furiously, with their hair flying in the wind, to take a message from William to Guy.

This is really the first of the three scenes: news is brought to William that Guy has seized Harold. Guy obeys William’s order and takes Harold to meet him. Guy points to Harold; both men carry their hawks.

William and Harold ride with soldiers to Williams’s palace at Rouen (Now William has the hawk!). William sits while Harold talk to him. The mysterious incident on the far right seems to have nothing to do with the main story, but it may have been well known in the 11th century. It might refer to a sexual scandal - the man in the lower border is naked in the original tapestry, but he has been provided with shorts by the Victorian embroiderers who made this copy.

Harold accompanies William and the Norman soldiers as they set off to fight Duke Conan of Brittany. They pass Mont St. Michel, which is on the border between Normandy and Brittany. To get into Brittany they have to cross the river. They hold their shields above their heads to keep them out of the water. Some soldiers sink into quicksand and Harold rescues them - two at a time!

The Norman soldiers attack the Dol and Duke Conan escapes down a rope from the castle. Chasing Conan, the Normans pass Rennes, the capital of Brittany.

The Normans catch up with Conan at Dinan. During the battle soldiers on horseback throw lances, and others try to set fire to the defences. Conan surrenders. He passes the keys of Dinan to William on the point of a lance. As a reward for his services, William honours Harold with the gift of arms. This ceremony would have been seen as making William Harold's overlord - an important event from the Norman point of view.

William and Harold return to Normandy and reach the town of Bayeux. In the climax of the story so far Harold swears a solemn oath on holy relics. Was Harold promising to support William? Harold is at last set free, and sails back to England.

Harold talks to King Edward. The King is shown as frail and ill, although he was in fact perfectly healthy at this time.

Edward died on the 5th January 1066. The Tapestry reverses the scenes of his death and his burial. Here we see his funeral procession to Westminster Abbey, is great new Church. Edward had been too ill to attend its consecration on 28th December 1065. In the upper chamber King Edward is in his bed talking to his faithful followers, including Harold and Queen Edith - below he is shown dead with a priest in attendance. Two noblemen offer Harold the crown and axe, symbols of royal authority, that will make him King. He accepts the offer.

Harold is crowned King of England on 6th January 1066 - Edward’s funeral was that very morning. The new king sits on a throne with nobles to the left and Archbishop Stigand to the right. At the far side people cheer him. On the far right Halley's comet appears; people think it is an evil omen and are terrified. News of the comet is brought to Harold; beneath him a ghostly fleet of ships appears in the lower border- a hint of the Norman invasion to come.

News of Edward's death and Harold’s coronation is carried across the channel to William, Duke of Normandy. William is furious - he claimed that the throne of England should be his and saw Harold as a usurper. William decides to attack England and organises a fleet of warships. To his left sits Bishop Odo of Bayeux, his half-brother, making his first appearance in the tapestry.

William's men prepare for the invasion. Woodmen fell trees and shape them into planks. The planks are used for building boats which men drag down to the sea.

Food and drink are taken to the boats. So are weapons: coats of chain mail, helmets, swords and lances.

William leads his army to the boats; they embark and set sail.

The sea is crowded with ships, full of soldiers and horses. William sails in the ship, Mora, bought for him by his wife Matilda.

They reach the south coast of England on the 28th September and land at Pevensey. Soldiers ride off towards Hastings and gather food.

A feast is prepared in the open air - chickens on skewers, a stew cooked over an open fire and food from an outdoor oven. William sits down to a feast with his nobles and Bishop Odo says grace. Servants load food onto shields to carry it to the banquet. Wadard (mounted on the left of the panel) was a follower of Bishop Odo.

Duke William appears in discussion with his half brothers Odo and Robert, Count of Mortain. A motte, a type of castle, is built to strengthen the Norman invaders' base at Hastings. A messenger brings William news of Harold and his army. On the right a woman and her child flee from a burning house.

On the morning of the battle, 14th October 1066, William, in full armour, is about to mount his horse. William’s Norman cavalry gallops off to face Harold’s English soldiers.

William is shown twice: first on a dark horse at the head of his troops; then immediately to the right asking Vital (one of Odo’s followers) if the enemy has been seen yet.

The scene changes to the English side. A look-out warns Harold that the Norman army is approaching. Back on the Norman side: William, mace in hand, gives a speech to encourage his soldiers.

The Normans charge and the Battle of Hastings has begun.

As the air fills with arrows and lances, men lie dying. The English soldiers, who are all on foot, protect themselves with a wall of shields. The Normans attack from both sides. The lower border of the tapestry is filled with dead and injured soldiers.

The violence continues as men hack and spear each other to death. Harold’s brothers both die fighting.

The battle rages on; men and horses crash to the ground, the lower border is strewn with slaughtered troops and animals. Bishop Odo appears in the thick of the fighting waving a club and encouraging his followers. Odo uses a club rather than a sword as bishops were not supposed to shed blood.

After a fall from his horse, William raises his helmet to reveal his face. This shows his troops that he is still alive and encourages them to continue fighting. Count Eustace carries an elaborate banner, which may be the one given by the Pope to show his support for William’s invasion of England.

The Normans seem to be getting the upper hand as the battle continues. Many more soldiers die, one appears to be having his head cut off. On the right is the best known scene in the Tapestry: the Normans killing King Harold. But how is Harold killed? He seems to be shown twice: first plucking an arrow from his eye, and then being hacked down by a Norman knight. The tapestry is difficult to interpret here, but the second figure is probably Harold being killed.

With Harold dead, the battle is over. The victorious Normans chase the remaining English from the battlefield. The final scene from the tapestry has been lost. It may have shown William being crowned King of England. This would match the scene at the very beginning of the tapestry which shows King Edward, secure on the throne just two years earlier.

Needless to say, I now had something worthy I could use as hard evidence to back my ongoing dispute with my uncle. When I finally did see him again, he grudgingly admitted that maybe there was something to be said about my notion of "words as pictures," Of course there is more to follow so stay tuned.

My friend Kim is someone I have known for many years. She was one of the very first contacts I had ever made via my computer, and she has remained a very good friend to this day. Ironically, even though I met her online, she lived right in my area of town, so she is also a friend in my day to day life, and I know her family like she knows my family as well. A lot of things can happen to any person over the course of years, and that includes the relationships you have with people. There were a number of seriously tragic incidents on her side of things, but ultimately she withstood those trials with a lot of courage and dignity. One day she come to me with a sad story about her sister.

She began by telling me that she never left the house anymore except to go to school, and as soon as her last class of the day was done. she would go straight back home. She had become obsessed with her own appearance. Not a healthy thing for any 15 year old much less anyone else, but is commonplace in our society. The constant and steady flow of messages that are directed at everyone via publications, television, radio, combined with advertising, guarantees this. In the United States alone its virtually impossible to leave your home and not be confronted by any of these messages.

In all the time that I knew Kim, she had never ever asked me for any favors or anything else for that matter, our friendship was a genuine one that has stood the test of time. But she continued by telling me she loved her sister very much and it was killing her to see her in this state. And she asked me if I would help her by making a portarit of her. She brought me the photo you see numbered 1. And from that I made the sketches that followed.

Needless to say, Kim's sister went on to graduate from high school with top honors and is now a very good student studying law at Harvard. I do not believe for one single minute that this portrait was the final and only reason for that. But I do believe it helped her get over her obsession and self destructive behavior, and she still uses this as her default picture for all of her own online activities

I just recieved a very nice holiday greeting from Kim and that's what made me think about this in the first place..

But now we come to the year 2011. And everything I just said is about to come to a very abrupt and final end for these people. We have accomplished many things as a species in areas like science, medicine, technology, and social change. All the things that have defined us as a civilized society. Yet we do not have the ability to allow these 1000 individuals to live their lives as they have been....

Unlike its small Hadza minority, the government of Tanzania is looking to its future. That means it wants to be a part of the global economy. The sight of Hadza hunter gatherers is not an image they want to project to the rest of the world. Government officials commonly refer to them as backward. Tanzanian president, Jakaya Kikwete, has openly declared that they must be transformed. That they must be schooled, housed, and set to proper jobs.

In laymen's terms. That means education camps.

They are looked down on by other ethnic groups with pity and disgust. There was an incident where a rancher would not allow the Hadza drinking water until his cattle had had their fill. This all has a dreary and alarming sound of familiarity to it...We have seen this before and it makes me ashamed to be human. The very least I can do is try to make people aware of this. But I already know that this is an exercise in futility. I have published this in the recent past. However, a majority of the comments I got went something like this.

"THEY DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD AND SO THAY HAVE IT COMING"

"HOW DARE THOSE LITTLE BLACK MIDGETS MAKE FUN OF THOSE POOR HARD WORKING MISSIONARIES? AND THEN WOULDN'T EVEN ACCEPT JESUS FROM THEM??? WHO NEEDS THEM?

"DREAM. YOU ARE JUST A KNEE JERK LIBERAL TREE HUGGING BUSHMAN LOVER. WHY DON'T YOU FIND A REAL CAUSE INSTEAD OF ALL THESE WEIRD THINGS NO ONE GIVES TWO FUCKS ABOUT?"

"WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU? WHY IS IT SUCH A BAD THING TO EDUCATE THESE GUYS? DON'T YOU THINK THEY SHOULD KNOW HOW TO READ AND WRITE?

"NIGGER LOVER"

And so I sit here feeling rage at my own inabilty to do anything about this.

These are literally innocent people. They really are. They never did anything to anyone that they deserve this ugly ending to their way of life. What if we had to account for this to someone? What excuse would you give if you had to? Speaking only for myself, I am unable to come up with any excuse that makes any sense. But what does come to my mind is something very disturbing as well as troubling..

There is something else about the Hadza that I did not say. This more than anything else should make you wonder like few things that you ever read or heard about.

The Hadza have the distinction of being the only culture on earth who never waged any war on anyone.

Is it just me, or is there something profoundly disturbing about the fact that the only people who never waged any war are also the same ones who never had any religion?

The most important task that faces any civilized society is to protect the lives and well beings of all of its citizens. But one look here and we are failing miserably in that task..