Posted on 06/21/2006 8:09:00 AM PDT by PETUSMC
SAN FRANCISCO - Two California Soldiers shot to death in Iraq were murdered by Iraqi civil-defense officers patrolling with them, military investigators have found.
The deaths of Army Spc. Patrick R. McCaffrey Sr. and 1st Lt. Andre D. Tyson were originally attributed to an ambush during a patrol near Balad, Iraq, on June 22, 2004.
But the Army's Criminal Investigation Command found that one or more of the Iraqis attached to the American Soldiers on patrol fired at them, a military official said Tuesday.
A Pentagon spokesman knew of no other similar incident, calling it "extremely rare."
The Army has conducted an extensive investigation into the deaths but declined to provide details out of respect for relatives of the Soldiers, spokesman Paul Boyce said Tuesday evening.
It was unclear whether the investigators had established a motive or arrested any suspects.
The families of McCaffrey and Tyson were to be briefed on the report's conclusions Tuesday and Wednesday by Brig. Gen. Oscar Hilman, the Soldiers' commander at the time, and three other officers.
"When they come I have my list of questions ready, and I want these answers and I don't want lies," McCaffrey's mother, Nadia McCaffrey, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
Soldiers who witnessed the attack have told her that two Iraqi patrolmen opened fire on her son's unit. The witnesses also said a third gunman simultaneously drove up to the American unit in a van, climbed onto the vehicle and fired at the Americans, she said.
"Nothing is clear. Nothing is clear," she said. Her son was shot eight times by bullets of various calibers, some of which penetrated his body armor, she said. She believes he bled to death.
Nadia McCaffrey has become a vocal critic of the war in Iraq, and said her son had reservations about it, too, though he served well and was promoted posthumously to sergeant.
"I really want this story to come out; I want people to know what happened to my son," she said. "There is no doubt to me that this (ambushes by attached Iraqi units) is still happening to Soldiers today, but our chain of command is awfully reckless; they don't seem to give a damn about what's happening to Soldiers."
Iraqi forces who had trained with the Americans had fired at them twice before the incident that killed Patrick McCaffrey, and he had reported it to his superiors, she said.
Boyce said the U.S. military remained confident in its operations with Iraqis.
"We continue to have confidence in our operations with Iraqi soldiers and have witnessed the evolution of a stronger fighting army for the Iraqi people," he said.
"The Army is committed to investigating each battlefield death and providing accurate information to families."
Patrick McCaffrey joined the National Guard the day after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, his mother said.
Tyson's family could not be located, and a message left with his former unit was not immediately returned.
McCaffrey, 34, and Tyson, 33, were members of the California National Guard. Both were assigned to the Army National Guard's 579th Engineer Battalion, based in Petaluma.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., pressed the Pentagon for answers about the case when Nadia McCaffrey was unsatisfied by explanations from the military.
"Mrs. McCaffrey is set to receive a briefing from Pentagon officials (Wednesday) afternoon in California, during which we hope they will provide her with a full report of the facts surrounding Sgt. McCaffrey's death," said Natalie Ravitz, a Boxer spokeswoman.
What a coincidence
What a coincidence
WTF??
This was back in '04, when they had a lot of problems with infiltration in the Iraqi forces, I don't think it has happened since then.
Well, I'm sure we'll hear more of "Nadia's Theme" in the MSM very soon.
I am sorry about her son, though. He was a fine American. God rest him.
Not a tricky situation to figure out here.
This is not a case of a Benedict Arnold (i.e. someone who truly supported our case then turned on us).
Frankly, any jihadist with enough of an attention span can pretend to be loyal to the Iraqi government long enough to undergo the necessary training to join the security forces. If these guys were killed by Civil Defense Officers, then that is precisely what happened here.
Our ability to screen folks in Iraq is only going to grow with time, once the Iraqi government has actually established enough of a database to run meaningful background checks on people (a tough job even in the relatively digitized U.S.).
On NPR this morning a Marine LT, who was training an Iraqi unit in '04, explained how a jihadi had infiltrated his unit in order to assassinate him.
In no uncertain terms he said the reason he is alive now is because soldiers loyal to him found out the plot and foiled it.
The good news was that his efforts had garnered such respect and loyalty from the unit. The bad news was that other elements in the unit allowed the infiltration.
It is a Da** good thing these reporters did not exist during WWII or we would all be speaking either German or Japanese!! Someone seems to have forgotten to tell these people that bad things happen in war!
There is a profound difference between Iraqi patrolmen and terrorists dressed in Iraqi uniforms, although both are possible.
It is common knowledge that terrorists have signed up and been trained as "militiamen".
What I don't understand is why does someone who "sees" anyone fire at US soldiers not kill them on the spot? This is all vry confusing.
Your anger and dismay is totally understandable.
The main problem for your confusion is that you can look down your street at a city not at war. Our guys in Iraq simply can't do that...every step they take could be their last one where they are.
They are in a war zone.
Civilians have no inkling of what it's like to be "at war" and really ought to refrain from offering "advice" to the field commanders and the soldiers who have the job.
All of this public access sometimes just makes the horrors of war even more confusing and even more collossally sad.
Being at home and supporting our troops with gratitude and prayers is our service to our country. Understanding the sorrow and enormous cost of human life in all of this is part of our job as loyal citizens.
Let's get to work.
Another Iraqi kidnaps 40 workers while another blows up 40-60 people aiming at the soldiers while another murders Hussein's attorney yet the system goes apesh*t over one dead Iraqi and charges 6 marines and 1 sailor. Something is indeed wrong with this picture!
Lily! You are right.
Looks like the enemy is winning the propaganda war. Hands down.
And they have lots of help from impressionnable meatheads in our midst.
Just like they planned it.
They just had to throw that convenient bit in, didn't they...
Amazing how she supposedly knows her son's thoughts now that he is dead. Sounds like another Sheehan wanna-be.
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