“Navy lawyer balks at testifying at hearing”
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=272750
snip
Mark L. Waple, who also is a lawyer for Staffel, said he has an e-mail from Lt. Gen. Francis H. Kearney III indicating that the general directed that charges be initiated because Fort Bragg would not do it. Kearney was commander of special operations for Central Command. He is deputy commander of U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, Fla.
People without government security clearances were frequently asked to leave the room during testimony that deal with tactics, methods of gathering information and “rules of engagement” that govern when soldiers can use force.
During the hearing, Special Forces soldiers testified that the person who was killed had been identified as a “bad guy” and “a target we tried to find.”
Lt. Col. Jim Friend, a former staff judge advocate for U.S. Army Special Forces Command at Fort Bragg, said he did not consider Nawab to be a civilian under the Geneva Conventions.
“He was a combatant,” Friend said.
Waple said after the hearing that the guidance can constitute unlawful command influence.
“From testimony we received today, it illustrates the process was fundamentally flawed,” Overholt said after the hearing.
Thanks for the links. This whole thing really stinks, IMO. It appears the general is being over zealous as to the charges, especially after CID found they acted on orders and appropriately. I will say though that we may not know all the facts.
What drives me crazy is how easy it is for people to focus on individual killings. It goes back to the saying, kill one person and you’re a murderer, kill thousands and you’re a conquerer, kill millions and you’re a god... We are at war, that is the only fact I need to know. It really helps to have people in the command structure, like Kearney, running in circles trying to bite their own tails.