Federal judge says lesbian Army veteran can sue government over denial of spousal benefits
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – A lawsuit brought by a lesbian Army veteran and her wife over the denial of disability benefits can move forward over the objections of the Department of Justice, a federal judge in California ruled Monday. U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall refused to dismiss Tracey Cooper-Harris’ challenge to the federal Defence of Marriage Act and to two other laws that make same-sex spouses of military veterans ineligible for benefits available to straight spouses. Marshall did not explain her reasoning in court, but said she would issue a written ruling at a later date. The Justice Department under President Obama has refused to defend the 1996 Defence of Marriage Act, and argued that the U.S. Supreme Court should strike it down as unconstitutional when it hears arguments in another lawsuit next month. But the department had asked for Cooper-Harris’ case to be tossed out on the grounds that veterans’ claims can only be heard by an administrative Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Cooper-Harris suffers from multiple sclerosis and receives disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. She and her wife, Maggie Cooper-Harris, got married in California during the brief period in 2008 when same-sex unions were legal in the state. Citing the Defence of Marriage Act, which prohibits the government from recognizing same-sex marriages, and veterans’ benefits laws that define a spouse as a person of the opposite sex, the VA denied the couple’s application for additional money and benefits that married veterans are entitled to receive. In the case of the couple, they would receive about $150 more a month in disability payments, and Maggie Cooper-Harris would be eligible for about $1,200 a month in survivor’s benefits if her wife died, said Southern Poverty Law Center deputy legal director Christine Sun, who is representing the couple. Even though the Supreme Court is set to examine the Defence of Marriage Act, the justices could end up issuing a narrow decision that does not settle the question of whether the act is constitutional, in which case it would remain important for Cooper-Harris’ case to remain active, Sun said. Marshall has scheduled the next hearing for April 1. “The significance of the court’s ruling today is it vindicates the right of Tracie and Maggie Cooper-Harris to go forward to have their day in court,” she said.
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Federal judge says lesbian Army veteran can sue government over denial of spousal benefits
Army Bomb Squad Examines WW1 Shell In West … – The Clare Herald
A beach and car park were sealed off overnight The man, from Cappa near Kilrush Co Clare, is understood to have purchased the The man notified gardaí and removed the shell to a nearby beach which, along The area, between Cappa Pier and the local RNLI lifeboat station, remained The Cork based EOD unit undertook a preliminary inspection of the object in an After examining the x-ray images, it was quickly determined that the shell was EOD team members, who spent less than 30 minutes at the incident, declared the A Defence Forces spokesman confirmed: “This object was a solid shot
on Wednesday after a man expressed concern about the safety of a pre World War
I artillery shell he had acquired, WRITES PAT FLYNN.
shell believing it to be safe but became concerned when he took it home and
noticed what he believed to be a detonator still in place.
with a public carpark, was sealed off of overnight. The Defence Forces were
advised of the incident and requested to attend the scene and inspect the
shell.
sealed off until an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team arrived shortly
before midday yesterday (Friday).
effort to establish it’s viability. They measured and photographed the shell
in-situ before x-raying it.
a ‘solid shot’ dating back to World War I. Such solid shells were used to
target enemy positions, in particular to demolish buildings, but had no
explosive content.
shell safe and removed it from the scene.
projectile which is essentially a lump of metal in the shape of a shell. It was
a World War I era piece of military munition with no explosive content. The EOD
team examined it and
US Army general facing sex charges adding lawyers
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — A U.S. Army general charged with sexual misconduct plans to add civilian lawyers to his legal team after expressing concern his military lawyers feared their careers would be harmed by defending him. Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair appeared in court Thursday for a hearing on pre-trial motions. Sinclair faces court martial in June on charges that include forcible sodomy, indecent acts, violating orders and adultery. He has thus far deferred entering a plea. Military judge Col. James Pohl asked Sinclair Thursday about an e-mail the general sent to the head of the Army ‘s legal branch suggesting the three lawyers assigned to defend him feared retaliation. At a past hearing, the defense has suggested they may call some of the Army’s top generals as witnesses in the case. “I had a belief, I was concerned,” Sinclair told the judge. He then added that he felt his military lawyers would defend him to the utmost of their ability, but that he still wished to add four civilian lawyers from the firm Montgomery McCracken, based in New York and Philadelphia. On Thursday, Pohl denied an earlier motion from the defense to disqualify prosecutors over privileged emails erroneously sent to them by criminal investigators. The messages included exchanges between Sinclair and his lawyers, his wife and with a family friend who is an ordained minister. Other pre-trial motions in the case are due Friday. The Army has thus far rebuffed public records requests from The Associated Press for copies of all motions filed in the case by either the prosecution or defense. A 27-year Army veteran, Sinclair faces life in prison if convicted on the most serious offenses. It’s rare for an Army general to face court-martial. There have been only two cases in recent years. More commanders have lost their posts over sex. Of the 18 generals and admirals, from one star to four stars, fired in recent years, 10 lost their jobs because of sex-related offenses. That tally does not include retired Army general David Petraeus, who was forced to resign as CIA director in November after he admitted to an affair with the woman who wrote the biography of his military career. The investigation of Petraeus also ensnared Marine Gen. John Allen, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan , over thousands of flirty emails he exchanged with a Tampa, Fla., socialite. The Pentagon later cleared Allen of inappropriate conduct, but he announced earlier this week he would retire rather than take command of NATO forces in Europe, as had been scheduled. At an evidentiary hearing for Sinclair in November, prosecutors presented testimony about his conduct with five women who were not his wife, including officers who served under his direct command. The charges involve activities when he was in Afghanistan, Iraq, Germany and at installations in the United States. Sinclair was deputy commander in charge of logistics and support for the 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan before being relieved in May during the criminal investigation. He has been on special assignment since then at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The female captain at the heart of the case said she carried on a three-year sexual relationship with Sinclair, a father of two. Adultery is a crime under military law, and the admission could end her career. She testified at the evidentiary hearing that she repeatedly tried to break off the affair with Sinclair, who she says threatened to kill her and her family if she told anyone about their frequent sexual liaisons in hotels, headquarters and war zones. The woman said she usually wanted to have sex with the general, though she said that on two occasions he exposed himself and physically forced her to perform oral sex, even as she sobbed. The Associated Press does not publicly identify victims of alleged sexual assaults. Two other female officers who served with Sinclair also testified that they had given the general nude photos at his request. Sinclair is also accused of possessing alcohol in a war zone and disobeying orders. Maj. Gen. James Huggins, Sinclair’s superior officer in Afghanistan, testified he ordered Sinclair to cease contact with the female captain after she reported the affair. Sinclair is alleged to have willfully disobeyed that order by then calling the woman’s phone. Sinclair has not yet spoken publicly about the charges against him. At the pretrial hearing, his defense lawyers conceded the affair with the female captain, while working to paint her as a liar trying to ruin the general’s life and military reputation. During the hearings, they characterized her as a manipulative “back-stabber” who blamed others for her mistakes. The general’s wife, Rebecca Sinclair , has stayed away from court but went public with an opinion piece in The Washington Post. In that column, she said she was not condoning her husband’s infidelity, but she said that a decade of war had taken a toll on military couples and brought pressure on their marriages. In an interview with The Associated Press, Rebecca Sinclair said her husband called her last spring to tell her about the affair and allegations, and she said they were trying to mend their relationship. ___ Follow AP writer Michael Biesecker at twitter.com/mbieseck.
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US Army general facing sex charges adding lawyers
Army general facing sex charges adding lawyers
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — An Army general charged with sexual misconduct has added civilian lawyers to his defense team. Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair appeared in a courtroom at Fort Bragg Thursday morning for a brief hearing on pre-trial motions. Sinclair faces court martial on charges that include forcible sodomy, indecent acts, violating orders and adultery. He has thus far deferred entering a plea. The Army has rebuffed public records requests from The Associated Press for copies of motions filed in the case by the prosecution or defense. Sinclair’s team has added four attorneys from the firm Montgomery McCracken, based in New York and Philadelphia. They asked military judge Col. James Pohl to delay decisions on the motions to allow the civilian attorneys to review the issues. Sinclair said he didn’t see any conflict and said the civilian lawyers pose no threat to his military lawyers’ career. He said he wants to keep the three military attorneys in addition to the new lawyers. Pohl denied a defense motion to disqualify the military prosecutors because they might have seen emails between Sinclair and his lawyers that were erroneously sent to them. The judge also set a June 25 trial date in the case. Copyright 2013 by WRAL.com and the Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Army general facing sex charges adding lawyers
Pentagon Extends Same-Sex Benefits
Feb 11, 2013 6:35pm Courtesy of Jeff Sheng A year and a half after the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell the Pentagon is extending many benefits to the same sex partners of military service members that until now had only been available to heterosexual couples. However, access to health care and some housing allowances available to spouses will remain unavailable because the Defense of Marriage Act defines
U.S. military extends many benefits to same-sex partners
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon announced on Monday it would extend more of the benefits offered to spouses of heterosexual troops to those of gay personnel but acknowledged some key benefits, like housing, would still be off-limits, at least for now. The step came 17 months after the Pentagon scrapped its “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on openly serving homosexuals in the U.S. military and will affect the day-to-day lives of their spouses in ways big and small – from allowing them to finally get military I.D. cards to granting hospital visitation rights. But outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta , in a memorandum explaining the move, noted his actions were limited by U.S. law, specifically the Defense of Marriage Act, which is now being reviewed by the Supreme Court and which defines marriage as a union between a man and woman. “There are certain benefits that can only be provided to spouses as defined by that law,” said Panetta, who is expected to retire in the coming days. “While it will not change during my tenure as secretary of defense, I foresee a time when the law will allow the department to grant full benefits to service members and their dependents, irrespective of sexual orientation.” Pentagon officials estimated the cost of the policy change would be negligible, since it would only affect around 9,000 spouses of active duty and reserve members and another 8,000 retirees. They hoped the changes would go into effect by the end of August. The announcement came on the eve of President Barack Obama ‘s State of the Union address and just weeks after he made history by becoming the first U.S. president to praise progress on gay rights in his inaugural address. ” Secretary Panetta ‘s decision today answers the call President Obama issued in his inaugural address to complete our nation’s journey toward equality,” said Allyson Robinson, head of the advocacy group OutServe-SLDN and an Army veteran. The moves will substantially improve the quality of life of affected spouses, she said. DEFINITION OF A SPOUSE Pentagon officials, briefing reporters on the decision, explained that other sensitivities, bureaucratic considerations and even the spirit of the U.S. law were also taken into account. But the big problem Defense Department attorneys ran into were legal ones, when a benefit was limited to a “spouse” as formally defined by the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA. The Pentagon said it was still reviewing whether certain benefits could still be extended to the spouses of gay and lesbian servicemembers, even under existing law, like some housing benefits and burial at Arlington National Cemetery. A USA Today/Gallup poll published in December found that approval of same-sex marriage among the general public had risen to 53 percent in 2012 from less than 40 percent in 2005. Young adults were the most supportive. Nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage. Last November, Maryland, Maine and Washington became the first states to do so through the ballot box. But opposition still runs deep in parts of the country. The USA Today/Gallup poll found gay marriage opposed by a majority in the South. North Carolina in 2011 added a voter-approved ban to its constitution. Some 30 states have passed constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage. (Editing by Philip Barbara)
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U.S. military extends many benefits to same-sex partners
Army analyst charges boss raped her
Published: Jan. 30, 2013 at 9:10 AM KANSAS CITY, Mo., Jan. 30 (UPI) — A U.S. Army budget analyst has filed a federal lawsuit saying she was raped by her boss and filmed with a government camera as she performed oral sex on him. Carla Beretta’s suit names the Secretary of the Army and the man she accused of raping her, Eugene Jud Kneuvean, as defendants, Courthouse News Service reported. Beretta said Kneuvean started making sexual advances to her in April 2007. On the pretext of taking her out to lunch one day, he drove to a remote field in Riverside, Mo. where he raped her, the lawsuit said. Beretta said Kneuvean told her he could use his influence to help her career in the Army but if she failed to cooperate with him he would hurt her. The lawsuit details an incident where Kneuvean took her picture while she was performing oral sex on him and threatened to publish the photo unless she continued to engage in a sexual relationship with him. Complaints to superiors failed to result in any action and Beretta was forced to continue to work with Kneuvean, the suit said. She is seeking actual and punitive damages for assault and battery, a hostile work environment, emotional distress and gender discrimination.
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Army analyst charges boss raped her
Army spouse club in same-sex dispute
Published: Jan. 18, 2013 at 8:23 PM FORT BRAGG, N.C., Jan. 18 (UPI) — A woman who is married to a female Army officer says an offer for a so-called guest membership in an officers’ spouse club at Fort Bragg 1 , N.C., is offensive. The spouse club had previously rejected a membership application by Ashley Broadway, who is married to Lt. Col. Heather Mack. Broadway said the private club told her in December she was ineligible for membership because she lacked a military ID — a credential the military does not issue to same-sex spouses. Military service is no longer prohibited for gay men and women, but the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act — whose constitutionality will be considered this term by the U.S. Supreme Court — forbids federal recognition of same-sex marriage. The club said in a statement Broadway’s application “would need to be studied” but the statement said the club does not “explicitly” require military ID for membership, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. The group Thursday offered Broadway a “special guest membership” while the organization reviews its bylaws, but Broadway said the offer was “not only offensive, but ridiculous.” “My wife wears the same uniform as the spouses of (the club) and she’s just as prepared to give her life for our country,” Broadway said. Stephen L. Peters II — president of the American Military Partner Association, which advocates for lesbian and gay military families — said the club amended its membership rules retroactively last month, the Times reported. Officials at Fort Bragg have said the club is not violating any laws, but an Army spokesman said last week the Army intends to join the Marine Corps 2 in ordering clubs on its bases to admit same-sex spouses, the Times reported. References ^ Fort Bragg (www.upi.com) ^ Marine Corps (www.upi.com)
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Army spouse club in same-sex dispute
Same-sex Army wife banned from joining Fort Bragg officers spouses club
A same-sex Army wife was banned from joining club for spouses called Association of Bragg Officers’ Spouses (ABOS) of Fort Bragg , which is being dubbed as the largest Army installation in the US. A petition was recently launched, asking the club to allow her to join, as well as other wives of lesbian Army members. As noted at NBC News on Friday, December 14, 2012, Ashley Broadway , who married her 15-year companion, Lt. Col. Heather Mack last November, said she was not allowed to join the ABOS . The couple has a 2-year-old son and Mack is now 8 months pregnant with their second child. “I was really hurt by the denial. Living for years under ‘ Don’t Ask Don’t Tell ,’ I couldn’t be a part of the military family. After ‘ Don’t Ask Don’t Tell ,’ I thought, wow, I can finally be part of something, finally give back to the military community in ways other than just writing a check.” Broadway told the report. “So it was a blow. A real blow. Here, I thought things were progressing. I was knocked back down.” Broadway added, noting that ABOS president Mary Ring told her her application was denied because she does not have a military spouse identification card, a rule that was reportedly added only a few weeks ago. Last Monday, December 10, Ashley Broadway wrote an open letter to ABOS about her denied application to their spouses club, saying that she has been in a committed relationship with her spouse since 1997 and they were married last November 30; and asking them to re-consider her application. “When I decided to dedicate myself to my spouse, I knew all too well I was dedicating myself to the Army as well. My record of service to the military community would be an outstanding addition to your group. I began volunteering to assist military families.” Broadway wrote on her open letter, published at Militarypartners.org , the official website of American Military Partner Association , where the online petition was published. On Friday late night, the Little Rock Spouses’ Club (LRSC) , a private organization and is not a part of the Department of Defense, announced its support to Ashley Broadway and other same-sex Army wives, noting that they proposed a motion to amend the LRSC Constitution regarding membership, and 30-day review period for members is now open. Meanwhile, NBC News said that they received an email from Association of Bragg Officers’ Spouses with a statement saying, “In response to recent interest in the membership requirements of our organization, we will review the issue at our next board meeting.” Spread The News! Tags: ABOS , American Military Partner Association , Ashley Broadway , Association of Bragg Officers’ Spouses , Fort Bragg , Little Rock Spouses Club , LRSC , Lt. Col. Heather Mack , Mary Ring , same-sex Army wife banned 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Advertisement Michael Jordan Banned: MJ Banned From Golf Course After Dress Code Violation 11 Michael Jordan was banned from a golf course after wearing cargo pants, sports news sites reported on Wednesday, November 28, 2012.Michael Jordan playing golf Image Credit: Eurweb.comAccording to reports, La Gorce Country Club in Miami banned Jordan after refusing to change his cargo pants when he wa Overweight soldiers: Fat soldiers booted from US Army 12 Fat soldiers booted out of the US Army this year has reached 1,625 through October, according to a report by the Washington Post on Tuesday, December 11, 2012.Overweight soldiers who failed the fitness tests were being dismissed from service as part of trimming down the military budget and to address “national secu God told her to drive 100 mph: Melissa Miller’s Alibi for Speeding at Fort Pierce, Florida 13 Melissa Miller: God told her to drive 100 mph Image Credit: St. Lucie County JailMelissa Miller claims that God told her to drive 100 mph in a 30-mile zone in Fort Pierce, Florida on Tuesday, November 20, 2012, two days before the Thanksgiving Day holiday celebration.The mysterious voice was Miller’s e David Beckham farewell game with LA Galaxy 14 David Beckham Image Credit: BBC.co.ukDavid Beckham will be playing his farewell game with the LA Galaxy during their Major League Soccer final game against Houston Dynamo on Saturday, December 1, 2012.Reports say that Beckham, a former Manchester United player, has decided to quit the California club a New Mormon Church website launched, calls for compassion for gays but is still firm on its belief (Video) 15 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) recently launched a new website called Mormons and Gays, which is apparently calling for compassion for gays and lesbians but is still being firm on its belief about being gay. A video announcing the launch of the new LDS website is available below.New Mor Track Palin divorce: Sarah Palin’s oldest son files for divorce with wife after 18 months of marriage 16 Track Palin, Sarah Palin’s oldest son, filed for divorce with his wife, Britta Hanson, after being married for only 18 months. Track married her high school sweetheart Britta last May 2011, and had a daughter named Kyla Grace Palin, who was born on August 6, 2011, or around three months after the wedding.Trac NYC Landmark Closing: Lenox Lounge To Close Due To Rising Rents 17 A New York City landmark is closing by the end of this year, international news sites reported on Sunday, December 9, 2012.Lenox Lounge Image Credit: WikimediaAccording to reports, Lenox Lounge, a jazz club located in Harlem will be closing on December 31, 2012 due to rising rents. It reportedly open Allen Iverson foreclosure: Former NBA MVP tries to save Mansion from foreclosure 18 Allen Iverson Image Credit: NBA.comAllen Iverson is reportedly trying to fight the foreclosure of his Atlanta Mansion. The former NBA MVP was able to stop a scheduled auction of his home last December 4, 2012.The 11-time NBA All Star player reportedly bought the mansion in 2010 for about $4.5 million. Today Show anchor retires after 32 years, Mike Leonard pays tribute to wife on his final story (Video) 19 Mike Leonard, NBC’s Today Show anchor retires after 32 years of being a featured correspondent and writer on the show. On Thursday, December 13, 2012, Leonard made his final report, paying tribute to wife Cathy, whom he has inspired him “to see the beauty in our everyday existence,” as shown in the video below. Def Leppard Divorce: Vivian Campbell Files Divorce From Wife of 25 Years 20 Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell has filed divorce documents in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, according to reports on Monday, November 19, 2012.Vivian Campbell Image Credit: Facebook The Def Leppard member wanted to split from his wife of 25 years, Julie Campbell, due to irreconcilable differenc References ^ ABOS (www.batangastoday.com) ^ American Military Partner Association (www.batangastoday.com) ^ Ashley Broadway (www.batangastoday.com) ^ Association of Bragg Officers’ Spouses (www.batangastoday.com) ^ Fort Bragg (www.batangastoday.com) ^ Little Rock Spouses Club (www.batangastoday.com) ^ LRSC (www.batangastoday.com) ^ Lt. Col. Heather Mack (www.batangastoday.com) ^ Mary Ring (www.batangastoday.com) ^ same-sex Army wife banned (www.batangastoday.com) ^ Permanent Link: Michael Jordan Banned: MJ Banned From Golf Course After Dress Code Violation (www.batangastoday.com) ^ Permanent Link: Overweight soldiers: Fat soldiers booted from US Army (www.batangastoday.com) ^ Permanent Link: God told her to drive 100 mph: Melissa Miller’s Alibi for Speeding at Fort Pierce, Florida (www.batangastoday.com) ^ Permanent Link: David Beckham farewell game with LA Galaxy (www.batangastoday.com) ^ Permanent Link: New Mormon Church website launched, calls for compassion for gays but is still firm on its belief (Video) (www.batangastoday.com) ^ Permanent Link: Track Palin divorce: Sarah Palin’s oldest son files for divorce with wife after 18 months of marriage (www.batangastoday.com) ^ Permanent Link: NYC Landmark Closing: Lenox Lounge To Close Due To Rising Rents (www.batangastoday.com) ^ Permanent Link: Allen Iverson foreclosure: Former NBA MVP tries to save Mansion from foreclosure (www.batangastoday.com) ^ Permanent Link: Today Show anchor retires after 32 years, Mike Leonard pays tribute to wife on his final story (Video) (www.batangastoday.com) ^ Permanent Link: Def Leppard Divorce: Vivian Campbell Files Divorce From Wife of 25 Years (www.batangastoday.com)
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Same-sex Army wife banned from joining Fort Bragg officers spouses club
Sex, lies and slaughter
India, Dec. 15 — Return of a King Wiliam Dalrymple Bloomsbury Rs 799 pp 567 William Dalrymple can be deceptive. He cultivates an image of nonchalance. It is rare to see him pontificate about the difficulties of research across languages, and the art of popular history in a social setting. He is most likely to speak about a hike or a trip to Istanbul. Then, a few years pass and he has produced another tome of meticulously researched history. Dalrymple’s gregarious exterior hides a disciplined writer, who disappears from public view for months, looking for unused manuscripts, finding the right translators, and typing for hours on a wooden desk in a hut in a corner of the garden of his house in Mehrauli. For his new book, Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan 1839-42, Dalrymple worked in archives in Delhi, Lahore, and Kabul , and found the most important Afghan accounts of the first British-Afghan war in an old Kabul bookshop. Here are excerpts from an interview: What made you write this book? There are a lot of books about Afghanistan, but few about Afghan history . What brought me to write this book was thinking about Afghan history after rereading Peter Hopkirk’s classic The Great Game. It is a bit dated and features a lot of “treacherous Orientals”. Return of a King is the first book about the first Afghan war using Afghan sources, telling the stories from an Afghan point of view as well. It is the defining conflict that the Afghans remember as the source of their independence that they alone in this region never succumbed to colonial rule. 18,000 soldiers of the East India Company marched into Afghanistan in 1839 and, according to legend, one man returns alive from this debacle. The British army is destroyed at the peak of the British Empire. Why do they invade Afghanistan? What is fascinating with this story is that at every level at every stage it has strong parallels with the two recent neo-colonial wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Iraqi element is that the war is the result of the manipulation of intelligence. The Weapons of Mass Destruction in this case is a sighting of a Russian envoy and a party of Cossacks at dawn in 1837 heading over the Iranian border into Afghanistan. This is turned into evidence that the Russians are about to invade Afghanistan and then charge down the Khyber Pass and prise British India from the Raj. It is almost complete nonsense. In 1839, two years after this sighting 18,000 troops followed by 40,000 camp followers set off to invade Afghanistan. They marched the troops through the desert in Sindh and soldiers died of thirst on desert tracks and in avalanches while carrying artillery through mountains. What happens when they reach Afghanistan? Afghanistan is not a country at the time but a series of rival principalities. A king called Dost Mohammad ruled Kabul. It took the British a year to reach Kandahar and they took the Afghans by surprise. Dost Mohammad escapes to Bukhara where the ruler imprisoned him. Kabul was quiet for two years. The British set up camp, go duck shooting, the memsahibs arrived, and they even talked about moving the summer capital to Kabul. Eighteen months later, the call for jihad is made. Dost Mohammad escapes and arrives in Afghanistan and the country erupts in rebellion. The British lose their weapons and agree to retreat for safe passage. They begin this retreat on January 6, 1842. Eight days later, one man makes it through. The whole army is slaughtered, captured, or lost in the mountains. It is the greatest loss in British imperial history till the fall of Singapore in 1942. Were the Afghans united? British official Alexander Burns seduces the mistress of Abdullah Khan Achakzai, a young leader. Achakzai cuts Burns to pieces. Soon after, men from all tribes arrive in Kabul and the Afghan resistance swells to 20,000. The British think it is a united Afghan opposition but it is a diverse set, who rally against them for various reasons. We get people like Achakzai and others like Amanullah Khan whose lands were taken away by the British. The brothers, Mir Masjidi and Mir Haji, who are Tajik Pirs from Kohistan had been promised money by the British, which they didn’t pay. They are a range of groups fighting for different reasons, but there is a strong feeling that they are all Muslims and the British kafirs have crossed a red line. Why were the British slaughtered if they were granted safe passage? The British narrative is that these were treacherous Muslims who reneged the promise, but the reality is that the promise of safe passage was made by Kabul elites and not by the Gilzai tribesmen in the passes. It is, in fact, the bitter winter that kills most makes them unable to fight, while the Afghans know how to survive the winter. The Indian troops from Bengal and Bihar have no idea how to save themselves and get frostbite. Who was that one man who survived? Dr. William Brydon on his pony makes it to Jalalabad. He survives because he has a copy of the Blackwood’s magazine, the New Yorker of its time, rolled up inside his cap. It is a hardback book and when an Afghan fighter strikes him, the book saves him. In the weeks following, a few Gorkhas who have survived arrive as well. What happens after that? The British send an army led by a ruthless General George Pollack, which lays waste to Afghanistan. They cut down every tree, rape women, kill children. And leave behind a smouldering mess. And this lesson of history is never learnt. What did it remind you of? The war today is fought with the same actors, and the same demarcations of territory. In Kandahar, there is a valley called the Argandab with a Sufi shrine called Baba Wali at the crest of a hill, where Mullah Omar had a bungalow and where bin Laden lived. It was the edge of the British territory then and is the edge of ISAF territory now. One day, I was looking down this hill and saw an American patrol crossing a bridge, an IED going off and plumes of smoke rising up. In 1842, it was on the same bridge that the British were attacked. The parallels are so close and there is not a happy ending to this story. The British would be out of there by the end of the year and the Americans the next year. Basharat Peer is the author of Curfewed Night Published by HT Syndication with permission from Hindustan Times.
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Sex, lies and slaughter