Posted on 09/29/2007 5:30:50 AM PDT by bigheadfred
BAGHDAD - A military panel on Saturday sentenced an Army sniper to five months in prison, a reduction in rank and forfeiture of pay for planting evidence in connection with the deaths of two Iraqi civilians.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Ping
Seems appropriate.
Someone needs to tell the army that we’re fighting a war. I’m not sure they’re aware of it.
Meanwhile, Murtha still goes free.
A military panel on Saturday sentenced an Army sniper to five months in prison, a reduction in rank and forfeiture of pay for planting evidence in connection with the deaths of two Iraqi civilians.
Spc. Jorge G. Sandoval, 22, was acquitted of murder charges in the April and May deaths of two unidentified men. The panel decided he was guilty of a lesser charges of placing detonation wire on one of the bodies to make it look as if the man was an insurgent.
"I feel fortunate that I have been served this sentence," Sandoval said. "I'm grateful that I'm able to continue to be in the Army."
Because he will receive credit for time served and good behavior, Sandoval must now spend 44 more days behind bars before he can return to his unit, his lawyer said. His rank will be reduced to private and he will forfeit his pay for the period of confinement.
The prosecution had argued Sandoval should be sentenced to five years in prison.
Sandoval, of Laredo, Texas, had faced five charges in the deaths of the two unidentified Iraqi men. In dramatic testimony during the two-day court-martial, Sandoval's colleagues testified they were following orders when they shot the men during two separate incidents near Iskandariyah, a volatile Sunni-dominated area 30 miles south of Baghdad, on April 27 and May 11.
Sgt. Evan Vela and Staff Sgt. Michael Hensley are both charged in the case and will be tried separately. All three soldiers are part of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska.
Gary Myers, one of Vela's lawyers, claimed this week that Army snipers hunting insurgents in Iraq were under orders to "bait" their targets with suspicious materials, such as detonation cords, then kill those who picked up the items. He said his client was acting on orders.
Asked about the existence of the "baiting program," Capt. Craig Drummond, Sandoval's military defense attorney, said it was unclear "what programs were going on out there and when," especially "if there were things that were done that made the rules of engagement not clear."
Hensley's court-martial is set to begin Oct. 22, while Vela's pretrial hearing likely will start next week.
A military panel on Saturday sentenced an Army sniper to five months in prison, a reduction in rank and forfeiture of pay for planting evidence in connection with the deaths of two Iraqi civilians.
Spc. Jorge G. Sandoval, 22, was acquitted of murder charges in the April and May deaths of two unidentified men. The panel decided he was guilty of a lesser charges of placing detonation wire on one of the bodies to make it look as if the man was an insurgent.
"I feel fortunate that I have been served this sentence," Sandoval said. "I'm grateful that I'm able to continue to be in the Army."
Because he will receive credit for time served and good behavior, Sandoval must now spend 44 more days behind bars before he can return to his unit, his lawyer said. His rank will be reduced to private and he will forfeit his pay for the period of confinement.
The prosecution had argued Sandoval should be sentenced to five years in prison.
Sandoval, of Laredo, Texas, had faced five charges in the deaths of the two unidentified Iraqi men. In dramatic testimony during the two-day court-martial, Sandoval's colleagues testified they were following orders when they shot the men during two separate incidents near Iskandariyah, a volatile Sunni-dominated area 30 miles south of Baghdad, on April 27 and May 11.
Sgt. Evan Vela and Staff Sgt. Michael Hensley are both charged in the case and will be tried separately. All three soldiers are part of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska.
Gary Myers, one of Vela's lawyers, claimed this week that Army snipers hunting insurgents in Iraq were under orders to "bait" their targets with suspicious materials, such as detonation cords, then kill those who picked up the items. He said his client was acting on orders.
Asked about the existence of the "baiting program," Capt. Craig Drummond, Sandoval's military defense attorney, said it was unclear "what programs were going on out there and when," especially "if there were things that were done that made the rules of engagement not clear."
Hensley's court-martial is set to begin Oct. 22, while Vela's pretrial hearing likely will start next week.
Where’s the barf alert?
“for planting evidence in connection with the deaths of two Iraqi civilians.”
should have read:
“for planting evidence in connection with the deaths of two Iraqi insurgents.”
or perhaps better yet:
“for planting evidence in connection with the deaths of two Iraqi terrorists.”
I thought the deceased had been observed fighting, then slipped into the fields to mimic a farmer...
It’d sure read much differently, IMO...but would be less likely to promote defeatism.
But isn’t that what the RATS do, do the wrong thing to get the “right” result? Wrong is wrong, whether it is one of our troops or a RAT operative.
He planted evidence, was caught and convicted, and duly punished. We have to hold the good guys to the same standards or we become just as bad as the left.
Then I remember we are The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and then it hits me. We can’t win by being the sort of murderous hordes of undisciplined fanatics are enemies are, and we cannot allow any one of our soldier to have even the appearance of such ruthless barbarianism.
It’s a tough road, it’s a hard road, it’s like sliding barefoot on the cutting edge of a sword across a pit of lava. It is leadership defined, it is what all in our armed forces know they have to do to win. There are no short cuts or detours, there is only the one path we must take or loose our national identity and become everything we hate about all those other countries in the world that don’t embrace our ideas and morality.
Taking this road to victory is the price we must pay no matter what the cost to achieve victory and save our souls.
He’ll pay the price and come out a better man, more demanding of himself, more demanding of others, steeled by the fires of his failure to take the righteous path, and we will respect him more for it.
Or he’ll quit and someone else will take his place, vowing that they won’t make his mistake.
and we will continue towards Victory anyway.
Gary Myers, one of Vela's lawyers, claimed this week that Army snipers hunting insurgents in Iraq were under orders to "bait" their targets with suspicious materials, such as detonation cords, then kill those who picked up the items. He said his client was acting on orders.
Asked about the existence of the "baiting program," Capt. Craig Drummond, Sandoval's military defense attorney, said it was unclear "what programs were going on out there and when," especially "if there were things that were done that made the rules of engagement not clear."
Myers is fighting hard for his client. Capt. Drummond is tentatively suggesting that perhaps the situation may have been unclear. Who would you want on your side?
Would this young man have “planted evidence” if he hadn’t seen someone else runover by second guessing in a war zone ?
Thanks for the info. Well, it could have been a lot worse. I still don’t get the 5 months for putting the detonation wire on the Iraqi. Sandoval was cleared of murder. But in trying to ensure his “kill” was deemed legitimate to higher-ups, he gets punished for the wire? I wonder if the military still believes the Iraqi was an insurgent, or if they paid a solatia payment to his family.
Good illustration, Red. I’d want both to be safe!
Bttt
EGGZACKLY!!!
Threatened by terrorists all around, and military lawyers and the press behind me, I would be tempted to plant evidence too.
“But prosecutors cited an interview with Sandoval immediately after his arrest in which he said he planted the wire. Outside court, Flores stood by his testimony.”
I’m a little confused.
What should get more credence?
The “Interview” or the “Testimony”
or at least change to the ‘headline’ in the body of the article: “two unidentified Iraqi men”
WTF...if they were unidentified, who gave evidence that they were civilians!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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