Posted on 10/05/2007 8:31:30 AM PDT by RedRover
BAGHDAD -- Here they were, hardened combat soldiers, grounded on a military base far from the palm groves, canals and marshes where they once prowled.
But at least for a moment this week, they were still the Painted Demons, the elite sniper unit that struck fear in the so-called triangle of death south of Baghdad. That couldn't be taken away: not by breaking them up, as the Army had done, and not even by the murder trials of three of their members at Camp Victory.
snip
Interviews and court transcripts portray a 13-man sniper unit that felt under pressure to produce a high body count, a Vietnam-era measure that the Pentagon officially has disavowed in this war. They describe a sniper unit whose margins of right and wrong were blurred: by Hensley, if you believe Army prosecutors; by the Army, if you believe the accused.
The main line of defense for Vela and Hensley is a shocking one: In their zeal to get more "kills" out of snipers, officers of the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, allegedly pushed a program of leaving weaponry as "bait," and allowing snipers to kill anyone who came to pick the items up. That, defense attorneys say, led to loose rules of engagement that the Army now says amounted to murder.
snip
"Our government is asking our soldiers and Marines to make morally bruising decisions under the most horrific conditions imaginable," [said Sgt. Vela's attorney, James Culp] "When the government doesn't like the results, they isolate and vilify the soldier while hiding behind security clearances, classifications and unreasonable expectations."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Round these parts, we say “Bump!”.
(BTW, “ping” means “have a look”.)
Absolutely. Welcome to the post modern world.
Welcome to Free Republic. According to the LA Times article, Sgt. Vela’s preliminary hearing began on Sunday. Is this his article 32? I thought it had been pushed off until later.
Nov. 10 is the tentative reschedule date for the 32.
Maybe we could get all the people on death row, lifers, on
sniper teams. Then when somebody starts crying they are
criminals, you can just smile, nod, and say “yeah, I KNOW”.
Typical, the grunts do the heavy lifting and then their very own officers turn on them.
Where were they supposed to get the bait? Who provided the detcord, ammo, AK's, etc?
1. It was issued.
2. It was supposed to be located on the battlefield?
3. It dropped from the sky from a genie?
My money’s on the genie. It is the only logical , reasonable explanation. Everything else is a whimsical flight of fancy.
Howdy,
I have decided that it is time to get Evan released.
The bait came from Sgt.Maj. Knight, from Lt.Col. Balcavage, (aka, BadCabbage) from Col. Garrett, who got it from one of our government agencies that like to sneak around. He gave it directly to Hensley. Remember they told Mike H. to skip Lt. Didier and Capt. Levine and report directly to BadCabbage.
I have spoken with other soldiers in the last 18 months. I am told that every FOB in Iraq has bait. The difference in our case is that the bait was micro-chipped in order for the eye in the sky to track it. That is why that “spook” from “Techtron” approached me in Camp Victory to tell me how concerned his “Company” was about Evan’s well being. I was comforted to hear from him that “they” knew where I lived and worked and for how long.
So nice to have “Guardian Angels” that develop high tech weapon systems watching over me.
Perhaps I never told you this story. Tom Junod was so intrigued he actually researched Techtron. Looks like a dummy/front corporation.
Or the bait was dropped from the sky by a Genie.
Peace
See #28
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