BAGHDAD, June 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Monday three U.S. soldiers had been charged in the deaths of three male prisoners on May 9.
It said the soldiers faced charges including "murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, communicating a threat, and obstructing justice". It was not clear whether all three faced the murder charge.
"Three members of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division have been charged in connection with the deaths of three male detainees," the U.S. military said in a statement.
I don't get all the press bashing.
"The U.S. military said . . . "
The lead seems pretty clear to me.
my BS meter is going off...
A bit more info here:
U.S. Army charges 3 with murder in Iraq
6/19/2006, 2:52 p.m. ET
The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — The U.S. Army has charged three soldiers in connection with the deaths of three Iraqis who were in military custody in southern Iraq last month, the military said Monday.
The Multinational Corps-Iraq said three members of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division have been charged in connection with the deaths of three male detainees during an operation near Thar Thar Canal in southern Salahuddin province on May 9.
"A noncommissioned officer and two soldiers each have been charged with violating several articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice including murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, communicating a threat, and obstructing justice," an announcement said.
It added that "on the day the alleged murders occurred, the unit commander ordered an inquiry to determine the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the three detainees."
It said that a criminal investigation began May 17 and was ongoing.
"The soldiers are currently in pre-trial confinement awaiting an Article 32 hearing to determine if sufficient evidence exists for the case to be referred to court-martial," the announcement said
Once charged, defendants have the right to an Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a grand jury investigation.
Last week, the Army said it had opened a criminal investigation into the suspicious deaths of three men in military custody in Iraq.
The investigation was requested by Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, commander of multinational forces in Iraq, who acted after other soldiers raised suspicions about the deaths.
http://www.nj.com/newsflash/topstories/index.ssf?/base/international-31/1150742973272210.xml&storylist=
Rush would have given 100%.
It's not the first time nor will it be the last that troops are charged with crimes, even to the extent of murder, but this is the first time I've ever seen it reported so widely while literally putting the enemy as a "victim".
The Left/MSM cheers.
I am so sick of this. I could care less how our troops take out the enemy. This is war for pete's sake not a freaken tea party.
Get MSM and the rest of the left to shut up and let the military do what they do best. Our troops have had every breath they take analyzed and they are traitors for doing this to our troops.
They just can't wait to flash their negative headlines about our troops. Well flash this.......... do you want to be dead or alive. Do you want to put fear in the enemy or not. What happened to waking up the Eagle, what happened to how they will know the response of America in no uncertain terms.
It looks like our troops now have more to fear from our own JAGS than from the enemy Ragheads.
Brian Williams on NBC just now thought it was prudent to add this to the missing soldiers story, immediately asking the same correspondent in Iraq about it. very insensitive. To me it sounded like '2 of our own are missing (oh no)... but -'weren't 3 of our own charged with murder today?'
I wonder if they were brutally tortured and beheaded as our soldiers were.
the U.S. military said in a statement
That doesn't say much. Just which U.S. military person stated this? Unless they come out and state the name of the quotee, I don't trust the MSM.