Army Commander Let His Own Men Face the Death Penalty To Hide His Own Reprimand

Euphoric Reality ^ | 01/21/07 | Kit Jarrell

[euphoriadev]

Explosive new info in the Iron Triangle Case in the NYT this morning showing that not only did the Army already handle the four Iraqi deaths that the Rangers are charged with, they reprimanded the commander for them and ended his career. The commander, Col. Michael Steele, knowing he had already been punished for the incident, still allowed his men to be charged with murder and imprisoned.

No charges have been filed against Colonel Steele in the Army’s continuing investigation. But two Defense Department officials said last week that Colonel Steele was formally reprimanded in the summer by Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the former commander in Iraq, for not reporting the deaths and other details of the raid. The action was not made public.

The Army had already reprimanded the commander for acting on bad intel about the region being a terrorist training camp. They were well aware that the Rangers had done exactly what they were told: Go into a hostile area and take out the bad guys. The problem was, Steele was wrong, and the area was not a terrorist training camp.

[RedRover]

Seems to me that these cases reveal a common problems with the way we're policing the military. The various investigative agencies seem to be stuck in a pre-WOT mindset, unable to grasp the chaotic nature of the fighting in Iraq in particular.

You've been looking at this longer, and more deeply, than I have, euphoria. What do you think is going on?

[TADSLOS]

Brigade Commanders don't just issue orders like this directly down to the squad level. I'm not attempting to vindicate Steele. He may very well be the scumbag he's being made out to be but there's a whole lot of other subordinate leaders and staff who have some 'splainin' to do as well.

[RaceBannon]

This is the tip of an iceberg.

Myself and several other freepers have been involved with he defense and charities for several of he men charged in these incidents, and have heard the original Marines and Soldier statements from the start.

While our source is a fishwrap, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

This article shows that.

I understand your concern that things might be overblown, but I can assure you, that is not the case.

Euphoriadev has an internet radio show, and she has interviewed some of the people involved. The facts presented in several of our own personal posts, reflect not just a personal opinion but the unknown facts that we have been asked to not reveal, so, we might sound a little cryptic in some cases.

There is a huge amount of evidence of people being set up over the years, and these incidents of recent time in Iraq are just the newest ones.

It is an awful thing, to get involved with helping troops, to getting involved with the mourning of families near your home, to helping families of the accused, to finding out after all that, that the Marine Corps and Army you served in are no longer the Marine Corps or Army you would still die for.

[Calpernia]

ping

[euphoriadev]

Normally I would agree with you. However, Steele is well known as a micromanager of the highest order. This is documented in several places.

Also, you need to consider the fact that SSG Ray Girouard was personally with Steele very often. Ray would report to Steele for something, or bring him documents etc., and then when the classified meetings began, no one asked him to leave. Girouard was privy to a great amount of information directly from Col. Steele's mouth, including the disposition of a friendly fire incident that Ray witnessed. He told Steele that it was wrong for the Army to lie to the family about how their son died and that he wanted to tell them the truth. Steele told him directly that he was NOT to reveal the truth, and he was ordered not to "rock the boat."

So in reality, I think it's completely plausible that someone like Col. Steele would feel the need to give an order like that directly to his troops. In fact, in the full article on NYT, he admits that he himself told his men to come off the chopper shooting.

[B4Ranch]

>There is a huge amount of evidence of people being set up over the years, and these incidents of recent time in Iraq are just the newest ones.<

There seems to be a trend appearing almost everywhere of personal advancement and politics before patriotism. Maybe I'm just getting old enough to recognize it easier and faster now.

[Steel Wolf]

Not the same Mike Steele as from Black Hawk Down, is it? The Ranger Captain?

[TADSLOS]

So in reality, I think it's completely plausible that someone like Col. Steele would feel the need to give an order like that directly to his troops. In fact, in the full article on NYT, he admits that he himself told his men to come off the chopper shooting.

Maybe so, but I know from experience that this kind of behavior from a commander does not go unnoticed by his staff, subordinate commanders and their staffs. Where were they and what actions did they take to reverse the situation? Steele didn't just wake up one morning and go into full "Apocalypse Now" mode. His decisions and actions didn't occur in a vacuum either. If we're going to hang out Steele to dry, lets do the whole load of laundry.

[TADSLOS]

Same one.

[Steel Wolf]

Wow, that explains a lot. I knew his name looked familiar.

These days, soldiers need lawyers more than they do extra ammo. The next time I go back in theater, it'll be as a contractor. I can afford a very good lawyer, if anything happens. What's a SPC or SGT going to do, when he's abandoned by his chain of command and railroaded by JAG?

[TADSLOS]

The next time I go back in theater, it'll be as a contractor. I can afford a very good lawyer, if anything happens.

LOL! You'll need it since you'll be subject to the UCMJ as a contractor now.

[euphoriadev]

Wow. That's an open-ended question. ;) I'll do my best to be brief. There are a few things to consider here. First of all, look at the conviction rate of the military JAG Corps. While each service has their own, the conviction rate AVERAGES are 97%. No civilian attorney could EVER claim a 97% win rate. That alone says there's something not quite right going on. The abuses of the NCIS/CID/OSI are again, well-documented; the CID/OSI to a much lesser degree, but still. The AMN Bryan Roney Case is just one example of investigative agents literally making work to justify their own existence. Trying to court-martial a 20-year-old airman over seven one-ounce bottles of Jack Daniels that he didn't steal, drink, or possess at any time is pretty stupid. Considering this happened in Qatar, I think it's safe to say the OSI had bigger things to worry about. But I digress. I hate to keep drawing a parallel between the military investigative services and the police's Internal Affairs, but there are some serious similarities. These are people from within the ranks who are tasked with policing their peers. While everyone can agree that the military needs policing as a rule (as do we all), the simple fact is that that kind of power can corrupt. In many cases, it does. It's not just a question of them not understanding the ROE. These people don't understand a damn thing about their own jobs. That link on the King case illustrates it perfectly. In the Girouard case, the agent who interrogated him spent half the interview with her hand on his thigh, or with her arms around him, telling him she was "there for him," and trying to use her femininity to get him to "confess." An agent in the Pendleton 8 case admitted under oath she's never read the manual for her own job. I have the memos and documents from quite a number of cases where the NCIS has completely dropped the ball. Actually, "dropped the ball" implies they are incompetent, when the reality is their incompetence is exacerbated a hundredfold by their willful ignorance and purposeful intent to win cases and trophy hunt at any cost. Bottom line: They've been able to operate under a shroud for quite some time. Years and years. These cases are now getting more attention because of the work we are doing. It's like a serial rapist gets caught on one charge, and then other victims see him in the paper and say, "Hey, I know that guy...here's my story." Granted, I've had to weed through a few "false leads," but so far I've almost always gotten good info that is able to be independently corroborated. Holy soapbox. I'll get down now. Sorry for the long post, and I really hope I somehow came close to answering your question. ;) By the way, I've got Girouard's attorney on the show on Wednesday night to talk about some of these new developments.

[euphoriadev]

Yup. Exactly the same one.

[RaceBannon]

I think the issue is: What used to make us upset while we served, was the personal advancement of individual officers along with THEIR mess-ups being covered while ours were open, and how we forgot that, and instead centered our memories of our pride in service.

Now, to see these things pop up, I am reminded of those incidents where officers screw up and it got covered up.

We spent decades in pride of our service time, pride in what we did, in knowing officers who advanced were once OUR officers, we knew them as Lt's or Captains, and now they are Generals, and we were proud to know them.

And then this. Blinders which we voluntarily put on concerning the past, things best kept forgotten, are popping up again and it is affecting not just individual units or individuals in those units, but out national prestige as well; in order to absolve our guilt over an overblown frat-prank at Abu Grahib, we HANG our own troops to look like we are cleaning house of undesirables.

That is not ESprit d'Corps, that is not Honor, Duty, Country. It is the big, Green Weenie, at it's worst.

[euphoriadev]

I agree. However, the most time-critical factor is getting the info out about Steele simply because there are guys in prison serving time for his little reprimand.

First and foremost, those guys need to be freed with the government's sincere (?) apologies. Then you're right...all the laundry gets done.

[euphoriadev]

AMEN, Race. A-freaking-men.

[TADSLOS]

Have any other officers and senior NCOS come forward to testified on their behalf and if not, why not (if you know)?

[euphoriadev]

Great question.

Girouard's lieutenant testified on his behalf in the Article 32, which I have up for your reading pleasure at my site. I warn you, it's over 900 pages, but I've highlighted certain parts of it to ease the pain, at least in the first 200-300 pages. His LT said that there was no one he trusted more in the field.

Girouard himself is an E-6, at the age of 24. His resume is longer than many officers, and there is a long line of fellow soldiers who served under, below, and with him who are anxious to testify as to his integrity, skill, and professionalism.

[Eagles6]

"(well, at least this one is in jail...but I see a pattern)"

As far as I know, she's still out on appeal bond.

[Calpernia]

What??!!