Lt. Col. Allen B. West

Washington Times ^ | November 6, 2003 | Stanley SrA. USAF 91-95

[Calpernia]

Letters To Leaders

All messages are published with permission of the sender. The general topic of this message is Defense/Military:

Subject: Lt. Col. Allen B. West

To: Sen. Charles Schumer

November 6, 2003

Sir,

With all due respect, this is the very first time I have ever written to a Senator. With regards to this fine officer and the plight he is in. I have attached the article below if you are unaware of his situation. As an American, and as a veteran myself, I am utterly disgusted, shocked, and ashamed that our Army is harassing this man and is even considering a court martial. These same people who are requesting this mans court martial would probably have something quite different to say if it were their loved ones lives who were saved by this mans actions. I can not express to you how utterly disgusted and extremely angry I am at this outrageous and unjust treatment of an officer who saves lives by using such tender tactics as these to gain information from an enemy who does not abide by, or respect any code, or human right. I mean are you kidding me! So he fired a weapon near his head and made a threat, BIG DEAL! LIVES WERE SAVED!!!! Hello? Is this thing on? Are you hearing me!!! Are we such a nation of weaklings that we would have our interrogators offer prisoners candy popcorn and maybe a comfortable seat on the couch while they decide if they want to cooperate or not! Consider the tactics of our enemy, yeah, I won't even go there as they are too gruesome and inhumane to even mention. This absolutely ludicrous and unjust action being considered against this American fighting man who saves lives and who gave so many years of his life in that effort is an abhorrent black mark on the face of what is increasingly becoming and embarrassing country to have sworn my allegiance to. And no, I am not ashamed of our president and his decision to go to war. I am NOT one of those. No, in fact I LOVE our president and I am all for sending a message to radical religious groups who have committed so many blatant acts of war against our country in the name of their religion. No Sir, what makes me ashamed is to read of our nation treating it's heroes, like this Man Col. West, like a criminal when his only action was to save lives. It sickens me. Absolutely sickens me and almost makes me wish I had never served. Almost. Let me just leave you with this last thought so that you understand. I say almost as I never served in our country's armed services for you, or any fed. No government agenda was ever a motivating factor in my serving. As though I was subordinate to the government and obeyed the orders thereof, my service was to the people who had gone before me and stood and fought and died for my right to impart this to you now. It is for their sake, and for their honor that I did serve. And it is for their sake, and for their honor that I am still proud to be an American and I will still stand and fight should my country call me to do so. I do not know how to make this any more plain to you Sir, this is an injustice that needs to be rectified. PLEASE do what you can on this honorable mans behalf. Also, thank you Sir for having taken the time.

Sincerely Stanley SrA. USAF 91-95

'Heroic' officer clings to faith Facing charges after foiling ambush plot, 'devastating' to be regarded as a criminal

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35447

Guilderland , NY

[FBD]

Thanks for the ping to this Sultan. I hadn't heard about it.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Some here are more concerned with prosecuting our soldiers and doing legwork for the anti-Anerican left than they are with prosecuting the war effort against our enemies. That alone should show everyone whose side they are really on.

[usmcobra]

Ya know after reading this thread, I have no doubt that Poohbah is not only a card carrying member of the ACLU, but might even be a lawyer.

Who gives a damn if an Saddam supporter shat a pantload while being interogated, American Lives were saved.

[alpowolf]

Well, we've clearly hit a stopping point, what with you invoking God. I will just say that I hope that Lt. Col. West's superiors--who are there and know more about the situation than any of us here--judge him fairly.

[alpowolf]

It seems to me that you have a rather funny idea about what a "forum" is. A forum is not an amen corner.

This may come as a great big surprise to some people, but when someone puts on the uniform of this country, they and their actions reflect on the country and its people. So it is entirely appropriate that citizens such as ourselves address ourselves to issues such as these. This is not "back stabbing"; it is carrying out our duty as citizens.

Oh, BTW I am a veteran myself so I'm afraid any "you liberal military-hater" arguments anybody has lined up will be wasted on me. Sorry 'bout that.

[Gunrunner2]

I understand.

[Gunrunner2]

Yes, we hit a stopping point, but not because of God.

The stopping point was because of the difference of opinion regarding the role judgment, morality and ethics play within a complex situation based upon "law." (Who's law? Man's law? God's law? A combination? What is right versus what is wrong. This situation is hardly cut-and-dried.)

I view the situation as involving an ethical judgment call, many do not.

We have said our piece and done so respectfully.

Wish you well and pray for the best resolution to this situation.

[Ispy4u]

And the IG will fully investigate to see if the ROEs should be altered slightly because of this event.

One can't tell if the IG will recommend changes or not, they will look at as many aspects as possible, and make a logical, well reasoned and lawful recommendation to the commander for or against changes.

[Conspiracy Guy]

We've been down the beating vs interrogation trail before. Blah blah blah blah.

[MainFrame65]

I stand by my statements and interpretations of events. You have chosen the most malign explanation of everything that happened, and I think you are wrong. If both of us were on the jury, based on what we know now, there would be no verdict. I believe that a violation occurred, but exigent circumstances, judged against the specific actions and nature of this occurrence, mitigate the offense almost - but not quite - totally.

It seems to me that you are prosecuting this case instead of evaluating both sides of it, and while that is your right, I don't think it represents abstract justice. I fear that your approach would impose a smothering political correctness on our troops that would diminish their effectiveness and lead to more attacks on both civilian and military targets, more damage, more injuries, and more loss of life. I am sure that you think just the opposite of me, even though I do recognize that the rule was broken, so I guess that we are done.

[Ispy4u]

I'm glad you show passionate support for our troops.

LTC West, I'm sure, is a fine american soldier who deserves friends like you.

LTC West and his family are getting no back stabbing from this group. Of the people here who dissent with the LTCs actions, I have seen none that want him to spend time in jail, or lose his retirement.

That said, in this forum anything you post will be met with some dissent. Did you ever consider that all the information you are disseminating comes from the defense's side only? That is because, thankfully, that the military justice system doesn't allow the accusers/prosecution to comment or persuade people outside of judicial proceedings. LTC West has a right for his side of the story to be told to anyone willing to listen, and his obviously good defense lawyer is doing a fine job of that. But to condemn those of us who want to educate people on this forum in matters of military justice and standards of conduct as backstabbers is way over the top. I havn't seen a single post encouraging anyone not to sign the petition or donate money. You have shown yourself to be narrow minded and petty with the post I'm replying to. I'd rather not be included than to blindly follow.

Good bye!

[wimpycat]

From what I've read so far, it looks as though there's more to the story than just that one incident, but the incident in question seems to involve disobeying a lawful order--for whatever reason.

Anyhow, I'm grateful that this matter will not be decided in the public realm, or by civilians. It is a military matter, and should be dealt with by the military, and military justice isn't the same as civilian justice.

For those of us who support our troops and appreciate their sacrifices, and also appreciate the fact that things sometimes happen in wartime that aren't so morally clear- cut, let us acknowledge that the military has a system in place to deal with this sort of thing, and let us allow them to do their work, and accept the results.

[Calpernia]

"I may not know much about the law, but I know what is right!" Abraham Lincoln.

[RasterMaster]

Thanks for the post! It is time to call for those against Col. West to step down and leave the fighting to real soldiers, rather than those armchair generals in the Pentagon who would give aid and comfort to our enemies.

[sultan88]

Keeping bumped!

[MattinNJ]

Wish he'd shot and killed the guy. Then it'd probably be a non-issue.

Absolutely. I know of two veterans who have told me stories a lot worse than this. One was a WWII vet who fought on the western front. He told me that, although we took a lot of German P.O.W.'s, the German with SS insignias they stood a pretty good chance of being taken into the woods and shot. Another guy was with Army Intel in Korea. He told me that they would get a bunch of North Koreans into a room. They would find the toughest guy and the one crying for his mama. They'd put a pistol to the tough guys head and start asking him questions. Usually the tough guy spit at them and blam, brain matter all over the wall. The guy crying for his mama would be asked next and he would tell you his hometown, his sisters name, his favorite color, where the troops were etc...

Both guys were honest as the day was long and both told me that the hollywood depiction of war was crap.

The sad thing is that the guys in Iraq are probably a lot less likely to push the envelope in getting the Iraqis to talk because they don't want to wind up like this poor guy.

[Vermont Lt]

The problem is, this guy got caught. Those guys did not.

I dont dispute your stories. I've heard them myself from uncles and even my dad. However, they knew it was wrong (against orders) when they were doing it. They also knew that no one was going to turn them in.

My guess (and its just a guess) is this guy was not well liked by those he was working with. My guess is that the other folks in the room have a lot more stories to tell. My guess is that this guy is not the guy some folks are portraying.

Barbaric treament of prisoners is not acceptable. It is against the rules. What THEY do to us is not the point. It is how we conduct ourselves. That is what makes US better than them, in my opinion. And yes, sometimes that costs lives.

And Yes, I have roomates, and classmates in that theater as I type. And it doesnt change my position at all.

[Poohbah]

We've been down the beating vs interrogation trail before.

And you're still dead frickin' wrong.

Blah blah blah blah.

That's about your level of intellect.

[r9etb]

It seems to me that you are prosecuting this case instead of evaluating both sides of it

But that's precisely the problem. We're not seeing both sides of the case. We're only seeing Lt. Col. West's side of the case -- heavily spun -- and even it raises serious doubts.

I have no qualms about highlighting those doubts, because I do not like being asked to call a man a "hero" when he has, by his own admission, acted like a thug. And I do not at all appreciate the fact that he's got a spin team working the WND "yellow journalism" side of the street as part of his defense.

[r9etb]

Like talking to a brick wall, ain't it?