With the announcement of the Pulitzer recipients not far away (April 14th)-it occurred to me that when the winners and finalists are announced-a great many readers might not have been aware, let alone have read, many of these prize-winning works of journalism.
So, as a run-up to the official announcement, DailyNewsGems.com, will be highlighting some outstanding works of journalism, worthy of Pulitzer consideration.
-Bill Lucey
Photo Credit: Rolling Stone Magazine.
Matthieu Aikins, a freelance journalist, who has reported from Afghanistan for five years, published in the November 21, 2013 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine, “The A-Team Killings” a chilling narrative, which presented shocking evidence, gathered through five months of exhaustive reporting , that a 12-man U.S. Army Special Forces unit (known as Operational Detachment-Alpha, or A Team) and their Afghan translators rounded up and executed 10 civilians in the Nerkh district of Wardak province, the area where charges of killings had taken place in early 2013 without legal authority.
Over a five-month period, Rolling Stone interviewed more than two dozen eyewitnesses and victims’ families who provided credible and consistent assertions of the American forces complicity in the disappearance of the 10 men. In addition, Rolling Stone’s interviews with Afghan and Western officials who were familiar with confidential Afghan-government, U.N. and Red Cross investigations, found the allegations to be credible.
Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International urged the military to determine who is criminally responsible for these men's deaths.
Unknown to many, (because it was never officially announced for public consumption) and despite repeated denials of U.S. responsibility, the Army's Criminal Investigation Command already opened an investigation in July, 2013, when they claimed new information provided by the Red Cross had become known.
``But six months after its arrival, the team would be forced out of Nerkh by the Afghan government, amid allegations of torture and murder against the local populace. If true, these accusations would amount to some of the gravest war crimes perpetrated by American forces since 2001. By February 2013, the locals claimed 10 civilians had been taken by U.S. Special Forces and had subsequently disappeared, while another eight had been killed by the team during their operations.’’
``In July, a U.N. report on civilian casualties in Afghanistan warned: “The reported disappearances, arbitrary killings and torture – if proven to have been committed under the auspices of a party to the armed conflict – may amount to war crimes.” http://goo.gl/1bf78P
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If you’re aware of any outstanding works of journalism that you would like to see included at DailyNewsGems, send links to Bill Lucey at [email protected]
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