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Gen. McChrystal to Give Closed-Door Briefing to Senate

Will Senators ask McChrystal about secret prisons or massacre cover-ups?

Jeremy Scahill

May 11, 2010

The Senate Armed Services Committee announced that it will receive a closed-door briefing from Gen. Stanley McChrystal Thursday "on operations in Afghanistan." Will the senators ask McChrystal about the allegations that after Special Operations Forces killed five Afghan civilians they tried to cover up the deaths and blame it on the Taliban? Remember that’s the one where JSOC Commander, Vice. Admiral William McRaven, gave the family of the dead Afghans two sheep as a condolence offering. Or about the International Committee of the Red Cross’s confirmation today that there is a secret "black" facility hidden at the publicly-known prison at Bagram? (NOTE: The BBC has been reporting extensively on allegations of abuse of nine prisoners at Tor Jail ("Black Jail"). Jeff Kaye has a good summary at FireDogLake and raises interesting points about potential involvement of SERE psychologists in the alleged abuse.)

McChrystal’s closed-door brief comes as the Mayor of Kabul, Hamid Karzai, gets the BFF welcome in Washington DC where he is on tour for the week. As ABC News’ Kirit Radia reports:

"Ambassador Eikenberry accompanied [Karzai] on a US Air Force flight to the US and Ambassador Holbrooke went to Andrews Air Force Base to welcome him in person. Last night Karzai dined with Clinton and tonight he’ll have dinner with Biden, but not before Clinton fetes him one last time with a reception in his honor at the State Department. Tomorrow, Karzai will meet all day at the White House and hold a joint press conference with President Obama. On Thursday, Karzai and Clinton will hold a moderated public discussion at the United States Institute of Peace."

 

Jeremy ScahillTwitterJeremy Scahill is the author of the best-selling Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, published by Nation Books. Nation Books released his second book, Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield, in 2013. He is the writer, with David Riker, and a producer of the documentary feature filmĀ Dirty Wars, released by IFC Films in 2013.


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