Taliban Fighters Have Increased Rocket And Mortar Attacks On Bagram (And Elsewhere)

"Rocket City," Afghanistan: Army Thinks Outside The Box To Protect Troops At Front-Line Base -- CBS

Bagram Air Field A piercing alarm rang out just after midnight, then "Incoming! Incoming! Incoming!"

The ground trembled with the explosion as the rocket crashed down somewhere inside the sprawling Bagram Airbase. Then came another. The military calls it IDF: indirect fire.

Then came the next warning: "IDF impact. Shelter in place and don IBA (individual body armor) where possible."

We jumped into our boots and made our way to the bunker just outside the barracks. Our embed with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan had barely begun. We'd been warned that in recent weeks Taliban fighters had increased rocket and mortar attacks on Bagram.

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My Comment: The Taliban are sensing that the momentum is now shifting their way .... expect even more rocket and mortar attacks in the months to come.

Allegations Of Torture Reported In Afghanistan's Bagram Prison

A U.S. captain is silhouetted in Bagram prison, north of Kabul. Human rights groups allege that detainees are kept in solitary confinement in windowless cells, and have been menaced and forced to strip naked. Photographer: Massoud Hossaini/AFP/Getty Images

Afghan Commission Accuses U.S. of Detainee Abuse -- Wall Street Journal/AP

KABUL, Afghanistan—An Afghan investigative commission accused the American military Saturday of abuse at its main prison in the country, repeating President Hamid Karzai's demand that the U.S. turn over all detainees to Afghan custody and saying anyone held without evidence should be freed.

The demands put the U.S. and the Afghan governments on a collision course in an issue that will decide the fate of hundreds of suspected Taliban and al-Qaida operators captured by American forces. The head of the Afghan investigation said U.S. officials told him many of those militant suspects were taken based on intelligence that can't be used in Afghan courts.

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More News On Allegations Of Torture At Afghanistan's Bagram Prison

Afghan inmates 'abused' at US-run Bagram prison -- BBC
Afghan commission alleges U.S. prison abuse -- CTV/AP
Torture reported in Afghanistan's Bagram prison -- The Nation/AFP
Afghan commission accuses U.S. of abusing prisoners -- USA Today/AP
Afghan body hears reports of inmate abuse by US -- Chicago Tribune/Reuters
Afghan claim of U.S. prison abuse is straining key talks -- Salt Lake Tribune/AP
Hamid Karzai demands U.S. return Bagram detention center to Afghan control within a month -- Daily Mail
Karzai demands transfer of U.S. military prison near Bagram to Afghan control -- Washington Post
Karzai Says Afghans to Take Control of U.S.-Run Bagram Prison Within Month -- Bloomberg

Bagram Air Base's Prison Now The New Guantanamo With Recent Court Ruling Denying Habeas Rights

Court: No Habeas Rights For Prisoners In Afghanistan -- L.A. Times

Obama wins what Bush sought: the right to hold suspects without judicial oversight at the Bagram air base.

The Obama administration has won the legal right to hold its terrorism suspects indefinitely and without oversight by judges — not at Guantanamo or in Illinois, but rather at the Bagram air base in Afghanistan.

In a 3-0 decision, the U.S. appeals court in Washington ruled for the administration Friday and said the Constitution and its right to habeas corpus does not extend to foreign prisoners held by the U.S. military in Afghanistan because it is a war zone. The judges dismissed claims from three prisoners who were taken to Bagram from Pakistan and Thailand and have been held for as long as seven years.

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More News On The Ruling That Prisoners In Afghanistan Have No Habeas Rights

Court: Bagram prisoners don't have Guantanamo habeas rights -- McClatchy News
Appeals Panel Bars Detainees From Access to U.S. Courts -- New York Times
Court: Detainees held by U.S. in Afghanistan can't appeal their detention -- CNN
D.C. Circuit Denies Afghani Detainees Access to U.S. Courts -- Wall Street Journal
Detainees held by US in Afghanistan can't contest custody, court finds -- Christian Science Monitor
Appeals court rules against Bagram detainees -- AP
Britain ready to hand over detainees to United States again -- Times Online
Bagram detainees cannot sue for release in US: court -- AFP
Great Writ Does Not Apply At Bagram -- The Atlantic
DC Circuit: No Habeas For Bagram Detainees -- Daily Kos

My Comment: Bottom line .... this legitimizes making the prison at Bagram air force base the new Guantanamo for future detainees and captured Al Qaeda/Taliban prisoners.

Is The Prison At Bagram Air Base In Afghanistan Replacing Guantanamo?

The U.S. military recently opened this new prison at Bagram air base, north of Kabul, but the facility remains controversial in Afghanistan because of cases of detainee abuse at the former prison there. (Saeed Shah / MCT / February 11, 2010)

U.S. May Expand Use Of Its Prison In Afghanistan -- L.A. Times

The White House is considering housing international terrorism suspects at Bagram air base, as is done at Guantanamo Bay.

The White House is considering whether to detain international terrorism suspects at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, senior U.S. officials said, an option that would lead to another prison with the same purpose as Guantanamo Bay, which it has promised to close.

The idea, which would require approval by President Obama, already has drawn resistance from within the government. Army Gen. Stanley A. McCrystal, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and other senior officials strongly oppose it, fearing that expansion of the U.S. detention facility at Bagram air base could make the job of stabilizing the country even tougher.

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My Comment: They have to put these detainees somewhere. Since Guantanamo is out, and bringing them to the US will just create a political firestorm .... the next best place is Afghanistan itself.

Obama's Gitmo -- A Commentary

From The Wall Street Journal:

Helen Thomas: Why is the president blocking habeas corpus from prisoners at Bagram? I thought he taught constitutional law. And these prisoners have been there . . .

Robert Gibbs: You're incorrect that he taught on constitutional law.

You know we live in interesting times when Helen Thomas is going after Barack Obama. Miss Thomas was asking the White House press secretary last week why detainees at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan should not have the same right to challenge their detention in federal court that last year's Supreme Court ruling in Boumediene v. Bush gave to Guantanamo's detainees. All Mr. Gibbs could do was interrupt and correct the doyenne of the White House press corps about Mr. Obama's class as a law professor.

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My Comment: The problem with Bagram is that many of the prisoners within the facility are Afghan's themselves, and are under the jurisdiction of the Afghan Government itself .... even though these prisoners are at an Airbase administered by the U.S. and other countries.

I am not sure if it is in the works .... but it is obvious that the Afghan Government needs modern prison facilities with the proper staff to administer their prisoners.