I Don’t Believe What I’m Hearing; Has the army got its head up its collective tushie or what?

Washington Dispatch ^ | 11-05-03 | Jon Connolly

[Brian S]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exclusive commentary by Jon Connolly

Nov 5, 2003

Has the army got its head up its collective tushie or what?

The Pentagon, actually staff judge advocate for the 4th Infantry Division, has charged Lt. Col. Allen B. West with communicating a threat and aggravated assault during an interrogation and has requested an Article 32 hearing as prelude to a possible court martial. Don’t these lawyers understand we’re at war?

You can bet your life -- which is exactly what the troops in Iraq do every day -- it’s literally a crap shoot who lives, who dies, or who is wounded.

It’s not like West actually harmed the prisoner … he just scared the truth out of him and, as a result saved some American troopers lives and effectively slowed down the terrorism around Tikrit.

According to Rowan Scarborough in the Washington Times, West told them in an e-mail this week that he was desperate to gain information to protect his soldiers. They face almost daily attacks as they work to impose security around Saba al Boor, near Tikrit, Saddam‘s hometown.

The story continued, “West’s lawyer, Neal Puckett, said the prosecutor has offered Col. West two choices: quit now, short of his 20-year retirement eligibility ,,, or face criminal proceedings that could lead to a trial. The assault charges carry a maximum penalty of eight years in prison.

“Puckett is a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who, as a judge advocate and military judge, handled more than 1,000 criminal cases. He said it is not unusual to suggest an officer quit rather than face charges.”

The Army relieved West of his battalion command, which effectively ends his career.

The way I got the story is: West troops were unable to get information from an individual (an Iraqi policeman turned in by an informant) who supposedly had made a comment that ‘more Americans were going to die.’ One can only suppose that the colonel took this personally since he was the battalion commander.

The Iraqi was not forthcoming so West drew his weapon, explained to the man that he was a poor shot and fired a round into a nearby barrel … the man was somewhat chastened, but still not forthcoming … so West fired another round a bit closer to the man, noting that his marksmanship was improving and he MIGHT be able to put the next round between the man’s eyes.

That noticeably loosened the man’s tongue and “West said the detainee then provided the names of two accomplices and told of another planned sniper attack the next day.

"I have never denied what happened and have always been brutally honest," said Col. West. "I accept responsibility for the episode, but my intent was to scare this individual and keep my soldiers out of a potential ambush. There were no further attacks from that town. We ... apprehended two other conspirators (a third fled town) and found out one of the conspirators was the father of a man we had detained for his Saddam Fedeyeen affiliation.

"(The Iraqi policeman [the detainee]) and his accomplices were a threat to our soldiers and the method was not right, but why should I lose 20 years of service or be forced into prison for protecting my men?"

The military has seen fit to put professionals and reservists in harm’s way and, since they’re fighting a no-holds-barred insurgent war in which the ‘bad guys’ don’t play by the rules of the Geneva Convention, it behooves the leaders to make the extra effort to save the lives of their troopers … particularly given the fact that troops continue to die almost daily.

Lt. Col. West did what was right and did what was necessary to save his troops … he should not be punished because the stuffed shirts in the judge advocate’s office and the Pentagon failed to support him.

[Askel5]

=== So, why is Lieutenant Colonel Allen B. West is under threat of Court Martial?


I trust you don't expect anything like consistency from the "say what we mean and mean what we say" sorts.

The disclaimer only applies to those words yet resounding in the ether at any given moment.

[Avoiding_Sulla]

Saving Your Skin and Everyone Else's
On sensible anger when dealing with terrorists

by WWII - IPW Veteran

October 31, 2003.

When dealing with terrorists in Iraq, we can't play like gentlemen. We need to act as they do. It is not right to subjugate our soldiers to following our arbitrary unilateral adoption of Geneva Convention behavior for dealing with irregulars. That is not required, and we are crazy to have adopted that policy. In the real world, such an attitude is dishonorable. We must deal with these terrorist cowards in the only terms they will respect.

<excerpted from pascalfervor.com>

This is testimony from just one interrogator of SS during WWII. There must be more than a handful of vets still alive who would also attest to what passed for the unofficial ways of the past.

Our fighting men deserve better than these officious, spineless, double-crossing Leftist holdovers from the Clinton administration making our troops' job tougher and our safety that much more uncertain.

And I'm so sure we should be swallowing all of this "clinton holdovers" excuse. Clinton cashiered every justice department lawyer at the beginning of his term; why wasn't that therefore ok for dubya? What's keeping him?

We need to get angry. Thanks for the start ayoshida.

[epow]

He was kind enough to respond. In his brief missive he asked that I pray on behalf of our troops and for his family.

Col. West sounds like a man every American should be standing up for in this outrageous miscarriage of justice. He is certainly in my prayers, along with his troops and his family. God bless him and may his tribe increase.

I earnestly ask everyone who reads this thread to sign the petition, it's the very least we can do. It may not help the Colonel much or at all, but we must let the desk-jockey idiots responsible for this outrage know that we know what they're doing and how despicable we believe it is. A letter or call to the White House is also perfectly in order IMO. The CinC could put this matter right with just a few words to the right person. Rumsfield comes first to mind.

If Bush is made aware of this matter and doesn't remedy the situation I will lose all respect for him and his administration. If he calls off the dogs and is attacked by the sniveling Dem dwarfs and the leftist media for doing so, I believe 90% of the American people will support him wholeheartedly. This non-incident happened in a life and death shooting war on foreign soil for crying out loud, not a US police station where Miranda is read and the Constitution applies. Doesn't the the fact that American lives were almost certainly saved by Col. West's harmless pretense count for anything?

Geez, here it is after 2AM and I'm so mad about this I won't be able to sleep for hours yet.

[military cop]

The entire chain at that level was Clintonized in the 90's. How else do you think they got promote?

That was my resoning for leaving active service and it's my rationale as to why things are the way they are over here.

Do you realize the USMC did not lose one marine to hostile fire this summer?

Part of that was because of a more homgenous religious populace. But, that doesn't account for the stability that the marines brought to places like Najaf and Naseriyah before they left.

The marines showed up knowing what they were all about. They laid it out for the locals in simple terms: We can be your best friend, or your worst nightmare. The choice is yours.

The army, on the other hand, walks in with kid gloves and peace, love, and happiness because that's the politically correct thing to do.

It's not the soldiers. They are ready and willing to make things happen. It's the "leaders" at the highest levels.

The kind that, when my President asked the tough question as to whether these guys had their plan wired tight, they all gave a north/south and ran off. They hit the ground post war with no rehearsal of most likely case and most dangerous case. Even the smallest unit knows that's the minimum to move out.

I have told this forum before: My confidence in my President has never waivered. He is a first guesser in a world of second guessers. His military planners at the strategic level, however, could not have been prepared.

For 10 years, planners in Tampa have had nothing but time to plan for every aspect of this operation. Why, were the variables that we are dealing with now not dealt with then?

When given enough time the COS is going to clean house in a very big way. I understand he can't do it while engaged. But, I hope it happens sooner than later.

This simply isn't the army I joined in 1984.

By the way, my commander's claim to fame was that he was a great comptroller......

So they gave him a command as a reward.


nice.

[Terridan]

Remember the Viet Nam fiasco with the Lt. who was court martialed and imprisoned for wiping out a village? He had followed orders and became the scapegoat. Same thing here only this time, we ALL need to defend him. (Was it Lt. Calley, or something like this name?) Sending $ now.
A mom.

[lainde]

Excellent writing...BTTT!

[kingu]

Signed.

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Bush has to carefully tiptoe thru the minefield and win victory with his hands tied and weights on his ankles.

Why does Bush have to act like this? If he believes that this war is just, then he should stop acting like a scared politician and act more like a fearless leader. Our troops are dying over there and Bush is playing politics.

I understand that there's an election coming up but Bush was given free reign to fight terrorism after Sept 11. The American people have practically given him a free pass on everything including the still non-existent WMD. Why does he care what the media and the liberals think anyway? He is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't, so why not be damned for standing up for what is right.

This is not about one issue. There has been an ongoing trend for quite some time now of politics superceding leadership in the Bush Administration. It is time for people to hold this president more accountable for his actions and inactions.

[ido_now]

Very bad story.

If I was a soldier somewhere, I would prefer to be under the command of Gen George S Patton, [4 star, should be 5].

He like MacArthur knew that "There is no substitute for victory."

If GWB offered me a beer I would throw it in his face.

[MeekOneGOP]

[E.G.C.]

BTT!!!!!!

[snopercod]

Very well written article. Thanks for posting it and welcome to FR!

[brityank]

BTTT

WARNING: It is dangerous to be right, when your government is wrong! That Bush and Rumsfeld have allowed this to reach this point is a travesty that will be corrected politically, or our Republic may as well fold now as our Domestic Enemies have taken over. CW2, anyone?

[FreedomPoster]

>>There must be more than a handful of vets still alive who would also attest to what passed for the unofficial ways of the past.

I've been talking to one at the office. Air Force pararescue in Vietnam. He was the guy on the end of the winch who went down into the triple-canopy jungle to find downed aircrew.

His unofficial ways would cause nightmares with many.

[Dante3]

West should have gotten a medal. I find it outrageous when so many of our best and bravest are being killed in Iraq, and then we penalize someone who saved the lives of our troops.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Marauder]

I just copied your post and post #2. It shall be faxed post haste. Damned Clintonista utopians. This is as bad as the micro-mismanagement of the Viet Nam action by LBJ and his num-nutz cronies.

[The Westerner]

When news of this makes the rounds of middle America, volunteer enlistment will drop. Who wants to join an Army like this? And after the story I recently heard from a friend who lectured at West Point on the morality of war, I'd say that the fish stinks from the head.

[Lucy Lake]

Thanks for the help. I called the WH comment line this morning giving support for Lt. Col. West.

The WH comment line is available from 9-5, EST, and the number to speak to a real person: COMMENTS: 202-456-1111

[MeekOneGOP]

Good idea, Grizzfan ! ...

Thanks for the help. I called the WH comment line this morning giving support for Lt. Col. West.

The WH comment line is available from 9-5, EST, and the number to speak to a real person: COMMENTS: 202-456-1111

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