Americans rally behind officer who foiled plot [Re: Lt. Col. Allen B. West]

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Wednesday, November 5, 2003 | By Art Moore

[JohnHuang2]

Wednesday, November 5, 2003

Quote of the Day by semaj

[SAJ]

Come on, President Bush! A DSC for Col. West, and a short-arm court-martial for the asst. JAG who wants to bring the ''charges'' against him.

Here's the deal, you dirty little scumbag lawyer-wannabee: THIS MAN DEFENDED THE TROOPS UNDER HIS COMMAND. He killed no one while doing so, he injured no one while doing so, and his chosen tactic was effective, as proven by result; no one got a free shot at the folks in his command. The raghead dirtbag that he threatened, who, by the information so far received, had participated in sundry assassination missions against our soldiers, spit out the bit and gave it, and X number of his fellow terrorists, up. THIS, you pencil-pushing, ticket-punching, shiny pants REMF legal beagle, is absolutely what is SUPPOSED to occur.

Mr. JAG, cur (that's ''sir'', spelt properly), you should count yourself exceptionally lucky that you and I are unlikely ever to meet.

Too bad, drat it, that President Bush is otherwise too occupied to take this little JAG SOB to the cleaners...but, there is historical precedent: when the lawyers run the war, America loses, every single time -- I defy any FReeper to name a specific exception.

[SandfleaCSC]

Settle down man. That JAG is investigating Col. West at the order of his(the JAG's) superior officer. It's not the JAG's job to find the man innocent or guilty. Wish this particular officer the wisdom and the clarity to do his job with a soldier's honor.....save the bitterness for someone more deserving.

By the way, I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that the JAG staff is giving a respectful nod and the benefit of the doubt to Col. West. The man seems like the kind of bird you'd want to serve under.

[IrishRainy]

Sounds a lot like "good cop/bad cop" to me, or "wait till your father gets home." It's called psychological torture, and it can be pretty effective sometimes!

[imadeepdiver]

Ok answer a question for me. We signed the Geneva convention that gives prisoners of war certain rights. that upon capture they will not be tortured and only have to give their name rank and serial number. so according to the story
Lt. Col. West said to this policeman that if you don't give me the info I will killl you. to which the prisoner said I love you. Lt. Col. West proceeded to drag him outside push him to the ground and with several other people held him to the ground and fired his pistol at close range into a sand bucket.
So ok, How does this interrogation technique fall under the Geneva convention. (BTW I served 8 years active duty with four in the Army).

[FixitGuy]

Hmmmm...Wonder how this guy would have been made to talk if it had been Saadam's cronies doing the interrogation.

Tough issue. But if we don't get serious, we'll never get any intelligence.

Can't believe we're not doing better considering all the high level Sand Nazis we've got in custody.

[Pro-Bush]

This guy is a Hero!

[LibertarianInExile]

Imadeep...troll.

[SandfleaCSC]

Um, Mr. Veteran Sir, the Geneva Convention apart from a whole bunch of problems to begin with, it DOES NOT apply to enemies that wear no uniform. Wait on the facts before you get so ready to hang the guy. Just from what's in this particular article, this officer is willing to put it all on the line for the mission and the men. What's your problem with him?

[imadeepdiver]

I beg your forgiveness, that detail I had not picked up on. yes sir you are right, this would make said prisoner out to be nothing more than a terrorist, so it would seem that he was a policeman under the former government of mr. insane.

[Chief_Joe]

"The fact is," the attorney said, "two trained interrogators, both female, worked with [the Iraqi policeman] for hours and hours, and he wouldn't talk, so they called their commander."

It never ceases to amaze me how PC we've become. I can only imagine how amused this Iraqi captive must have been by his interrogators.

[borisbob69]

LMAO...been a long long time since I heard, read or thought about the term REMF! Thanks for the nostalgic reminder of who usually complains about things they don't understand and/or have never experienced.

[Ispy4u]

Easy, it is not allowed.

LTC West was wrong, and admits it. As such he has to face the music. I hope he doesn't lose his retirement, but he still should face some disciplinary action.

I think in the end he will retire with his benefits and a letter of repremand or something similar.

Too bad he crossed the line, sounds like the kind of commander troops love. But I haven't heard one word from any troops under, or previously under, his command. I'd like to know what they thought of him before this incident.

[mo]

Sounds to me CLinton PC'd the JAG.....

[mdmathis6]

Two Women! The muslims in Iraq would have had no respect for the women! Bad mistake using them to interrogate the man...the attitudes of Muslim men towards women run almost to the core..they would never have been able to break him! What a difference applied masculine influence along with a death threat made in the situation!

[NYCop]

Saving the lives of your men, by any means, can never be construed as wrong. There are millions of rules, all are suspended in matters of personal safety, and the safety of your fellow workers.

[freeangel]

Timely sign-up. I guess you think these a$$holes play by the rules. The fact that the information that saved U.S. lives came spewing out of his mouth with a shot into the ground is irrelevant to you. You would much rather have seen more dead U.S. soldiers on Aljazeera. Typical Democratic hate drivel.

[Ispy4u]

You, my friend, are totally incorrect. I would hope that you do not use that line of thinking as a LEO.

By any means has been used as an excuse for atrocities throughout the ages, ends do not justify the means.

White washing of crimes committed under the guise of personal safety is half of the problem with trust of LEOs in this country. I personally trust LEOs less today because of some of the things that have happened. I understand that as individuals the overwhelming majority of LEOs are good people, but the institution has tarnished itself by placing personnal safety over the protection of innocents too many times IMO.

You know that you cannot threaten to kill a suspect and expect to get away with it (unless the only witnesses are other LEOs), why should we be able to do that?

In the military the mission is always priority 1. Actions like LTC West took jeopardizes mission success for the entire GWOT and for missions in the future. Saving lives is important, but soldiers should and will place the mission above all other concerns.

My credentials: SSG US Army 15 Yrs. Yes I have served in combat.

[TheCause]

Well, I sure am glad the LTC did that.

You, on the other hand should get back into the service. That way you can be the guy who has knock on the door of the next of kin and tell them their son has died.

Ya mamma's boy.

Oh yeah, my crdentials: USMC, rank unimportant, because DI's weeded out all momma's boys.
What was left was a 100% man.

Promote the LTC to Full Bird!

[Jacquerie]

Imagine yourself in West's position. If an Iraqui irregular does not talk, your soldiers will die. You have one of two choices. Are you going to let your men die rather than rattle an enemy?