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BS!! The technique that LTC West employed goes back centuries. It works well as LTC West proved. The prisoner was not harmed and was not tortured. Get a grip, dude, this is war!! Which PR disaster do you prefer - the one arising from court-martialing this officer for protecting his troops and his command, or the one arising from more American soldiers needlessly coming home in body bags??

I agree that rules are needed to prevent us from becoming savages and barbarians and living down to the media's image of American forces. But, let's face some facts - If LTC West is successfully court-martialed and convicted for this "crime", who's to say that every American serviceman and woman currently on the ground in places like Afghanistan and Iraq isn't guilty of the same thing? Who's to say that Pres. Bush (C-in-C), Donald Rumsfeld, etal, aren't guilty of the same thing?

This is stupid and moronic in a time of war. Had LTC West done this to a soldier in his command to force the soldier to admit that he stole the last doughnut on the plate, I would agree with you. But that isn't what happened. LTC West's command was in jeopardy and the Iraqi policeman is an enemy combatant. There is a HUGE difference between what LTC West did and what interrogators in Vietnam did to force confessions from captured VC. Dropping one of the prisoners at random from a helicopter flying at 2,000 feet with no parachute in order to force confessions is probably a violation of the UCMJ. And, yet, NONE of the people invilved in those acts were charged, court-martialed or convicted.

This is a double-standard in the name of political correctness and LTC West did what he was trained to do: protect his troops and his command. Court-martialing him and drumming him out of the service is not justice, it is a huge miscarriage of justice.

You can't both acknowlege that the laws of war exist and then try to ignore them because "dude, this is war!!" The rules were written, accepted and adopted EXACTLY for situations like this. They were written to apply to the tough decisions, so that officers like LTC West would know what he could and could not do. LTC West knew that when he brought that pistol into the interrogation room and he knew what he was doing when he fired the first round. To his credit, he realized his mistake and reported it himself. He should be given consideration for that.

The only thing LTC West proved is that we have a vested interest in observing the laws of war, even if we're the only ones who do. Don't use the excuse that we've done worse and failed to punish it. We're supposed to learn from these mistakes. The fact that he reported himself and that they investigated this case says that we've learned something.

And it's NOT a double-standard. NO WHERE in LTC West's training or orders was he instructed or authorized to do what he did. In fact, every bit of his training ran to the contrary. As an officer, he was trained and expected to enforce the laws of warfare for himself and every soldier under his command.

Finally, for everybody who throws the term around:
Obeying the laws of warfare is NOT being Politically Correct.