US soldier guns down 5 fellow soldiers in Iraq

AP via YAhoo ^ | 5.11.09 | ROBERT H. REID

[trumandogz]

BAGHDAD – A U.S. soldier opened fire at a counseling center on a U.S. base Monday, killing five fellow soldiers before being taken into custody, the U.S. command and Pentagon officials said.

[trumandogz]

Damn.

Prayers

[Gay State Conservative]

Can one be deemed to be “not guilty by reason of insanity” under the UCMJ? If so you can be sure that his civilian lawyer will be....well,you know.

[Abathar]

At a counseling center no less.

Prayers up for both him and the families of the fallen.

[ml/nj]

Was this guy's name Melvin Goldstein?

ML/NJ

[pandoraou812]

Prayers for the victims & their families.

[hattend]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2248478/posts

in Breaking News, 6 posts below yours

[BykrBayb]

Jacob Lapp?

[RetiredArmy]

Sounds like the guy from the 101st who tossed the grenades into the tents years back. He was a muzzie. I guess the gun control nuts will now want to take weapons from the military since this shooting killed several “children.”

[trumandogz]

Missed that.

Thanks.

This is simply one of the saddest, most disturbing and depressing stories I have read in quite some time.

[SunkenCiv]

Official: 5 Killed After U.S. Service Member Opens Fire on Iraq Base
(Shooter in Custody)
Cnn | May 11 2009
Posted on 05/11/2009 7:17:54 AM PDT by boxerblues
Edited on 05/11/2009 8:48:36 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2248478/posts

Five US soldiers killed in shooting at American base in Baghdad,
BBC | May 11th 20091
Posted on 05/11/2009 7:24:51 AM PDT by Cardhu
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2248488/posts

[hattend]

Agreed

[theDentist]

Yes, that was Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar. Sentenced to death (lethal injection). I believe his final appeal is under review...

[Tammy8]

Prayers go out to the soldiers he killed and their families. I will also send prayers out to the shooter and his family, I don’t have any idea what demons he may have been facing and it is not for me to judge his actions.

[ml/nj]

Less likely!

ML/NJ

[BykrBayb]

Oh good. Sarah will be greatly relieved.

[tet68]

Yes, somewhere this soldier was let down by his superiours.

I saw something like this in Nam. I was returning from CONUS and met a guy in Frisco, he was returning to the same
base as I was, seemed a reasonable sort of guy.
He too was returning for a second tour. He wasn’t back
two weeks when he lost it and tried to shoot everyone
in his hootch. Luckily he was subdued before anyone was hurt. Basically his life was over right then, I’m sure he got many years hard time and a BCD too.

[Gay State Conservative]

...I don’t have any idea what demons he may have been facing and it is not for me to judge his actions.

Never having been stationed anywhere more dangerous than Fort Knox during my illustrious Army "career" I have no personal knowledge of what being in combat...or in a combat zone...is like.Either they guy is an utter psychopath (yes,there are one or two such members of our Armed Forces at any given time) or else he completely flipped his wig.

[Uri’el-2012]

A U.S. soldier opened fire at a counseling center on a U.S. base Monday, killing five fellow soldiers before being taken into custody,

Gis need to clear their guns to go into the PX.

But they don't need to clear their guns in a "stress counseling center"

Who is responsible for this "stress counseling center" ?

Was the soldier prescribed SSRIs ?

[Tammy8]

I have not served at all, but when I read the story to hubby who served in Vietnam- his response was the guy probably couldn’t face his demons. He thought it was telling that he was at the counseling center. If the guy was a psychopath he might not have been at the counseling center- they say those who have the worst mental issues are unaware they have problems. I don’t know, this upsets me a lot and we don’t have the whole story and probably will never hear the whole story either no matter how much comes out in the news.

[Gay State Conservative]

...his response was the guy probably couldn’t face his demons.

Your husband is very probably correct

He thought it was telling that he was at the counseling center.

Ditto above response.

If the guy was a psychopath he might not have been at the counseling center-

True enough

The only reason I mentioned "psychopath" is because his was the act of a psychopath but I understand that despicable acts are sometimes committed by people who aren't.

[Seruzawa]

SSRI’s? So far it’s about 100% correlation. No reason to think it’ll be different this time.

[MEGoody]

Yes, somewhere this soldier was let down by his superiours.

In what way? How do we know they let him down? I'm just asking because I don't see anything about that in the stories I've read on this incident.

[Secret Agent Man]

Think it would be a good policy to check all weapons upon entrance to a counseling center.

[Prodigal Son]

Gis need to clear their guns to go into the PX. But they don't need to clear their guns in a "stress counseling center"

Clearing your weapon is taking the magazine out and ejecting any round that may be in the chamber.

All you have to do to shoot somebody after that is... Put the magazine back in and load a round into the chamber.

It's that simple. Takes a few seconds.

[fr_freak]

The tone of this article makes it seem as if this were just some tragic accident, instead of some bastard deliberately murdering a few of his fellow soldiers. I bet if this soldier had killed a few hippies, Yahoo would spare no language in their condemnation.

[Munz]

So sad. Prayers for the family. Last thing that they needed to hear I am sure.

PTSD is really serious and I bet when the smoke clears if we ever really find out what happened this will be the cause.

[Uri’el-2012]

That takes a deliberate act.

Is the CO of the "stress center" so irresponsible
as to not require clearing one's gun upon entering ?

[libstripper]

Was this guy's name Melvin Goldstein?

Nope. It was Yoshi Toronoga under the alias of Jimmy Cagney.

[elpadre]

In my days in Korea (’52-'53, 40th ID)) there were no such things as counseling centers. The GI’s that I either knew or heard of were ones that flipped because they received “Dear John” letters from their wives or sweethearts. There were probably some combat caused mental cases, but I never saw them.

[elpadre]

see Post #29

[Prodigal Son]

Look. I don’t know what the situation is there in Iraq or in this particular place. But if you have a weapon and ammo, it doesn’t really matter whether you’ve cleared it or not. I mean, if you’ve cleared it, all you have to do to shoot it is simply put your magazine back in it. It’s not like you hand over all your ammo when you clear it. Clearing it is simply a safety procedure to prevent accidental discharge- it’s not something that’s meant to ‘disarm’ anyone.

[Steve Van Doorn]

good list thanks

[Uri’el-2012]

Clearing it is simply a safety procedure to prevent accidental discharge-

There is no such thing as an accidental discharge.

A negligent discharge is caused by either ignorance or carelessness.

The person can be considered ignorant, if they have not been trained.

They are careless, if they disregard their training.

Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction

Always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot

Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use

[Prodigal Son]

jeez man. whatever....

I’m just telling you about the clearing thing.

Chill out. You’re weirding me out with all this.

All I’m saying is- you act like clearing the weapon has made the situation safe. But the soldier still would have had his ammo. Clearing it does not include taking the ammo from the soldier.

You’re going on about somebody’s CO being negligent. You were the one that brought up clearing but you are ignoring the fact that clearing it doesn’t really mean anything. Ok, so what? The weapon’s clear. The soldier still has his magazines though. If it pops into his mind to kill someone inside an area that he had to clear his weapon to get into, all he has to do is take one of his magazines, put it back in his weapon and he’s ready to rock.

You’re with me right? You understand. Yes?

You don’t need to post me all these emblems and sh!t. It has no bearing on the situation.

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=54293

Obama Pledges to ‘Fully Understand’ Camp Liberty Shooting

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2009 – President Barack Obama said his administration “will press to ensure that we fully understand” what led to the shooting of five U.S. servicemembers, allegedly by a U.S. soldier, on a U.S. military base in Iraq today.
“I was shocked and deeply saddened to hear the news from Camp Victory this morning, and my heart goes out to the families and friends of all the servicemembers involved in this horrible tragedy,” Obama said in a statement.

As details about the shooting continue to emerge, the U.S. military is holding in custody an American soldier suspected of involvement in the shooting deaths that occurred around 2 p.m. local time at the base in the Iraqi capital.

“I will press to ensure that we fully understand what led to this tragedy, and that we are doing everything we can to ensure that our men and women in uniform are protected as they serve our country so capably and courageously in harm’s way,” Obama said, adding that he met with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to get a briefing on the matter this afternoon.

[TomasUSMC]

will press to ensure that we fully understand
////////////////
Whats there to understand obambi?
Over the last ELEVEN months, we have lost more than half of our killed to non-hostile actions.

89 hostile action KIA
93 non-hostile KIA
http://icasualties.org/Iraq/

Time to turn our forces around and attack east towards Iran. Right now they are being used for what?

[hinckley buzzard]

Was this guy's name Melvin Goldstein?

If it was, we'd know it. Since his name is not mentioned I am suspicious...I think it may have been some convert playing for the other team.

[Tammy8]

By saying the demons he was facing I didn’t mean just combat- it could be combat, marriage problems, mental issues, or any serious issue. Many have demons to face in their life- heck everyone does. Combat, dear john letters, alcohol or drug addiction, adultry all are demons to face and there are many more. Some can overcome their demons, some can deal with some demons and not others. It’s just a way to say the guy had serious problems he couldn’t deal with when he did this.

[Allegra]

Sad day all around the Victory Base Complex today...

[elpadre]

I certainly agree