FOX NEWS (snip)
Daugherty concluded that the platoon did not get the supervision or direction it needed. And he said the unit was hurt by the loss of 10 troops, including several leaders, who were killed in action as well as by the need to shuffle the platoon’s leadership three times.
The platoon also had been dogged by an ongoing investigation into the rape and killing of an Iraqi girl and the killing of her family by several other members of the unit.
Daugherty said there was no malicious intent by the officers who were leading the unit.
“Although the leaders in this platoon care and are staying in the fight, the platoon is frayed,” he said in his report.
Daugherty’s investigation found no evidence linking the three soldiers’ deaths to the rape-murder, which occurred three months earlier. An Al Qaeda-linked group, the Mujahedeen Shura Council, claimed in July that the attack on Babineau, Menchaca and Tucker was revenge for the rape-killing.
Lt. Gen. James D. Thurman, who was serving as the commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad last year, ordered the investigation, and later handed out the punishments. His decision to remove the two officers — a lieutenant and a captain — from their commands was a harsher penalty than the one recommended by Daugherty, who suggested they get letters of reprimand.
Thurman, who is now commander of Fifth Corps in Heidelberg, Germany, also accepted Daugherty’s recommendations that the platoon be ordered to stand down for 10 days to address combat stress and get refresher training. In addition, administrative actions were taken against an unknown number of other officers, but those have not been disclosed because they are protected by the privacy act.
Release of the investigation’s results has been delayed for months. The probe was completed and the punishments delivered by August. Families of the three soldiers were given unclassified briefings on the results of the investigation later last year. According to a military official, part of the delay was due to legal reviews and the movement of the units involved out of Iraq.
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Just some “DOTS” for all to see...A “Pattern” here ??
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Other members of their platoon, who were at two locations up to three-quarters of a mile (about a kilometer) away, heard small arms fire at 7:49 p.m. When they arrived at the checkpoint about 25 minutes later, Babineau was dead and the others were gone.
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(bangin’ Head On Wall)...JUST DAMN !!!
I only caught a snip on FOX
earlier today,,,FOX gal reported from the ambush-site,,,
I saw it twice,,,it’s called “Route Malibu”,,,(dirt-road)
runs near/parallel to the Euphrates River,,,Damn Jungle,,!!
The road-cut mite be 40ft. wide...no field of fire at all.
NO KILL ZONE !!!
the under-brush in this so-called “palm-grove” must be 20ft.tall,,,can’t see 10ft.,,,this “WIRE” we keep hearin’ bout ???,,,Strung Rite Up Against The Jungle !!!
Showed 2 burn-spots where the trucks were ,,,
One on each side of the “road”,,,
Only a Friggin’ Moron would allow his Troops to be put in that situation...!
SAME AREA AS THE 3/31 10th.Mt. TODAY !!!