Posted on 11/18/2003 4:19:03 AM PST by kattracks
TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) -- A U.S. military court opened a hearing Tuesday into accusations that an American lieutenant colonel manhandled and threatened to kill an Iraqi detainee, allegedly firing his gun near the man to get information on a possible plot to kill him.Lt. Col. Allen B. West -- the most senior officer of the 4th Infantry Division to face such a proceeding -- attended the hearing with his lawyer in a U.S. military base in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit.
West is accused of punching and firing a pistol near the prisoner, Yahya Jhodri Hamoodi, on Aug. 20 while he was being interrogated in Taji, according to Lt. Col. Jimmy Davis, who presided over the hearing.
West also allegedly threatened to kill the detainee if he did not talk, Davis said, reading from a fact sheet. The hearing is to determine whether West should face court-martial.
A preliminary investigation alleged that West's actions were in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. West remained in Iraq after the incident and was assigned to other duties in the division, officials said.
Maj. Robert Reginelli, who investigated the case, testified during the Tuesday hearing that the detainee, who is an Iraqi policeman, alleged that West pointed a gun at him during questioning. Other soldiers covered Hamoodi's face with a shirt and began punching him in the body and head, Reginelli quoted the detainee as saying.
The soldiers warned Hamoodi that he would be killed if he did not talk, Reginelli said. At one point, West led the detainee out of the detention facility into a weapons' cleaning area.
West allegedly grabbed the detainee by the neck, forced him down on the sand and fired a round near him, Reginelli said, quoting Hamoodi.
The detainee insisted he was not aware of the assassination plot, Reginelli said.
West's driver, Pfc. Michael P. Johnson, testified he saw the officer fire into the sand near the detainee but he did not believe the officer really planned to kill him.
"He was just scared," Johnson described the detainee. "I knew it was wrong."
West's lawyer, Neal Puckett, refused to comment on the accusations. He said West would testify Wednesday in his own defense.
Last weekend, three American soldiers were ordered to stand trial in January on charges of abusing Iraqi prisoners of war at the detention center at Camp Bucca in southern Iraq.
The charges grew out of an alleged incident May 12 in which the three soldiers from the 320th Military Police Battalion allegedly punched and kicked Iraqi POWs. The soldiers said they acted in self-defense, that conditions were chaotic at Camp Bucca, and that guards had been harassed and assaulted daily by unruly prisoners.
The three soldiers, Master Sgt. Lisa Marie Girman, 35; Staff Sgt. Scott A. McKenzie, 38; and Spc. Timothy F. Canjar, 21, are accused of dereliction of duty, cruelty and maltreatment of enemy prisoners of war, filling false official statements, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
A fourth soldier originally held on the same allegations, Sgt. Shawna Edmondson, 24, has received an other-than-honorable discharge from the military, which she requested rather than face martial proceedings.
The 4th Infantry Division has jurisdiction over areas west and north of Baghdad, including parts of the violent so-called "Sunni Triangle."
There it is....
As for Carter, I was only 10 (almost 11, actually) when he was elected and even I knew that he sucked.
My impression is, from other emails and information I have gathered, that there are axes being ground out here to some extent.
The over-riding issue is simple. Did West extract time-critical information from this prisoner that prevented an attack on US forces and prevented accompanying casualties. Everything I have heard, from both West and other contacts I have over there tells me it did.
West used his judgement and discretion to put his own career at risk to get this info. it panned out and he did not really harm the spy..just scared him. My gosh...think on that for a minute. A spy dressed in the coalition supported Iraqi police there to plan and implement attacks against Americans.
THE FRIGGIN' SPY IS THE ONE WHO NEEDS TO BE MADE AN EXAMPLE OF HERE!
Pardon my cyber-yelling, but despite the infraction, for the which West has accepted responsibility and accountability, many people have this whole thing bass ackwards here.
You, my very wise friend, have pretty much summed it all up here.
I agree that LTC West is likely to raise a defense of others or duress (lesser of two evils) defense - and on what facts we've been told should prevail.
I just can't believe the 4th I.D., the unit in the heart of the sunni triangle, the unit mainly responsible for getting Saddam, is doing this. What a message to send the troops.
This issue is SO critical. Are we going to fight this war, or are we going to play patty-cake with our avowed enemies.Just my onw opinion...and I know it grates on some who see following the exact letter of the law at all times as paramount...but that's not reality in an ugly war against avowed enemies interested only in killing as many of you as possible. Ask WW II vets of the Pacific...I have. One is my own father and he believes these people have lost their collective minds.
Don't get me wrong, I do not condone atrocities...which I view as needless killing, butchery and thugary for their own sakes. In my world, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not atrocities. They were horrible, terrible decisions that had to be made to win the war and preserve more life.
LTC West's actions and decisions were on par with that, and should not be condemmed. He should be extolled and the rules should re revisited for this type of action IMHO.
I really hate to say this because the 4th I.D. is an old unit of mine, but they need to send the Marines in to clean up the sunni triangle, since the Army seems still to be in clintonista p.c. mode.
Maybe just clean house at the O-6 and above level. I can name some I would love to see back in the saddle.
Right on, Jeff ~ Thank your father ~ he is a clear thinker!
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