Soldier says he was ordered to delete Fort Hood video (Want proof politics entering military?)

wash times ^ | 10/15/10 | Angela K. Brown and Michael Graczyk

[bestintxas]

A soldier says he shot cell phone video during last year's Fort Hood deadly rampage but that an officer ordered him to delete the footage.

Under cross examination Friday, Pfc. Lance Aviles has told a military court that he deleted the two videos at the direction of his NCO on the same day as the shooting, Nov. 5.

Friday is the third full day of testimony at the Article 32 hearing to decide if Maj. Nidal Hasan, the 40-year-old American-born Muslim charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder at Fort Hood, should stand trial.

Witnesses have already described how they saw Hasan open fire, shoot rapidly and reload at least one laser-sighted handgun in a medical processing center at the Texas Army post.

[bestintxas]

Politics over military discipline will kill us as surely as a gun to our head.

[mbarker12474]

Is that sucker still collecting a paycheck?

[Iron Munro]

That Officer should be prosecuted for obstruction of justice and for giving an unlawful order.

[wastedyears]

They’re having a hearing to decide if he should stand trial? That’s really necessary?

[Marty62]

That is called destruction of evidence.

[OrangeHoof]

Isn’t destruction of evidence a crime?

I would have transfered the video to my hard drive and then deleted it from the phone and showed the NCO that it was deleted from his phone.

[Datom]

That NCO needs to be charged with destroying evidence in a capital murder trial.

[US Navy Vet]

Wonder what the “race/religion” was of this “NCO”!

[Sacajaweau]

The very fact that this is coming out tells you that the orders came right from the White House, where, IIRC the President was saying we shouldn't come to any conclusions.

I think this is a life saving measure on the soldiers part.

[Captain Rhino]

Of course, the video had value as evidence and should have been preserved. However, the video is not absolutely essential to this case as there are several hundred witnesses to the event.

I prefer to think that, when he gave the order to destroy it, the NCO was considering the impact of the video on the families of the victims and its potential for exploitation as jihadi propaganda. And given the unreliability of law enforcement in keeping sensitive materials out of the press and the complete irresponsibility of the press in these matters - not to mention the social media - “going viral” is exactly what would have happened had the video been preserved.

[Frantzie]

No - Islam is in the military plus the rest of the govt. The Saudis have sharholdings, investments and joint ventures with ALL 6 TV networks who own all the channels in the USA>

Keep watching Tva nd paying those cable bills. It helps Allah and the Islamification of America.

[Joe 6-pack]

"I prefer to think that, when he gave the order to destroy it, the NCO was considering the impact of the video on the families of the victims and its potential for exploitation as jihadi propaganda."

I suspect that would be the most likely motive as well...The troop should have downloaded a copy and turned the phone over to CID.

[mbarker12474]

This is evidence.

It is either evidence that he was illegally using a recording device in a restricted area of a military installation, or it is evidence in a civilian court case, or it is evidence in a military court case.

He should NOT have deleted it, regardless of what some bureaucrat told him to do.

[bolobaby]

Different angle from me, a former soldier...

WTF was this lame-arse soldier doing VIDEOTAPING a frickin’ massacre? Why wasn’t he pulling friends to safety? Considering options to engage with a makeshift weapon? Organizing a defense plan?

I’m ex-infantry, so the fight vs. flight instinct is VERY strong in me. I could never videotape something like this instead of acting and live with myself.

[NonValueAdded]

Note to Angela, Michael, and unnamed editors to learn about the difference between “officer” and NCO.

[valkyry1]

Exactly

[bestintxas]

“I prefer to think that, when he gave the order to destroy it, the NCO was considering the impact of the video on the families of the victims and its potential for exploitation as jihadi propaganda. “

Think about what you are saying: 14 soldiers murdered and more injured at a military base, and an NCO’s first thought was to families and to exploitation?

The military’s first and foremost job is to defend civilians and to win battles, period.

I can perhaps see the families part, but only to a limited extent. But their primary directive is not toward a soldier’s family. It is toward ensuring those battles are won, and unity in an outfit is of prime importance over “sensitivity” even. Unity cannot be preserved if renegade officers who have the ability to control lives of soldiers are within the system. These must be found out and a video enforces that finding.

Also, if the family sensitivity was paramount, a soldier would never be ordered into battle for fear he would be injured or killed..

As for as the low-ranking NCO coming up to a conclusion to concern himself with jihadist exploitation, that, is certainly illogical.

No, politics at much higher levels was played out here. Once the GOP controls the House, how far up order came from will be revealed.

[Lorianne]

Court martial for the NCO

[sgtyork]

A sargeant has no authority to decide the value or emotional impact of this. Thisshould have been a command decision. They were’nt in a war zone, there was time to make a measured decision about this. I find it deeply troubling.

[Dick Bachert]

Political Correctness:

”A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.”

By spreading this definition around, perhaps we can employ one of the more effective methods of deflating and defeating the fools who practice and promote it: RIDICULE.

Unless stopped – and soon – PC will DESTROY Western Civilization -- if it hasn’t already.

PASS IT ON!!

THEN PASS THE KOOL AID!!