Talk:Dasht-i-Leili massacre

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The white-washing of this article is disturbing. Can we please look at all of the evidence fairly before drawing hasty conclusions one way or the other? For instance, I hope people would at least have the decency to watch the documentary on this before denying it ever happened. Here are some relevant links:

I will edit this and add more as I find more, but alas, I don't have time to finish this project tonight.--GD 10:05, 2 Sep 2004 (UTC)

The only whitewashing of the article was the work done before. I saw the documentary, and like most pieces of agitprop, it has quite a few "moving" images and anonymous "eyewitness" accounts, but nothing more than that. The Physicians for Human Rights reports does not back up Dorans claims of 3000 Talibans killed outside the jail. It does find many mass graves in the area, but also concludes that many of these graves are years old.
And then there is the issue of Robert Young Pelton, an actual eyewitness to all the events. I realize that we cannot take DOD talking points at face value, but what about Pelton? TDC 16:39, Sep 2, 2004 (UTC)


Regardless of our individual takes on this article, it ought to be rewritten so as not to be a debate between Doran and Pelton, especially as there are variety of other observers now available. Also notable is the progress (or lack thereof), and the repeated intimidation of witnesses to the events by Dostum's forum. The Guardian even quotes a survivor (see articles below), so let's make this about the events, not a debate between two western journalists.

  • "The Death Convoy of Afghanistan," NEWSWEEK investigation by Babak Dehghanpisheh, John Barry and Roy Gutman (With Donatella Lorch in Washington, Karen Breslau in San Francisco and Stryker McGuire in London), Aug 26 '02.
  • Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, "Reporter bullied over alleged war crimes video", IWPR, 10/11/04.
  • Rory McCarthy, "US Afghan ally 'tortured witnesses to his war crimes'," The Guardian, November 18, 2002
--Carwil 20:25, 16 August 2005 (UTC)
But it should also be said that the only eye witness to these events who has nothing at stake, Pelton, has gone on record to deny the charges. All other eyewitnesses are Taliban fighter, whose motives and testimony is "colored" at best. TDC 20:31, August 16, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Restructuring

I've restructured the article, to narrate the massacre, while not avoiding the controversy. Those more critical of the narrative should qualify witness statements where they think they are unlikely to be true. The tipping point for me is that one of Dostum's commanders testifies to the mass deaths. Carwil 19:43, 16 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] survivor's accounts?

I read an account, from a survivor. He did say that Dostum's forces did fire into the tightly packed containers, killing many of captives, but the bullet holes prevented him from suffocating. I read it over a year ago. I will try to remember where, and incorporate it. -- Geo Swan 14:55, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] POV tag

Care to elaborate on your concerns?--Carwil 05:51, 30 December 2006 (UTC)