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Man you are tough aren't you? Oh I understand English very well enough to know arrogance when I see it. And I understand name calling and insults when I read them. I doubt most posters on this site wpould be judged "masters of the English art of Literature and Rhetoric".

By the way, you completely ignored my points about justice for West and the fact that I acknowledged that he is probably in a lot of trouble. In civilian life, cops who did that kind of thing, when the manure hits the fan, would have been fired, arrested, and sent to prison as civilian courts take a dim view of that sort of thing.

My "stupid" point I was trying to make is the initial choice they gave West,(leave or be court martialed). If what he did was so egregious, forget the niceties....arrest the guy pending investigation and give him the full works. The officer in question demanded his right to a full court martial... and made it into a cause celebre.

Granted, they may have offered what they thought was the "gentleman's way out", but the man is a LT Colonel with a lot of years in, ready to retire. As a matter of fact, he was up for retirement just a few short days of springing this "chinese finger trap" of a choice on him. He has a lot of years in and still young children and a family to support. Retirement in disgrace and no benefits was not an option for him. These are the issues that strike regular civilians such as my self as being egregious. This is why many congressmen are looking at the case now.

I don't care what you claim your "contact" says about it. It stinks...if he did what you said under duress and lost discipline, you bust him back a pay grade or two, re-assign him or retire him. You don't force him to leave the service as though the last twenty years meant nothing to him or the service. You don't leave a bear wounded and you don't let a man leave the service wounded that way!

Civilian society would have much to fear from such a man...religious man or not!

Is that clear enough for you...or am I "too stupid" a taxpayer...to question what the military and the government does with my money and its people?

...you bust him back a pay grade or two, re-assign him or retire him. You don't force him to leave the service as though the last twenty years meant nothing to him or the service.

Officers in our military are held to a higher standard, once they are found to have breached the awesome trust granted to them their career is over. There have been cases where favors were called in to preserve a career or two but many more officers have lost their careers for far less than what LTC West has done. Busting a rank or two and being allowed to continue service is extremely rare for officers.

One of the reasons a "gentlemans way out" is offered in many cases is because their years of honorable service has been considered. If his commander felt that he would endanger other people, his only option would have been court martial. Retirement wasn't offered then because he wasn't eligible to retire. Although he is now.

I'm not about to throw a pity party for his predicament surrounding his wife and children. He disregarded their plight as soon as he made his decision to fire that weapon. It's his responsibility and not mine or yours. He had many other options, he has to live with the consequences for the one he chose. I have stated in previous threads that I hope he won't lose his benefits over this, but if he does, it is his own damn fault.