Minor correction. "Frag" is a Korean War term for soldiers killing incompetent officers by rolling a grenade into their tents. It goes back earlier than Vietnam.
See Fehrenbach's classic history.
Posted on 11/01/2005 5:22:02 PM PST by blam
Death Sentence Possible for U.S. Soldier
Wednesday November 2, 2005 1:01 AM
AP Photo WXS101
By DIANA ELIAS
The Guardian (UK)
Associated Press Writer
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait (AP) - A U.S. soldier could face the death penalty after an Army probe recommended Tuesday he be court-martialed in the Iraq war's first case of alleged ``fragging,'' slang for the murder of superior officers.
Staff Sgt. Alberto B. Martinez of Troy, N.Y., had a ``personal vendetta'' against one of two higher-ranked officers who died in an explosion June 7 on a U.S. base near Tikrit, north of Baghdad, military investigator Col. Patrick Reinert said at the end of a two-day hearing in Kuwait.
Reinert said he found ``reasonable cause'' to believe that Martinez, 37, planted and detonated an anti-personnel mine in the window of a room used by Capt. Philip Esposito, 30, of Suffern, N.Y., and Lt. Louis E. Allen, 34 of Milford, Pa., in a former palace of Saddam Hussein's.
Three hand grenades were also allegedly used in the attack that killed the officers.
Reinert recommended that Martinez face a court-martial hearing and said he found aggravating factors that could allow for capital punishment if the case goes to a military tribunal.
Lt. Gen. John Vines, the commander of the Multi-National Force Iraq, will decide whether there will be a court-martial and where it would be held.
Vines' decision is not expected for several weeks, according to a military legal expert who watched the investigative hearing on a closed-circuit television with reporters on this U.S. military base.
Esposito and Allen were initially thought to have died as result of ``indirect fire'' on the base, but according to the testimony of Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Fitzgerald, an expert on explosives, fragments of a Claymore mine and parts of three grenades were found in the crime scene.
No clear motive was discussed in the hearing, but legal expert Maj. Matthew Ruzicka said Esposito had relieved Martinez of his supply duties and he was afraid that the measure would affect his civilian job back home.
Capt. Carl Prober, one of nine witnesses who testified in the investigative hearing on Monday, said Martinez told him twice that he hated Esposito and was going to ``frag'' him. ``Frag'' is a Vietnam War term for soldiers killing their superiors.
Allen, who was in Esposito's room at the time of the explosion, was apparently in the wrong place at the wrong time. Esposito used his room at the building known as the Winter Palace as living quarters and office.
Reinert recommended that Martinez also be charged with larceny after alleging that the supply officer had illegally obtained the mine and grenades from military stocks.
Martinez's lawyer argued there was no real evidence to tie him to the attack.
Surgeon Col. Joan Sullivan, who tried to save the two officers' lives, told the hearing that the men's injuries were not consistent with wounds caused by a mortar or rocket.
Martinez joined the New York Army National Guard in December 1990. He was deployed to Iraq sometime after October 2004 with the 42nd Infantry.
The Tikrit case is the second during the Iraq war in which a U.S. soldier has been charged with killing his comrades, but it is believed to be the first of an American soldier in Iraq accused of killing his superiors.
In April, a sergeant in the Army's 101st Airborne Division, Hasan Akbar, was convicted of murder and attempted murder for a grenade and rifle attack that killed two officers and wounded 14 soldiers in Kuwait in 2003 during the opening days of the war in Iraq.
Akbar, 34, a Muslim, told investigators he carried out the attack because he was upset that American troops would kill fellow Muslims. He was sentenced to death.
The Leftwits can support this guy.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=8744
In a truly just world this traitor/murderer would be quickly put to death. Unfortunately this will never happen. He'll just disappear into the Federal Prison System.
I never heard of this. Surprised the MSM hasn't run with it.
Liberal swine will get the idea eventually.
"Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Fitzgerald..."
Strange, this is an Air Force rank. I wonder why an AF Senior NCO testified at the trial, not an Army explosives expert.
A swift execution is too good for this swine. It should be a slow painful death. Unfortunately, it'll never happen. He'll probably get time - and a 60 Minutes interview.
Minor correction. "Frag" is a Korean War term for soldiers killing incompetent officers by rolling a grenade into their tents. It goes back earlier than Vietnam.
See Fehrenbach's classic history.
I was the "subject" of a fragging attempt in Vietnam - the only casualty was the fragger himself when he was hit in the back with some fragments as he ran away - I was just blown a few dozen feet but otherwise unharmed.
I was given the job of guarding the DeMauMau radical (call themselves black muslims nowadays also) until he could be transfered to DaNang for trial and jail (yes the USMC kept their American felon prisoners IN vietnam - I assume the brought them back when the USA pulled out)
Maybe they gave me the guard duty (alone) to let me enact a little self-justice on the pig, but I was more curious to find out WHY he even tried to kill me. The reason? He was a DeMauMau black muslim radical and I was in a "position of authority" for a day over him and he resented it enough to kill me. I was tempted at that point to rid this world of a POS - I probably should have - If I am faced with the same situation today, I will.
"I wonder why an AF Senior NCO testified at the trial, not an Army explosives expert."
Just guessing, but could it be because civilian reporters don't know the military rank structure of the various service branches? *Smirk*
You have to remember that we (vets) are evil scum. We're Baby Killers and are just a useless drain on Taxpayer Dollars that could be better served by buying Jessee Jackson another Cadillac, or buying another Dimowitic vote. *Rolleyes*
There's been NO reason for the Common Man to know military rank or protocol for, oh, say, the fifty years since the LAST War to End All Wars when the DimoWits ran the show. ;)
I hate liberals. I hate the liberal MSM. There. I said it out loud!
When I hear liberals talking about Soldiers killing their "green" Lieutenants during the Viet Nam war I ask how they know it happened. They say everybody knows about it. Then I ask them to name one and enjoy the silence.
Don't know nothing about "fragging" officers.
I heard tell (LOL) threats about "fragging" subordinates if they came within 100 feet of any of my officers...
No, he'll go to Fort Leavenworth, not a federal pen. Look forward to having him as a neighbor, long enough for his appeals to run their course. It won't take nearly as long as the federal system does.
EOD types are few and far between. The services all use each-others EOD soldiers in order to keep some from being constantly deployed. We worked with some Navy guys when I was in Iraq. It's not suprising that an AF guy might have been first on the scene of this crime.
Two Words. PHC Slovic.
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