Exemplary Army justice for Afghan war crimes POSTED BY PATRICK O'CALLAHAN ON MARCH 26, 2011 AT 3:51 PM   This editorial will appear in tomorrow's print edition. The prosecution of war crimes at Forward Operating Base Ramrod in Afghanistan promises to become one of the Army’s most honorable episodes – if it focuses as much attention on commanders as it has on enlisted soldiers. The trials and hearings at Joint Base Lewis-McChord have revealed an attitude of intolerance of atrocities and criminal behavior that might have been dismissed as the cost of doing business in previous wars. Last week’s sentencing of one defendant, Spc. Jeremy Morlock, shows how tough the Army has gotten. Morlock pleaded guilty to three counts of murdering Afghan civilians and several less serious crimes in what prosecutors say was a series of killings carried out last year by Morlock and four of his platoon-mates. But he has been cooperating with the prosecution and is expected to be the key witness against the accused ringleader, Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs. He was sentenced to 24 years Wednesday, a tough deal for a defendant turned state’s evidence. Expect worse for Gibbs or any of the other three if convicted after a trial. Gibbs is accused of enlisting the others in a sociopathic sport that consisted of killing noncombatants opportunistically when on patrol, claiming they were enemies. Soldiers in any conflict can break under the stress of combat and kill indiscriminately, but this a case of cold premeditation. Three other soldiers accused of lesser crimes, including smoking hashish and beating up a whistle-blower, have already been given bad conduct discharges from the Army, a stigma that will follow them the rest of their lives. Military authorities have also investigated whatever breakdown in command helped set the stage for the atrocities. There’s considerable evidence that these soldiers’ brigade leader was flouting a counterinsurgency strategy that focused on protection of civilians. The three murdered civilians weren’t protected, to say the least. So far, the Army has not responded to The News Tribune’s requests for the 500-page report on the review. It would do itself a favor by releasing the document; the investigation itself is evidence of an organization bent on policing itself. And the public must be assured that commanders are being held as accountable as their troops. Let’s hope the world, particularly Afghanistan, is paying attention to the courts-martial at JBLM. Morlock’s conviction roughly coincides with a German magazine’s publication of sickening photos of him posing with one of the murdered Afghans. One picture shows him grinning and holding the man’s head up like a hunting trophy. That’s a revolting statement about the depravity some soldiers are capable of when they lose their moral bearings in a combat zone. But the Army’s aggressive prosecution makes its own statement about what the U.S. military – and America itself – expects of its troops. “This is not us,” said Morlock’s prosecutor, Capt. Dre Leblanc. “We don’t do this. This is not how we’re trained. This is not the Army.” The punishments these soldiers face – combined with public accountability for their commanders – will help put an exclamation mark after those words. Read more: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/opinion/2011/03/26/exemplary-army-justice-for-afghan-war-crimes/#ixzz1Hl86uvS6 The catastrophe in Japan has made apparent just how fragile the global Economy Has Become. Factories Around The World Have Had To Slow Production Due To A Lack Of Parts. But The Problems Are Surmountable -- Provided The Nuclear Disaster In Fukushima Doesn't Worsen. It's about 9,000 kilometers (5,625 miles) from Tokyo to Mulfingen and Künzelsau, but it didn't take long for the shockwaves from Japan to reach these two towns in the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg. The region is home to several small and mid-sized companies, including EBM Papst and Ziehl-Abegg, the world's two top producers of fans and specialized ventilation systems. Normally, the two companies are competitors. Now, however, they share the same fate. One of their key suppliers, a computer chip factory operated by electronics giant Toshiba in northern Japan, is out of commission. Although detailed information about local conditions is hard to come by, everything the German executives have heard suggests that the earthquake and tsunami severely damaged the chip factory. "If delivery is delayed, it can shut down the entire production process," says Peter Fenkl, chairman of Ziehl-Abegg. "We expect that our assembly lines could come to a standstill for one to two weeks," says Hans-Jochen Beilke, chairman of operations at EBM Papst. Although the scope of the catastrophe in Japan is still not fully clear, it's safe to say that the economic damage has been considerable. Japan, the world's third-largest economy, exports its goods to every corner of the earth. Japanese companies supply world markets with modern memory chips, flat-screen TVs, cameras and cars. The French bank Crédit Lyonnais estimates that one-fifth of all high-tech products worldwide are from Japan. The devastating earthquake and tsunami 12 days ago -- resulting in widespread power outages -- has severely curtailed production. Things could get even worse should attempts to prevent a massive disaster at the nuclear reactors in Fukushima fail. 'Nuclear Winter for the Economy' Currency speculators are fueling demand for the yen, because they expect the rebuilding effort to cost billions. Nervous investors have sent stock prices in New York, Frankfurt and Tokyo on a roller-coaster ride. Some economic experts fear a global recession, a "nuclear winter for the economy," as a Frankfurt securities dealer put it last week. Japan once taught the world how a modern factory works. Now, though, it is the disaster in Japan that has brought the global supply chain to a standstill. The transmission Porsche installs into its Cayenne SUV is made by the Japanese manufacturer Aisin, where production has been hampered. A damaged Toshiba plant produces an important memory chip used in Apple's iPad. Automaker Opel has announced plans to cancel some shifts at its plant in Eisenach, Germany this week due to a shortage of components from Japan. Trade routes have also been impaired. Container ships operated by Hapag-Lloyd can no longer dock at the destroyed port of Sendai. Lufthansa Cargo is no longer offering regular service to Tokyo because of the radiation risk. In a world in which factories no longer maintain large inventories, constant supply is mandatory. Should that supply be interrupted, they can often continue producing only for a few days. The assembly lines at EBM Papst and Ziehl-Abegg now depend on a handful of electronic components from Japan, often costing little more than a few cents. But they the transformers, resistors and memory chips are vital components in products ranging from fans for laptops and car engines to the air-conditioning systems in New York skyscrapers and hotels in Mecca. Potential Threat "There will be an impact," says Ziehl-Abegg Chairman Fenkl. His order books are full but his warehouses, unfortunately, are not. And even if he manages to obtain new parts quickly enough, the risks to the economy still exist. "What good would it do if we delivered our fans to an automaker on time, while a supplier of fuel pumps cannot because he is missing parts from Japan?" Fenkl asks. The potential threat to German companies is relatively small compared to the problems faced by the Asian and North American economies. The volume of trade between Japan and Germany comes to about €35 billion a year -- a fraction of the trade between Japan and China. Experts estimate that it will cost about $200 billion (€142 billion) to clean up and rebuild those parts of the country most affected. Expensive, to be sure, but possible. It cost about $100 billion to rebuild Kobe after the devastating 1995 earthquake -- but the effort proved to be an economic stimulus of sorts for the Japanese economy. Should the situation become drastically worse in the damaged reactors in Fukushima, the future would look even bleaker. Significant areas in the Fukushima region would become permanently uninhabitable. The shock to the global economy would likewise be considerable. Worst Case "The situation would be comparable with Germany after World War II," says Klaus-Jürgen Gern of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Michael Heise, chief economist at Allianz Insurance, predicts: "It would shake the financial markets and could bring the recovery of the global economy to a standstill." Bank Sarasin, a Swiss private bank, expects that in the worst case Japan could permanently lose about 10 percent of its economic strength if large parts of the country become contaminated with radiation. This would curb worldwide growth by about one percentage point. The stock and foreign currency markets reflect how uncertain the situation is. The benchmark index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange initially lost 15 percent last week before entering a period of fluctuating sharp gains and losses. By the time markets closed last Friday, many companies had made up some of the losses from earlier in the week -- and the rally has continued this week. Those who had expected the Japanese yen to come under pressure in a time of need were disappointed. In fact, the opposite occurred, as the yen became more and more expensive. Last Thursday, a US dollar was trading at only 76 yen, the lowest rate since the end of World War II. At that point, the finance ministers and central bank chairmen of the key industrialized nations had had enough. In a joint action, they injected yen into the market, managing to stem the currency's appreciation, at least temporarily. Japanese companies which rely on exports were relieved at the move. In the current crisis, it is vital that they are able to sell their products at a reasonable price on the world market. If, That Is, They Are Able To Produce Any Goods At All.