Salon.com News | When does a massacre matter?


	Search All of Salon.com Only News Directory Hot Topics Joe Conason's Journal Israel Palestine Iraq King Kaufman on Sports Terrorism Osama bin Laden Allen Barra on Sports World Trade Center and Pentagon Attacks Articles by date All of Salon.com By department



	Find a job Search our Personals



	Arts & Entertainment Books Comics Life News People Politics Sex Tech & Business Audio Letters Columnists Corrections



	Salon Premium Gift Subscriptions Salon Communities -- The Well -- Table Talk Salon Blogs Salon Gear Reprint Information About Salon Advertise in Salon Investor Relations



	Table Talk [Spirited Salon forums] Here he comes again The newest incarnation of Bill Clinton. Bush watch What's the president doing this week? Posts of the week The Well [Pioneering members-only discussions] The art of love Ever fallen head over heels for a painting? Sound Off E-mail Salon Send us a Letter to the Editor Recent Letters


	Downloads Get Salon.com on your PDA

- - - - - - - - - - - -

When does a massacre matter?
Evidence that American allies in Afghanistan slaughtered captured Taliban soldiers first surfaced last spring. Will a Newsweek cover story force an investigation? So far, the U.S. and U.N. say no.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
By Michelle Goldberg

Aug. 20, 2002 |

In June, when Irish documentarian Jamie Doran screened his film "Massacre at Mazar" for the German and European parliaments, the European media jumped on the tragic story. According to the documentary, a Northern Alliance general along with other witnesses recounted how hundreds, perhaps thousands, of captured Taliban soldiers were intentionally smothered in metal containers en route from the Qala-I-Zeini fortress to Sherberghan prison. Physicians for Human Rights had reported the existence of mass graves in the desert near Sherberghan in May, and after his documentary screened, Doran was fielding calls from dozens of American news agencies and expecting the story to break big in the U.S.

But it didn't, until now. On Monday, Newsweek published a cover story detailing what it called "The Killing Fields of Afghanistan." Saying that "The dead of Dasht-e Leili -- and the horrific manner of their killing -- are one of the dirty little secrets of the Afghan war," the article confirmed much of the story that Physicians for Human Rights has been telling for months. Thousands of surrendered Taliban soldiers were packed into metal containers without air or water, by members of warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum's militia. Though the Newsweek investigation didn't mention Doran, it confirmed his story that truck drivers, commandeered to transport the containers, were forbidden from punching air holes in the cages, despite the men's dying screams.

While there is no firm number of how many died at Dasht-e Leili, there is now abundant evidence that the Northern Alliance, America's proxies, committed war crimes. The question is whether anyone cares.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

premium

Want to read more? This article is Salon Premium content and only available to subscribers. Find out more or if you're already a member log in here.

WHY SHOULD YOU JOIN SALON PREMIUM?

Don't miss another Salon news or politics scoop. Whether it's uncovering Enron's secret bonus list or tracking the president in "Bushed!", Salon Premium gives you access to it all.

Read Salon without banners and pop-ups

When you support Salon Premium, you support independent journalism

Find out more or subscribe now.

Or read more of Salon.

Salon Politics: Unflinching daily political news, analysis and commentary.