Posted on 11/19/2003 2:28:55 PM PST by kattracks
Full Title: U.S. commander says he threatened to shoot Iraqi detainee to get information that could save his soldiers
TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) -- An Army officer fought back tears Wednesday as he acknowledged threatening to shoot an Iraqi detainee to extract information about a planned attack, saying that to protect his troops, he would "go to hell with a gasoline can in my hand."
Lt. Col. Allen B. West made the statement on the second day of a U.S. military pretrial hearing on accusations that he threatened Yahya Jhodri Hamoodi by firing his gun near the man. West is the most senior officer of the 4th Infantry Division to face such a proceeding.
In addition to firing his pistol near Hamoodi, West also is accused of punching him during the Aug. 20 interrogation in Taji, according to Lt. Col. Jimmy Davis, who presided at the hearing at a U.S. base in Tikrit.
The case is being heard amid increasing criticism by human rights groups about the methods employed by American forces to quell resistance to the occupation of Iraq.
The hearing, which is aimed at determining whether West should face court-martial, was declared closed late Wednesday by Davis, who is expected to issue a ruling in a few days.
West, a decorated officer, was relieved of command of the 2nd Battalion, 20th Field Artillery Regiment.
West, 42, of Atlanta, testified he had received information that Hamoodi, an Iraqi policeman, was allegedly involved in a plot to attack him and his troops. After being arrested, Hamoodi was interrogated but insisted he was not aware of the planned attack.
West said he decided to question the prisoner himself, bringing a number of soldiers with him to the place where Hamoodi was being questioned. The soldiers punched the detainee to force him to talk.
When Hamoodi refused to give any information, West said he led him out of the detention facility to a weapons' cleaning area and asked him to confess, suggesting he would shoot him if he did not talk by the count of five. West said he fired a warning shot and later fired a second shot into the sand near Hamoodi, who still professed his innocence.
West said he only wanted to force the detainee to confess and added that when he saw him visibly shaken, he asked that the prisoner be helped.
"I felt that there was a threat to my soldiers," West said.
"I know that the method that I used was not the right method," West said, adding he was ready to face the consequences of his action.
"To protect my soldiers, I'll go to hell with a gasoline can in my hand," he said, holding back tears as his quavering voice resonated across the silence of the room filled with soldiers.
After confronting the detainee, West left and informed his commander that he had threatened a prisoner with his gun. He said he did not tell his commander that his soldiers hit the detainee.
"I love the Army. I love my soldiers. ... I knew it was over," he said.
Prosecutor Capt. Magdalena Przytulska said West should be tried, saying his actions implied that "we're no better than the enemy we're fighting."
West's lawyer, Neal Puckett, recommended that the charges against his client be dismissed.
During breaks in the hearing, sympathetic soldiers approached and comforted West. One group asked that their picture be taken with him. A female soldier approached West and hugged him outside the hearing room.
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.
FIRE GEN. RAYMOND ODIERNO
4TH INF. DIV. COMMANDER IN IRAQ
STUPID DECISION TO “PUNISH” LTC WEST
FOR SAVING MEN’S LIVES DAMAGES
MORALE – “POLITICAL CORRECTNESS”
UNDERMINES WAR EFFORT
DUMP ODIERNO NOW!
Of all the idiotic, morale-destroying moves we have seen made by an Army general since the Vietnam war, the stupid and self-defeating decision by Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno to punish and humiliate a highly-respected battalion commander in the 4th Infantry Division for violating “political correctness” (when he tried to save his men’s lives), is one of the worst.
LTC Allen B. West ought to get a medal and promotion rather than be threatened with a “choice” of resigning his commission (three days short of retirement) or facing court martial and up to eight years at the Leavenworth Disciplinary Barracks.
What was West’s “crime?” Why, he fired his pistol near – not at – near the head of a captured Iraqi terrorist to get him to “talk” about an impending guerrilla attack on American troops. If West had not resorted to that expeditious tactic, many of his men might have died as a result.
But what was “dumb-ass” Odierno concerned about? The captured prisoner’s “sensibilities,” and not the safety of our own forces. Like the serpentine Gen. Wesley Clark, Odierno “made his stars” sucking up to former President Bill “I loathe the military” Clinton. No wonder this general is trying to cashier LTC West, when he should be out catching Saddam Hussein instead.
RUMSFELD NEEDS TO GET INVOLVED – NOW!
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld could give the entire American forces in Iraq a much-needed morale boost by firing Odierno from his command and relieving the generals’ staff of moronic JAG advisors. They have done more damage to the war effort in Iraq than a dozen terrorist attacks could do.
We know there were plenty of times in Vietnam when Viet Cong prisoners were “encouraged to talk” by a lot more than a pistol round fired close to their head! Some of those same lieutenants and captains who allowed “rough treatment” to elicit vital military information, went on to become generals themselves.
Obviously Odierno wasn’t one of them. In fact, we don’t recall seeing that political sycophant anywhere in Vietnam during the years we fought there.
This general has to go. NOW! And if Rumsfeld continues to let West “twist in the wind,” maybe it’s time for President Bush to get himself a new defense secretary. This one has let his arrogance and indifference to the troops in the field reach new heights.
When Brit Hume questioned “Rummy” on Fox News Sunday as to whether he couldn’t just “overrule” Odierno’s dumb move, the defense secretary grinned his crocodile grin and allowed: “They tell me that’s the case.”
Then he shifted into his usual “double-speak” with an empty assurance that “the Army is addressing this,” promising that the case will “move along in its normal order.”
Well, isn’t that just great! One of our best battalion commanders in Iraq gets relieved and threatened with prison over some bullshit charge. The officer’s wife, a cancer-survivor, suffers in agony back home, and all Rumsfeld can do is mumble “at some point it [the case] could come to me.”
Get your head out of your butt, “Rummy.” You are acting like an utter fool. You have already cost your boss, George Bush, critical support in the veteran’s community, and if you continue to screw up, you are going to end up on the unemployment line.
AN OFFICER THE TROOPS CAN RESPECT
LTC West, an African-American and devout Christian (not the sanctimonious Jimmy Carter “born again” for political expediency type) told Art Moore of World Net Daily: “Without God and my Savior Jesus Christ, I would have cracked a long time ago.”
Well, that’s two strikes on him. His race and his religion. “Strike three” came when West showed leadership by risking his future to save his men’s lives. Shouldn’t the “pygmies” who now seek to deprive him of his career end up losing theirs?
EDITOR’S NOTE: Everyone in the U. S. armed forces and the journalistic community owe a well-deserved “salute” to Rowan Scarborough of the Washington TIMES. It was Scarborough that broke this story in the first place and then stayed with it like a bulldog. He is the best military writer in America.
Memo to Capt. Przytulski:
Just get it over with and switch sides now. You're a disgrace to the flag and the honorable men who fight a satanic enemy.
Apparently, Capt. Przytulski can't see the difference.
Answer, not much longer. Dumb prosecution. We need to keep the pressure on. Our troops are the most human that exist in the world, but they should not forget we are in a street fight.
This is a war Mr. President! I want to see smouldering turbans. I want to hear about dead terrorists and I want terrified terrorist sympathizers begging to tell us what we need to know to kill more.
We deal with this on their ground or we deal with it on ours. If we have to deal with it here the alphabet stupes better stay out of the way.
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