Posted on 09/23/2007 6:40:25 AM PDT by bigheadfred
FORT BRAGG, N.C., Sept. 17 — From his position about 100 yards away, Master Sgt. Troy Anderson had a clear shot at the Afghan man standing outside a residential compound in a village near the Pakistan border last October. When Capt. Dave Staffel, the Special Forces officer in charge, gave the order to shoot, Sergeant Anderson fired a bullet into the man’s head, killing him.
In June, Captain Staffel and Sergeant Anderson were charged with premeditated murder. On Tuesday, in a rare public examination of the rules that govern the actions of Special Operations troops in Afghanistan, a military hearing will convene at Fort Bragg to weigh the evidence against the two men, both Green Berets.
The case revolves around differing interpretations of the kind of force that the Special Forces team that hunted and killed the man, Nawab Buntangyar, were allowed to use once they found him, apparently unarmed.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
This is exactly the type of missions my nephew has been engaged in, in Iraq. He is also being charged with premeditated murder, etc.
"In an interview, Mr. Waple said that General Kearney proceeded with murder charges against the two soldiers even after an investigation by the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command concluded in April that the shooting had been “justifiable homicide.”
Also the comment by the defendants atty that this had a "whiff of politics"seems obvious given his recent promotion.
This kids will be exonerated but that will be buried in the back section of the slimes somewhere it will least be noticed.
I seriously cannot understand how the heroes in uniform find the will to carry on given their constantly being undermined by scumbag like this damn fool of a General.
I think it’s disgusting that they second guess our MILITARY, our POLICE & those in authority who are doing their JOBS.
“SUSPECT?”
Very peculiar and inappropriate word to use in reference to the enemy.
This is a war, not a criminal investigation or a police matter.
In wars , there have “enemies”. In police work, there are “suspects” and “actors” and “witnesses”.
Too many just can’t adjust to the paradigm of being at war.
Mark Waple, a civilian lawyer representing Captain Staffel, said the charges against his client and Sergeant Anderson carry a whiff of “military politics.” In an interview, Mr. Waple said that General Kearney proceeded with murder charges against the two soldiers even after an investigation by the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command concluded in April that the shooting had been “justifiable homicide.”
And...
Also scheduled to testify is Sgt. First Class Scott R. Haarer, a paralegal on General Kearney’s staff last October who, as part of the military justice procedure, signed the forms that charged Captain Staffel and Sergeant Anderson with murder.
In a notarized statement, Sergeant Haarer told defense lawyers last week that he would not have accused the soldiers of any crime if he had known that the Criminal Investigation Command had determined that the shooting was justified.
Sounds as if somebody has a personal axe to grind against other persons.
My son heads to Afghanistan sometime after the new year. On top of everything else, he doesn't need this kind of $#!t.
No, it is not disgusting. On many fronts it is a good and necessary thing. Special Operations frequently examines and critiques their operations. They do this to increase the efficiency of their operations, and avoid mistakes. They even taped the Jessica Lynch rescue operation.
This team was second-guessed by the proper authorities...and their actions were found to be justified.
It appears that somebody at higher command level has some personal problems, and his actions need to be second-guessed.
Here is a link to my nephew’s plight.
http://sergeantevanveladefensefund.org/ Also some of his story. http://www.freerepublic.com/%5Ehttp://warchronicle.com/TheyAreNotKillers/Iskandariyah/DefendOurTroops.htm
This cases is causing quite the stir with Military Moms. They are hearing a lack of confidence in General Kearney’s political motivations. Troops are calling mom and dad to complain.
We can start redeployment by bringing the JAGS home or reassigning them to a new MOS, rifleman. Even better we can send them out unarmed to check for IED’s at night along the Iranian border.
Just leave them alone, and let them do their job---serving arrest warrants at suspects' compounds....
Harry Truman said, “The buck stops here.”
A president is bound to have a few bad apples in his administration. We are talking about millions of people working under him. But there are patterns here, and Bush has done NOTHING to correct them.
The FBI continues its clintonoid mission of going after corrupt Republican politicians but ignoring the Democrats.
The CIA is stuffed full of leftists who leak vital national secrets to the press and the enemy and constantly undermine the administration.
The military legal staffs are full of vile, anti-war clintonoids. They did this to the Haditha marines, and now are doing it again. The assumption is that some of the leaders are bad apples. Well, why are they not being demoted or punished for this behavior? Why does the chain of command sit by while they are rewarded?
Where is our President?
Much as I despised clinton, at least he had the good sense to keep his administration in line and fire anyone who was disloyal. If a criminal leader can do that, why can’t it be done for the sake of right and justice? Or at least more than feebly attempted?
Good one. Sadly, I’m afraid that they will require direction to the compounds that contain “suspects” instead of friendlies.
This Army General, Kearney, needs to be brought to the White House and fired face-to-face. He is a lackey of a former General (and Democrap candidate for President)who was fired after his screwups in Bosnia. They are all part of a liberal cabal that has infected our military and were promoted by the Clintons. President Bush owes it to the troops to stop this constant B.S. by Kearney and his flunkies, and start acting as Commander-in-Chief.
Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, concluded in the Haditha case, that senior officers failed to follow up on inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the initial reporting of the incident that should have raised questions.
And Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis, the commander of the Marine Corps Forces Central Command, determined that the three officers’ (General Huck, Colonels Davis and Sokoloski) “actions, or inactions, demonstrated lack of due diligence on the part of senior commanders and staff.”
How can men who have been cleared keep being charged? JAGs continue to step over the line.
We can start redeployment by bringing the JAGS home or reassigning them to a new MOS, rifleman. Even better we can send them out unarmed to check for IED’s at night along the Iranian border.
Experience of some kind should be a prerequisite. In my nephew’s case , his JAG’s were inexperienced and incompetent, having him waive his Article 32 hearing and pressing for him to take the 17 years in Leavenworth. Putting a gun in their hands would probably result in a lot less JAG’s.
There are too many people in positions of power who ain;t worth the paper they are printed on.
From what I've read about this case in Afghanistan it's Lt. Gen. Kearney that insisted these soldiers be charged with murder even after Army Criminal Investigations declared the shooting proper, sounds like Kearney is in the CYA mode. Don't know if any responsibility lies with JAGs or not but in my view Kearney doesn't give a damn about his troops.
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