Posted on 09/18/2010 7:33:50 PM PDT by Willie Green
JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. The U.S. soldiers allegedly floated a plan as simple as it was savage: to randomly target and kill an Afghan civilian, and to get away with it.
For weeks, according to Army charging documents, rogue members of a platoon from the 5th Stryker Combat Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, hatched the idea. Then, one day last winter, a solitary Afghan man approached them in the village of La Mohammed Kalay. The "kill team" activated the plan.
One soldier created a ruse that they were under attack, tossing a grenade on the ground. Then others opened fire.
According to charging documents, the unprovoked, fatal attack on Jan. 15 was the start of a months-long shooting spree against Afghan civilians that resulted in some of the grisliest allegations against American soldiers since the U.S. invasion in 2001. Members of the platoon have been charged with dismembering and photographing corpses, as well as hoarding a skull and other human bones.
The subsequent investigation has raised accusations about whether the military ignored warnings that the out-of-control soldiers were committing atrocities. The father of one soldier said he repeatedly tried to alert the Army after his son told him about the first killing, only to be rebuffed.
Two more slayings would follow. Military documents allege that five members of the unit staged a total of three killings in Kandahar province between January and May. Seven other soldiers have been charged with crimes related to the case, including hashish use, attempts to impede the investigation and a retaliatory gang assault on a private who blew the whistle.
Army officials have not disclosed a motive for the killings and macabre behavior. Nor have they explained how the attacks could have persisted without attracting scrutiny. They declined to comment on the case beyond...
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
accuse by whom, Congress?
But if there is, I will just say that when Abu Ghraib became news, the media pretty much thought that it was a complete indictment of George W. Bush. Any mistreatment of prisoners MUST have been the fault of the guy in the Oval Office. Now, (perhaps), we have civilians killed for sport. Well -- what did Obama know, and when did he know it?
I’m starting to get the impression that a bunch of liberal commie dickweeds are now running our military. Hey America! How’s that hope and change workin’ for ya?
Is this another Haditha non-massacre?
As though AQ has never engaged in recreational bombing.
In any case, I hope these charges are bogus but if true I have no doubt the military will properly police their own ranks.
Houston, we have a problem and it’s call the enemy within, the lamestream media.
smoke / mirrors
This will be a story once it’s gone to trial and people are convicted. Until then these are mere allegations.
Sorry Obambi, you’ll still have to answer for your record in real time. Sniff, sniff...
There is.
Other way around.
Horse Sh**!
It sounds like there were a number of personnel involved.
And they did it without the knowledge of any sergeants or officers?
Or the sergeants and officers were in on the plan?
And nobody blew the whistle before, during or after the event? And they repeated an attack?
I call baloney. This whole thing presents a very low view of the integrity of the forces and its command structure. Too low.
On the one hand I could care less. And yes, I am a blood thirsty barbarian.
On the other,and strictly my opinion, crap like this is bound to happen in an overly prolonged PC mess that should have started with us sending 50,000 troops after Bin Laden & Associates . Into Pakistan if necessary. No detour to Iraq. Destroy the Taliban/AQ and leave.
Maybe it is time to do the McChrystal Strategy.
Get the F$$$ out of Dodge.
It’s BS stories like this that fuel and help the enemy with recruiting and it also makes some Americans second guess their support for our troops. Let’s put these reporters in Afghanistan with a 100 pound pack on their back in 110 degree heat dodging snipers and IED’s and see if they still want to write stories like this one.
He claimed he wore a child's skull under his helmet and used “highly illegal square backed bullets (SIC)” in his issued glock. When the liberal groups used the articles as proof of war crimes, the Army tracked him down and proved his claims false. The investigators stated in the report that Beauchamp was highly delusional and saw himself as a modern day Hemmingway.
Another fine example is Jesse MacBeth. MacBeth was the toast of the Communist Antiwar crowd. He claimed to be a decorated Spec Ops member and claimed he and his fellows would break into homes and torment civilians. MacBeth described questioning locals "and if we didn't like the answer, we'd kill their youngest child." The truth is MacBeth washed out of Basic training and eventually served a prison sentence for filing fraudulent claims for VA benefits.
Just because someone claims war crimes were committed doesn't mean they happened. Of course, any reasonable patriot already knows this. Do you, Willie?
Well, that's the wrong answer. These guys are murderers. There's nothing Soldier-like or professional about their actions. They were psychopaths with weapons and body armor and they thought they could do whatever they wanted to the hajis without consequences. Well, they were wrong, and now they're screwed. Hope it was worth it to them.
I agree. If they actually did this they all should stand in front of a firing squad.
No military can tolerate or even survive random murder and blood lust in its ranks.
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