Former Navy SEAL sniper Brandon Webb charges that some of his colleagues killed American citizens in New Orleans during Katrina’s aftermath.
SOFREP (“The Long Shadow Of Katrina: Military Snipers Engaging U.S. Citizens?“):
In early 2012, I had an unexpected conversation with my friend Chris Kyle (author of American Sniper) about the Katrina debacle. I had heard rumblings about Special Operations (mainly SEALs) snipers being deployed to New Orleans to support the effort to restore order. He confirmed the rumors and shared his own intimate knowledge that close contacts of his, many who were apparently still serving on active duty, took leave to work for the controversial PMC (Private Military Company),Blackwater.
Chris went on to tell me that the bulk of the guys he knew directly had racked up over thirty kills between them near and around the Super Dome. I asked him about Rules of Engagement, and asked, “Who were they shooting at,” and he just gave me a big Texas shrug and smile. I figured out really quick that it was 180 grains of due process (usually to the head at 200M).
Steve Hynd is understandably upset.
Coming from such a source, these accusations have to be taken seriously – accusations that US military snipers killed US citizens inside the US with no due process of law whatsoever, acting as judge jury and executioner. The Bush administration would have to have signed off on the whole thing.
This is why the recent debate on Obama’s signature killing program has focused too much on the method of killing – drones – and too little on the lack of constitutional justification. You don’t need a drone to perform extrajudicial killings, not even of US citizens. If this story is true, then yet again Obama is only following Bush’s lead.
Webb writes that he is bothered by what Kyle told him. I’ll go further. I’m horrified and angered. Those who set up this program are criminals of the highest order – but so too are the supposed heroes of special forces who participated. Even if they were ordered to do this, they should have refused.
Well, yes. It would have been a violation of their oath, which is to the Constitution.
I had never heard of this before.
I cannot imagine anyone approving this in the US on a large, unrestricted scale.
Can I believe that we have had assasinations in this country? Sure. One at a time in remote places or during times when no one would notice.
But in a place with the number of people running around with cameras? And thirty people shot down in the street? It just seems stupid.
I would believe it more it you were telling me they were shooting space aliens. (Not you specifically P_Dad, but in general.)
Before I accept a single word of this story, I would require proof.
Proof.
I want an autopsy report on a single body that had a head blown off by a sniper.
This would be murder, especially if done by a civilian working for Blackwater; even so if the person was on active duty or even a sworn law enforcement officer. You cannot just shoot to kill American citizens from afar in law enforcement. Emergency or not. How would we know if they were guilty or not? What if they were trying to get people to stop looting, for example?
It is worse than what Clinton did at Waco, or George Bush (he first) at Ruby Ridge. Much worse.
Nope. I don’t believe it.
BULL CRAP on this Katrina slander.
What would be the purpose of secret killings of looters by sniper??? The whole purpose of killing looters while looting is to let other looters know that there are CONSEQUENCES to their choice to loot. . . but if you shoot the looters and don’t let anyone know you’ve done it, there is no reason to do it besides the personal satisfaction that there’s one less looter. That does not discourage the practice. As a policy, this makes absolutely no sense. Politically, it has no “upside” and tremendous “downside.”
Smells like either urban legend or propaganda spread by political operatives.
So Brandon Webb is the source of the silly arse story, claims Kyle told him? ... an idiots on the radio said it was Kyle himself as if Kyle had told this to the press.