Volume 78, No. 190B ©SS 2020 CONTINGENCY EDITION SUNDAY, JANUARY 12, 2020 stripes.com Free to Deployed Areas Blast kills 2 US troops in Afghanistan Taliban take credit for attack BY J.P. LAWRENCE Stars and Stripes KABUL, Afghanistan — Two American service members were killed in Afghani- stan on Saturday when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb, the military said. In addition, two service members were wounded in the attack, which occurred in the southern province of Kandahar, a NATO Resolute Support spokesman said. The names of the slain service members were being withheld until 24 hours after the notification of next of kin in accor- dance with Defense Department policy, the statement said. The Taliban immediately claimed re- sponsibility for the attack in a statement from spokesman Qari Yusouf Ahmadi, The Associated Press reported. The attack came amid Taliban claims that a peace deal with the U.S. is near. Iran takes responsibility for “The U.S.-Taliban peace agreement is finalized and only remains to be signed by the two sides,” Taliban peace delegation Suhail Shaheen told Voice of America. U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has accidental strike on jetliner been pressing the insurgents to declare a cease-fire or at least reduce violent at- tacks. That would give a window in which the U.S. and the Taliban could forge an BY NASSER KARIMI ‘ AND JOSEPH KRAUSS We were prepared for all-out conflict. agreement to withdraw all of America’s troops. That agreement would also set out Associated Press Gen. Amir’ Ali Hajizadeh a road map for direct Afghan-to-Afghan Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace division head TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Revolution- talks, mapping out the country’s post-war ary Guard on Saturday acknowledged future. that it accidentally shot down the Ukrai- The Taliban leadership decided at the nian jetliner that crashed earlier this housing U.S. troops in Iraq in retaliation not shut down its international airport end of December to support a temporary week, killing all 176 people aboard, after for the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem or airspace when it was bracing for a cease-fire to allow for a peace deal to be the government had repeatedly denied Soleimani in an American airstrike in U.S. reprisal. It also undermined the signed, but they never said when it would Western accusations and mounting evi- Baghdad. No one was hurt in the attack credibility of information provided by go into effect. The final approval required dence that it was responsible. on the U.S. bases. senior officials, who for three days had from their leader, Maulvi Hibatullah Ak- The plane was shot down early Wednes- The admission raised a host of new adamantly dismissed allegations of a hundzada, was never announced. day, hours after Iran launched a ballis- questions, such as who authorized the More than 2,400 American troops have tic missile attack on two military bases strike on the plane and why Iran did SEE STRIKE ON PAGE 7 died in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.- led invasion launched in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Twenty-two Ameri- Above: Flowers and candles are placed in front of portraits of the flight crew members on Saturday at a memorial inside can service members died in Afghanistan Borispil International Airport outside Kyiv, Ukraine, for the jetliner shot down by an Iranian missile last week. in 2019. The Associated Press contributed to this report. EFREM LUKATSKY/AP [email protected] Twitter: @jplawrence3 MILITARY WORLD MUSIC Navy review blasts Wildfires threaten K-pop’s US boom lack of professional habitats, lives of brings increase in culture in JAG corps Australian animals scrutiny, speculation Page 4 Page 11 Page 12 Rodgers still chasing second Super Bowl » NFL, Back page PAGE 2 •STARS AND STRIPES• Sunday, January 12, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER EXCHANGE RATES US stocks fall from records after jobs report Military rates Switzerland (Franc) ........................... 0.9746 Euro costs (Jan. 13) ..........................$1.1397 Thailand (Baht) ....................................30.24 Dollar buys (Jan. 13) .........................€0.8774 Turkey (New Lira) ..............................5.8739 British pound (Jan. 13) ........................$1.34 Associated Press (Military exchange rates are those largest part of the economy. The 133.13, or 0.5%. The Nasdaq com- Japanese yen (Jan. 13) ...................... 107.00 available to customers at military banking bond market also rallied after the posite dropped 24.57, or 0.3%, to South Korean won (Jan. 13) ..........1,133.00 Commercial rates facilities in the country of issuance NEW YORK — U.S. stocks fell for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the report showed workers’ wages 9,178.86. Bahrain (Dinar) ...................................0.3769 Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For from their record heights on Fri- British pound ....................................$1.3065 aren’t rising much, which lessens Even with Friday’s loss, the nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., Canada (Dollar) ..................................1.3046 day after a report showed hiring purchasing British pounds in Germany), the threat of inflation. Average S&P 500 closed out a 0.9% gain for China (Yuan) ....................................... 6.9214 check with your local military banking was a touch weaker than expect- hourly earnings for workers were the week. It’s a sharp turnaround Denmark (Krone) ...............................6.7327 facility. Commercial rates are interbank ed last month. Egypt (Pound) ...................................15.9936 2.9% higher in December than a from earlier, when the S&P 500 rates provided for reference when buying Employers added 145,000 jobs Euro ....................................... $1.1101/0.9008 year earlier. That’s the weakest seemed to be heading for just its Hong Kong (Dollar) ............................7.7662 currency. All figures are foreign currencies across the country in December, Hungary (Forint) ................................300.84 to one dollar, except for the British pound, growth since July 2018. third weekly loss in the last 14 which is represented in dollars-to-pound, short of the 160,000 that econo- Israel (Shekel) ....................................3.4683 The S&P 500 fell 9.35 points, or as worries rose about a possible Japan (Yen) ..........................................109.59 and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) mists forecasted . But the growth 0.3%, to 3,265.35 from its record U.S.-Iran war. But stocks rallied Kuwait (Dinar) ....................................0.3035 INTEREST RATES was solid enough to bolster Wall set Thursday. The Dow Jones In- after comments from President Norway (Krone) .................................. 8.9022 Philippines (Peso) ................................50.55 Prime rate ................................................4.75 Street’s view that the job market dustrial Average briefly topped Donald Trump and Iran made Poland (Zloty) .........................................3.82 Discount rate ..........................................2.25 is holding up and households can the 29,000 level for the first time, markets believe a military esca- Saudi Arabia (Riyal) ..........................3.7516 Federal funds market rate ...................1.55 Singapore (Dollar) .............................1.3495 3-month bill ............................................. 1.51 continue to spend, preserving the but it ended at 28,823.77, down lation isn’t imminent. South Korea (Won) ..........................1159.21 30-year bond ...........................................2.28 WEATHER OUTLOOK SUNDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST SUNDAY IN EUROPE MONDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 35/31 Kabul 30/26 Seoul 30/24 Baghdad 58/43 Kandahar 46/39 Osan Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 31/26 48/35 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 47/43 38/33 37/30 Iwakuni 47/43 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 63/58 Brussels 39/31 Guam 62/50 46/39 Ramstein 45/41 81/78 Lajes, 38/33 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 59/42 61/57 59/56 39/30 39/28 Aviano/ Vicenza 43/30 Naples 53/42 Okinawa Morón 66/62 57/39 Sigonella Rota 53/37 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 84/75 58/39 56/52 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ..... 15 Comics ...................... 14 Crossword ................. 14 Opinion ..................... 16 Music ....................12-13 Sports ...................17-24 Sunday, January 12, 2020 •STARS AND STRIPES• PAGE 3 MILITARY Pardoned officer denied Special Forces tab BY DAN LAMOTHE a statement that it will next have award in 2014 while issuing the follows Trump’s decision in No- notification from the Army in The Washington Post an administrative panel consider reprimand and charged Golsteyn vember to pardon Golsteyn along an emailed letter that had just whether it should reinstate the with murder in 2018. with former 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, arrived. WASHINGTON — An Army Special Forces Tab and a Dis- Golsteyn an Army officer who had been “I’m disappointed, but I’m not general has denied a request by tinguished Service Cross — the has acknowl- convicted of murder in Afghani- surprised,” Golsteyn said. “I was an officer pardoned in an open military’s second-highest valor edged the stan. Trump also decided to re- really hoping they would do the murder case by President Donald award — and expunge a letter of killing in instate the rank of a Navy SEAL, right thing.” Trump to have his Special Forces reprimand Golsteyn received in media in- Chief Petty Officer Edward Gal- Beaudette’s decision has some tab reinstated, setting up a po- connection with his case. terviews lagher, who was acquitted of parallels to the Navy’s decision tential flashpoint with the com- Golsteyn was awaiting trial this but said it murder last year but convicted in November to convene a board mander in chief. year in the alleged murder of a occurred of posing with an Islamic State The decoration for retired suspected Taliban bomb maker in in a lawful corpse in Iraq. to decide whether it would revoke Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn was Marja, Afghanistan, in February ambush. He Golsteyn, reached for com- Gallagher’s Naval Special War- denied Dec.