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August 17, 2009

Warlord Dostum Returns to Afghanistan Ahead of Election
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One of Afghanistan’s most feared warlords, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, has
returned from exile in Turkey just days ahead of Afghanistan’s
presidential election. Dostum is one of several warlords who have become
allies with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Karzai is hoping Dostum’s
return will help attract ethnic Uzbek voters on election day. Dostum
used to be on the CIA payroll, and his militia worked closely with US
Special Forces. In 2001, he oversaw a massacre at Dasht-e-Leili that
left at least 2,000 suspected Taliban POWs dead. Last month, New York
Times reporter James Risen revealed the Bush administration blocked at
least three federal investigations into the alleged war crimes committed
by Dostum.

James Risen: “The evidence was overwhelming that something had happened
and that it was the responsibility of the Bush administration to look
into this or at least to push for an international investigation,
because Dostum had been on the CIA payroll, was part of a US-backed
alliance that was taking over Afghanistan. And what I found was, time
after time, in different agencies and as far—and in the White House,
Bush administration officials repeatedly ignored evidence or just
decided or discouraged efforts to open investigations into the
massacre.”



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