UNICEF: Nearly 900,000 children in Afghanistan suffer from fatal malnutrition

Khaama Press

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned about the impact of climate change on children’s food security in Afghanistan.

UNICEF estimates that currently, over 875,000 children under five in Afghanistan suffer from severe acute malnutrition, which can be fatal.

The UN-affiliated relief agency reported that flood-inducing rains in April have caused residents in flood-affected areas to lose everything.

UNICEF adds that lack of food and clean drinking water are factors causing children to fall ill, with most lacking access to medical facilities.

Despite having one of the lowest pollution levels globally, Afghanistan ranks seventh among the most vulnerable countries to climate change impacts.

The UN organization states that in a country where 80% of the population depends on agriculture, recurrent natural disasters directly affect family nutrition, particularly in rural areas.

Meanwhile, forced deportations have added to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, exacerbating food insecurity and displacing vulnerable families. The abrupt displacement disrupts livelihoods and exacerbates already fragile food security conditions.

The health and lives of women and children in Afghanistan have been severely impacted by recent floods and other natural disasters.

Displacement and damage to food sources have heightened food insecurity, leading to increased malnutrition rates among children and maternal health risks due to limited access to adequate healthcare and nutrition.

UNICEF: Nearly 900,000 children in Afghanistan suffer from fatal malnutrition
read more

Human Rights Watch calls exclusion of Afghan women from Doha talks “Shocking”

Khaama Press
A general view ahead of an aid conference for Afghanistan at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, September 13, 2021. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

The executive director of Human Rights Watch described the exclusion of women’s rights and the absence of women from the Doha talks as “shocking.”

Tirana Hassan sharply criticized this omission, warning that it risks legitimizing the Taliban and causing irreparable damage to the UN’s credibility.

This human rights organization states that despite the Taliban’s violations of women’s and girls’ rights in Afghanistan, which has led to the most severe women’s rights crisis in the world, there will be no discussion about women and their rights at the Doha talks.

According to reports, no Afghan women have been invited to participate in this meeting. The executive director of the organization harshly criticized the UN for organizing a meeting with the Taliban without including women’s rights on the agenda or inviting Afghan women.

The Taliban has stated that the agenda shared by the UN for the Doha meeting will focus on private sectors, finance, banking, and narcotics. This has drawn serious criticism from women’s rights groups, who emphasize that any international conference on Afghanistan lacking the full participation of women is illegitimate.

The upcoming Doha talks on June 30 and July 1 come amid a dire humanitarian and human rights crisis in Afghanistan. Since the Taliban took power, restrictions on women’s education and employment have severely worsened the situation, drawing international condemnation.

The exclusion of women’s issues from the Doha talks is particularly alarming, given the Taliban’s systematic dismantling of women’s rights. This further highlights the urgent need for the international community to address these violations and ensure women’s representation in discussions about Afghanistan’s future.

Human Rights Watch calls exclusion of Afghan women from Doha talks “Shocking”
read more

UNAMA to Present Quarterly Report on Afghanistan to UN Security Council

Earlier, the Islamic Emirate had requested that UNAMA reflect the realities of Afghanistan in their reports.

UNAMA head Roza Otunbayeva will present a quarterly report on the situation in Afghanistan at the United Nations Security Council meeting tomorrow (Friday, June 21).

In addition to Otunbayeva, representatives from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and an Afghan civil society activist will also attend the Security Council meeting.

Earlier, the Islamic Emirate had requested that UNAMA reflect the realities of Afghanistan in their reports.

“We hope that the Security Council, in the overall general session of the United Nations and its members, will change the destructive policies of regional and global governments towards Afghanistan, and the superpowers that have harsh programs regarding Afghanistan will be directed towards peaceful plans for the development of Afghanistan,” Sediq Mansoor Ansari, a political analyst, told TOLOnews.

“It is good that these meetings are held, and the world is informed about the current situation in Afghanistan, and the United Nations should also clarify the minds of the people. However, if the current situation in Afghanistan is portrayed negatively in these meetings, it questions the positive work of the current government and harms the people of Afghanistan,” said Aziz Stanekzai, another political analyst.

Meanwhile, Roza Otunbayeva discussed UNAMA’s efforts for a prosperous Afghanistan, especially for women, in a meeting with the permanent representative of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations.

“The international community, as a responsible entity in the world, should not allow human rights violations anywhere in the world and has not fulfilled its responsibility towards women in Afghanistan,” said Alamtab Rasuli, a women’s rights activist.

Earlier, in its first-quarter report released in May this year, UNAMA had expressed concern over the lack of change in the human rights situation in Afghanistan.

UNAMA to Present Quarterly Report on Afghanistan to UN Security Council
read more

UN expert condemns Taliban ‘crimes’ against Afghan women, girls

Voice of America

June 18, 2024

he United Nations human rights expert for Afghanistan warned Tuesday against sidelining the rights and voices of women at an upcoming international meeting with the country’s fundamentalist Taliban leaders.

The special rapporteur, Richard Bennett, issued the warning while presenting his latest report on the Taliban’s allegedly intensifying rights violations against Afghan women and girls to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“Following extensive research, consultation, and analysis, it finds that the Taliban’s institutionalized system of gender oppression established and enforced through its violations of women’s and girls’ fundamental rights is widespread and systematic and appears to constitute an attack on the entire civilian population, amounting to crimes against humanity,” Bennett reported.

“The gravity and scale of the crimes can’t be overstated. We have a collective responsibility to challenge and dismantle this appalling system and to hold those responsible to account,” said the U.N. expert.

Bennett shared his findings as the U.N. prepares to host a two-day meeting of international envoys on Afghanistan in Doha, Qatar, commencing June 30. The Taliban will attend for the first time what will be the third Doha conference since U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched the process more than a year ago.

Afghan civil society groups and representatives reportedly have not been invited to the third Doha huddle, even though they attended the second this past February. The Taliban refused to join those discussions unless their delegates could be accepted as the sole representatives of Afghanistan.

Guterres rejected the Taliban’s demands in a post-meeting news conference. The U.N. has stated that the Doha process is aimed at developing a coherent and unified world approach to engagement with the Taliban.

Bennett said Tuesday the upcoming meeting presents an important opportunity to affirm that civil society, including women, are “meaningful participants” and that women’s rights are central to discussions.

“The Taliban are not recognized as a government and should not be treated as such. They must not be allowed to dictate the terms of U.N.-hosted meetings,” Bennett said.

“Failure to learn the lessons of the past and sidelining human rights could have devastating and long-lasting consequences,” he added. “The Taliban’s institutionalization of its system of gender oppression should shock the conscience of humanity.”

The Taliban have dismissed international criticism of their governance, including restrictions on women’s access to education and employment, saying their policies are aligned with Afghan culture and their harsh interpretation of Islamic law.

On Sunday, the Taliban’s foreign ministry spokespersons formally confirmed that its delegation would attend the third Doha conference.

“The agenda and participation list of the upcoming Doha meeting shared with the Islamic Emirate after two months of discussions with the U.N., it was decided in principle to participate in the said meeting,” Abdul Qahar Balkhi said. He used the official title of their men-only government, which is yet to be recognized by the world.

“If there are any changes to the agenda and participation, it would naturally affect our decision, which we will share with all sides at that time,” Balkhi cautioned.

Bennett urged the international community to use an “all-tools approach” centered on justice and accountability, incorporating human rights and women’s voices in political processes and diplomatic engagement while dealing with the Taliban.

“It’s incumbent on us all to take decisive action to stand with Afghan women and girls, hold the perpetrators accountable, and restore dignity, equality, and justice for all.”

The Taliban stormed back to power in Afghanistan almost three years ago, banning girls ages 12 and older from attending secondary school. They have also barred women from working in public and private sectors, including the U.N, except for Afghan health care and a few other departments.

Women are not allowed to travel long distances by road or air unless accompanied by a male relative and are banned from visiting public places such as parks, gyms, and bathhouses.

The Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 led to the worsening of economic and humanitarian conditions in the impoverished country of more than 40 million people, which is reeling from years of war and the devastation of natural disasters.

UN expert condemns Taliban ‘crimes’ against Afghan women, girls
read more

War Crimes Hearing Gives Public Virtual Look Inside a Secret C.I.A. Prison

June 17, 2024

Years after the agency’s “black site” program was shut down, details are slowly emerging during trials at Guantánamo Bay.

The public on Monday got its first view of a C.I.A. “black site,” including a windowless, closet-size cell where a former Qaeda commander was held during what he described as the most humiliating experience of his time in U.S. custody.

The former commander, Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, led the 360-degree virtual tour of the site, Quiet Room 4, during a sentencing hearing at Guantánamo Bay that began last week. He described being blindfolded, stripped, forcibly shaved and photographed naked on two occasions after his capture in 2006.

He never saw the sun, nor heard the voices of his guards, who were dressed entirely in black, including their masks.

Mr. Hadi, 63, was one of the last prisoners to be held in the overseas black site network where the George W. Bush administration held and interrogated about 100 terrorism suspects after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001

Even now, years after the Obama administration shut the program down, its secrets remain. But the details are slowly emerging at the national security trials of former prisoners at Guantánamo Bay.

In court on Monday, spectators saw Quiet Room 4, a 6-foot-square empty chamber, which Mr. Hadi said resembled the place he was held for three months — minus a bloodstain that was on the wall of his cell then.

Mr. Hadi described his conditions as cruel but said his experience as a prisoner of the United States had been tempered by remorse and forgiveness.

In 2022, the prisoner had pleaded guilty to war crimes charges. In addressing the jury on Monday, he apologized for the unlawful behavior of Taliban and Qaeda forces under his command in wartime Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004. Some used civilian cover for attacks such as turning a taxi into a car bomb. Others became suicide bombers or shot at a medevac helicopter.

“As the commander I take responsibility for what my men did,” he said in a 90-minute presentation. “I want you to know I do not have any hate in my heart for anyone. I thought I was doing right. I wasn’t. I am sorry.”

When he spoke of his time in C.I.A. custody, Mr. Hadi was describing the months after his capture in Turkey in late 2006, when he disappeared into the last remnants of the black site program, in Afghanistan, until April 2007.

At first he was held in a windowless cell with a built-in, stainless steel shower and toilet, as shown in the visual presentation in court. He was moved after months of constant questioning about the location of Osama bin Laden, which he said Monday he did not know.

The next cell, shown in court, was empty, without a toilet or shower — just three shackle points on the walls. For the three months he was held there, Mr. Hadi said, it had a thin mat on the floor, a bucket for a toilet and a splash of bloodstain on one wall.

At one point, he said, his food ration contained pork, which is forbidden in Islam. He refused to eat and became so weak that he could not stand. His captors then brought him a nutritional substitute, Ensure. He saw no sunlight and did not have a clock to know when to pray, he said.

The imagery, if not the testimony, took a government lawyer by surprise. When Mr. Hadi’s lawyers began screening images of cells similar to those where he was kept incommunicado in 2006 and 2007, a prosecutor protested, only to learn that the material had recently been declassified.

The existence of the forensic photography was first disclosed in 2016 in the Sept. 11 case. Prosecutors gave defense lawyers the material but did not disclose the location of the last known intact prison of the black site program. Monday’s testimony made clear it was in Afghanistan.

The jury will decide a 25- to 30-year sentence for Mr. Hadi. But the sentence could be shortened by U.S. officials.

After another former C.I.A. prisoner, Majid Khan, was allowed to describe his torture at his sentencing hearing in 2021, his jury returned a 26-year sentence. But the panel also recommended he get clemency because of his abuse in U.S. custody. Mr. Khan has since been resettled in Belize and reunited with his family.

Last week, victims of attacks by Mr. Hadi’s forces testified to their continuing grief from the emotional and physical damage they suffered in the early years of America’s longest war. Monday, Mr. Hadi spoke to them directly.

“I know what it is to watch another soldier die or get wounded,” he said. “I know this feeling and I am sorry. I know you suffered too much.”

He appeared to single out a Florida man, Bill Eggers, who spoke of losing his firstborn son, a commando, in a roadside bomb set by Mr. Hadi’s troops in 2004. “I know what it is to be a father of a son,” he said. “To lose your son — your sadness must be overwhelming. I am sorry.”

Mr. Hadi opened his talk to the jury by apologizing for sitting in the padded therapeutic chair, rather than stand and address them. “I have problems with my spine,” he said.

When Mr. Hadi was first arraigned in 2014, he strode into court with a military police by his side. He is now disabled by a degenerative disc disease that, after the six surgeries, some unsuccessful, has left him reliant on painkillers, a wheelchair and a four-wheeled walker to move around.

He described his 17 years incarcerated at Guantánamo as lonely at times, an isolating experience interspersed with individual acts of goodness. While recovering from his surgeries, he said, prison staff nurses “cared for me with gentle kindness.”

During a period when he was left paralyzed, he said, a U.S. military doctor helped get him accommodations in his prison cell and “would come to play checkers with me, stay with me during my recovery from surgery.”

Carol Rosenberg reports on the wartime prison and court at Guantánamo Bay. She has been covering the topic since the first detainees were brought to the U.S. base in 2002.

War Crimes Hearing Gives Public Virtual Look Inside a Secret C.I.A. Prison
read more

Kabul Emphasizes Afghanistan’s Regional Significance

Mujahid said Afghanistan’s interactions and shared economy with regional countries are significant reasons for its presence in such organizations.

The Islamic Emirate emphasizes Afghanistan’s presence in regional affairs. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate, said that any organization established for discussions on regional issues should include Afghanistan.

Mujahid said Afghanistan’s interactions and shared economy with regional countries are significant reasons for its presence in such organizations.

The spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate said: “Any organization or body established for regional issues and discussions should include Afghanistan. Afghanistan is one of the regional countries and has many dependencies with neighboring countries. We have shared interactions, a shared economy, shared trade, transit, as well as shared health and environmental issues that require coordination.”

Zabihullah Mujahid said that the Islamic Emirate seeks good relations with all countries of the world, including Tajikistan.

In part of his speech, he reassured the international community about the security of Afghanistan’s territory.

Zabihullah Mujahid said: “Afghanistan wants good relations with all countries, including Tajikistan, and has proven this. Any concerns about Afghanistan’s soil should be reassured — Afghanistan’s soil will not be used against any country.”

Political analysts said Afghanistan’s presence in regional organizations, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, are important for alleviating concerns about Afghanistan.

Gulab Khan Baz, a political analyst said: “Afghanistan should be present in these organizations, as it benefits both the world and Afghanistan. If Afghanistan remains excluded, it is due to the world’s neglect of Afghanistan over the past 45 years.”

Previously, Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan stated that Tajikistan opposed Afghanistan’s presence in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a claim that Tajikistani officials have denied.

Kabul Emphasizes Afghanistan’s Regional Significance
read more

Afghan Trust Fund in Switzerland Has Generated $300M in Interest

The Afghan Trust Fund was created in September 2022 to safeguard $3.5 billion of the country’s assets in Switzerland.

Shah Mohammad Mehrabi, board member of the Afghan Trust Fund in Switzerland, told TOLOnews that the fund has so far generated about $300 million in profit.

Shah Mohammad Mehrabi said that the primary purpose of establishing this fund is to ensure financial stability in Afghanistan.

The Afghan Trust Fund was created in September 2022 to safeguard $3.5 billion of the country’s assets in Switzerland.

Shah Mohammad Mehrabi said: “As a trustee and co-chair of the Afghan fund, my role is to safeguard these funds including any interest they generate and assure it’s used in accordance with the primary objective of maintaining financial stability.”

A number of economic experts believe that the gains from Afghanistan’s assets should be spent on developmental projects to positively impact the country’s economic growth.

Abdul Naseer Reshtia, an economic expert, said: “If this money is spent on non-economic purposes, it could devalue the Afghan currency. Additionally, this money can help Afghanistan in establishing credibility in international trade.”

Another economic expert, Abdul Zohoor Mudaber, said: “It is good that the Afghanistan Trust Fund has generated income. This should be returned to the people of Afghanistan so they can invest in appropriate areas such as infrastructure, the agriculture sector, the energy sector, and water resources according to their preferences.”

The Ministry of Economy once again called on the United States to release Afghanistan’s assets without any conditions.

Abdul Latif Nazari, the Deputy Minister of Economy, said: “The freezing of Afghan people’s assets is in violation of international laws. I hope these assets are released as soon as possible and that the release can positively contribute to the country’s economic growth and development.”

Following the political changes in August 2021, more than nine billion dollars of Afghanistan’s assets were frozen in US and European banks.

Afghan Trust Fund in Switzerland Has Generated $300M in Interest
read more

Republicans fume over report part of $2.8B Afghan humanitarian funding went to Taliban

House Republicans are fuming at the Biden administration over reports that tens of millions of dollars of U.S. humanitarian aid to Afghanistan may have ended up in Taliban hands.

During a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing last week, Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., opened his chairman’s remarks by listing off several State Department expenditures he found either egregious, lacking proper oversight or both.

Mast pointed to a reported $2.8 billion in humanitarian funding being directed to Afghanistan following the disastrous 2021 withdrawal that claimed the lives of more than a dozen American service members and led to the Taliban retaking control of the Kabul government.placeholder

After admonishing the State Department over a $500,000 grant he characterized as going to “promote atheism in Nepal,” Mast took aim at what reportedly happened to the billions the U.S. sent to help Afghan civilians after their country was upturned.Video

“Another example is that the Biden administration has sent more than $2.8 billion to Afghanistan since the Taliban took power in August of 2021. The report shows tens of millions of dollars of that money going directly into the hands of the Taliban,” Mast said, calling the examples the “tip of the iceberg” in incompetent federal appropriations.

In May, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued a statement on a federal inspector general’s findings that at least $10.9 million in U.S. taxpayer funds were at least indirectly provided to the Taliban.

“It is unacceptable for any U.S. funding to benefit the Taliban,” McCaul said.

“The Biden administration must take immediate action to prevent U.S. taxpayer dollars from going to the Taliban,” McCaul said in a statement praising the latest work of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).

SIGAR was originally established in 2008. Its latest report found the nearly $11 million paid by State Department entities and other partners was “likely only a fraction” of what the Taliban ultimately received in forms like taxes, fees, duties and utilities.

In his remarks, Mast called the Afghanistan funding issue along with his other cited examples “the epitome of ‘America Last.’”

“Our country is competing for influence all across the globe with China, Russia and Iran and other enemies,” Mast said.

Previously, the State Department pushed back on claims it intended to promote atheism in the Himalayas, as Mast’s second barb highlighted.

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma testified before Congress in March that after looking at the grant and its materials, that promoting atheism was not what the grant was meant for and “that is not what the work would be for.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and State Department for further comment.

Republicans fume over report part of $2.8B Afghan humanitarian funding went to Taliban
read more

Reclusive Taliban leader warns Afghans against earning money

By The Associated Press

June 17, 2024, 9:04 AM
The Taliban leader has warned Afghans against earning money or gaining worldly honor, at a time when the country is in the grip of humanitarian crises and is isolated on the global stage

ISLAMABAD — The Taliban’s reclusive supreme leader on Monday warned Afghans against earning money or gaining worldly honor at a time when the country is in the grip of humanitarian crises and isolated on the global stage.

Hibatullah Akhundzada gave his warning in a sermon to mark the festival of Eid al-Adha at a mosque in southern Kandahar province, weeks before a Taliban delegation goes to Doha, Qatar for U.N.-hosted talks on Afghanistan.

This is the first round of talks the Taliban will attend since they seized power in August 2021. They weren’t invited to the conference of foreign special envoys to Afghanistan in the first round, and they snubbed the second round because they wanted to be treated as the country’s official representatives.

No government recognizes the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan, whose aid-dependent economy was plunged into turmoil following their takeover.

U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the invitation to the Doha meeting at the end of June does not imply recognition of the Taliban.

Messages by him and another influential Taliban figure, Sirajuddin Haqqani, to mark a religious festival in April showed tensions between hardliners and more moderate elements who want to scrap harsher policies and attract more outside support.

In Monday’s message, Akhundzada said he wanted brotherhood among Muslims and that he was unhappy about differences between citizens and Taliban officials. Public dissent over Taliban edicts is rare, and protests are swiftly and sometimes violently quashed.

He said he would willingly accept any decision to remove him as supreme leader, as long as there was unity and agreement on his ouster. But he was unhappy about differences and disagreement between people.

“We were created to worship Allah and not to earn money or gain worldly honor,” Akhundzada said. “Our Islamic system is God’s system and we should stand by it. We have promised God that we will bring justice and Islamic law (to Afghanistan) but we cannot do this if we are not united. The benefit of your disunity reaches the enemy; the enemy takes advantage of it.”

Akhundzada told Taliban officials to listen to the advice of religious scholars and entrust them with authority. He said officials shouldn’t be arrogant, boast, or deny the truth about Islamic law.

Pakistani journalist and author Ahmed Rashid, who has written several books about Afghanistan and the Taliban, said Akhundzada’s appeals for unity were a sign of desperation because he refused to spell out the real issues facing Afghans such as unemployment, economic development, and building a consensus for social reform.

“I would not be convinced that this was a meaningful speech if I were the Taliban,” said Rashid.

Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Center’s South Asia Institute, said Akhundzada’s focus on unity may also be preemptive and meant to nip in the bud any possibility that rifts could flare up again.

He also questioned if the audience being targeted went beyond Afghans to focus on the global Muslim community.

“Operationally speaking, the Taliban don’t have transnational goals. But the supreme leader looks to command respect beyond Afghanistan’s borders,” said Kugelman.

Reclusive Taliban leader warns Afghans against earning money
read more

War Veterans and Family Testify at Al Qaeda Commander’s War Crimes Tribunal

Reporting from Guantánamo Bay

The New York Times

Victims of insurgent attacks in wartime Afghanistan described their loss to a jury at Guantánamo Bay to give a human face to a written guilty plea.

A U.S. Army veteran spoke about being left blind by a sniper’s bullet in wartime Afghanistan. A Florida father said he lost his best friend when a roadside charge killed his eldest son, a Green Beret. A former bomb squad member described two decades of trauma and anxiety from dismantling a car bomb that could have killed him.

The physical and emotional carnage of the early years of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan was on display Friday as prosecutors presented their case to an 11-member U.S. military jury hearing evidence in the sentencing trial of a prisoner called Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi.

Mr. Hadi, 63, sat silently alongside his American military and civilian lawyers, mostly with his head bowed, throughout the testimony. Next week he will address the jury about his own failing health and trauma from time in U.S. detention, starting with several months in C.I.A. custody after his capture in Turkey in 2006.

The case is an unusual one at the court, which has focused on terrorism cases, such as the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. In an 18-page written plea, Mr. Hadi admitted that he served as a commander of Al Qaeda and Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan who had committed classic war crimes, including using civilian cover for attacks such as turning a taxi into a car bomb.

Sergeant Van Tassel mopped tears from his eyes as he described how fear and the hardship of his continuing service had harmed his family. “I’m going to do it until I can’t do it anymore,” he said, declaring himself “afraid of not being busy” once he retires from service.

Under the rules of the court, victims cannot recommend a sentence to the jury of U.S. officers from the Army, Air Force and Marines who will decide a sentencing range of 25 to 30 years. Instead, the witnesses told their stories of loss.

To Maris Lebid, a detective on the Cape Coral, Fla., police force, her big brother Capt. Daniel W. Eggers, 28, was a leader and mentor to his six sisters and brothers by the time he and three other members of his Special Forces unit were killed by a land mine in Afghanistan in 2004.

After learning of his death, Mr. Eggers said, “my PTSD just went right through the roof.” It is a condition, he said, that has caused cognitive difficulties and for which he receives treatment at a Veterans Affairs facility in Florida.

Tears ran down the face of retired Master Sgt. Robert Stout, a former National Guard soldier, who struggled to describe the trauma he has experienced since March 2004. His six-vehicle convoy had been shadowed by a suspicious taxi in Jalalabad that the soldier realized was probably an improvised car bomb.

It failed to explode, but Sergeant Stout, who in civilian life served as a bomb disposal expert with a state police unit, later discovered about 500 pounds of explosives packed inside and dismantled it. The episode has haunted him ever since and forced his early retirement from public service.

“I needed to get my calm back,” he said, describing himself in a state of constant hypervigilance. Even now, two decades later, he said, “I have a problem with crying over stupid stuff. It’s embarrassing as heck.”

Colin Rich, a retired sergeant major in the U.S. Army, was led to the witness stand by a prosecution team escort to describe how he had been shot through the head by an enemy bullet on Dec. 29, 2002. By then, Mr. Hadi “directed, organized, funded, supplied and oversaw Al Qaeda’s operations against U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan,” according to his guilty plea.

In time, Sergeant Major Rich lost all but 20 percent of his vision. “My door-kicking days were over,” he said, describing how he had continued to serve in an administrative capacity until he was medically retired five years later.

“I haven’t driven in 20 years,” he said. “I have to have people run my errands. I stay at home most of the time, waiting for another seizure to happen.”

Carol Rosenberg reports on the wartime prison and court at Guantánamo Bay. She has been covering the topic since the first detainees were brought to the U.S. base in 2002.

War Veterans and Family Testify at Al Qaeda Commander’s War Crimes Tribunal
read more