Free Republic

During a panel discussion sponsored by the Hudson Institute last January, retired Army Lt. Colonel Allen West, who did combat duty in Iraq, responded to a Marine who asked the question, how do you answer people who say that terrorists are following a "warped" version of Islam?

Jesse Jackson, king of the victomologists, is always looking for a way to keep his face in the spotlight, and thereby maintaining his ability to keep money coming into his coffers for the various ‘charitable’ organizations he runs. Anyone with half a brain realizes that Jackson primarily functions as a shakedown artist, and that he has lost any real credibility as an advocate for equality and true civil rights. The biggest gaff Jackson had was when the news broke that he had a mistress who gave birth to Jackson’s illegitimate child, and that Jackson used money from one of his...

An officer in Iraq who used shock interrogation tactics to thwart an impending attack on American soldiers was punished with forfeiture of two month's pay, according to his lawyer. Previously faced with the possibility of a court martial, Lt. Col. Allen B. West accepted Article 15 non-judicial punishment from the commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division at a hearing today in Tikrit, Iraq, said Neal A. Puckett, a retired Marine officer. Puckett said the loss of pay amounts to $5,000. "I'm pleased that it's over with," West told WorldNetDaily by telephone from San Antonio, Texas. "But I thought that...

<p>The attorney for Army Lt. Col. Allen B. West says a just-completed investigative hearing in Iraq showed a weak link in the U.S. military's ability to interrogate and get information from Saddam Hussein's fighters.</p> <p>"All of the intelligence witnesses regularly expressed the fact that detainees bragged they know they don't have to talk because we can't do anything to them," attorney Neal Puckett said in an interview yesterday.</p>

Full Title: U.S. commander says he threatened to shoot Iraqi detainee to get information that could save his soldiers TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) -- An Army officer fought back tears Wednesday as he acknowledged threatening to shoot an Iraqi detainee to extract information about a planned attack, saying that to protect his troops, he would "go to hell with a gasoline can in my hand." Lt. Col. Allen B. West made the statement on the second day of a U.S. military pretrial hearing on accusations that he threatened Yahya Jhodri Hamoodi by firing his gun near the man. West is the...

OPERATION: IRAQI FREEDOM Officer facing charges would do it again West: To protect my men 'I'd go through hell with a gasoline can' Posted: November 19, 2003 2:49 p.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Lt. Col. Allen West admitted during an emotional preliminary hearing today he used wrong methods to extract information from an Iraqi detainee but insisted American lives were at stake. Accused of threatening to kill the Iraqi if he didn't disclose details of an imminent plot against U.S. soldiers, West was asked by his defense attorney if he would do it again. "If it's about the lives of...

OPERATION: IRAQI FREEDOM Bob Barr: Lt. Col. West no hero Officer facing charges for shock tactics used to save lives Posted: November 19, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Art Moore © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Supporters of a U.S. officer who believes his extremely aggressive interrogation tactics helped foil a deadly attack by Saddam loyalists are using "Clintonesque" arguments to defend him, asserts a manager of President Clinton's impeachment in 1998. Former Republican Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia told WorldNetDaily he believes Lt. Col. Allen West's actions should not be considered "heroic," a description offered freely by the officer's many military and...

<p>One thing we know about Army Lt. Col. Allen B. West is that he actually collected human intelligence in Iraq.</p> <p>Another is that his emergency information-gathering technique may have saved American lives without taking enemy lives. And a third is that the Army has relieved Col. West of his command, and may now court-martial him, cancel his pension and send him to prison for up to eight years.</p>

John Weisman: Memo to Army Chief of Staff Pete Schoomaker November 3, 2003 Dear General: Now let's see if I get this straight. An officer whose Tikrit-based troops have come under attack from Saddam loyalists becomes aware that an Iraqi detainee has information about a planned ambush of his Soldiers, but the prisoner isn't being cooperative. The officer then goes to interrogate the detainee -- an Iraqi police officer, by the way -- and in the course of questioning, fires his weapon as a way of making the point that he's serious about obtaining straight answers. The detainee then tells...

Saving Your Skin and Everyone Else's On sensible anger when dealing with terrorists by WWII - IPW Veteran October 31, 2003. When dealing with terrorists in Iraq, we can't play like gentlemen. We need to act as they do. It is not right to subjugate our soldiers to following our arbitrary unilateral adoption of Geneva Convention behavior for dealing with irregulars. That is not required, and we are crazy to have adopted that policy. In the real world, such an attitude is dishonorable. We must deal with these terrorist cowards in the only terms they will respect. No more of...