Posted on 09/27/2007 5:19:27 AM PDT by xzins
Spec. Jorge Sandoval lay face down in the foot-high grass, staring through his sniper rifle scope at the Iraqi man holding a rusted sickle. The man had crouched down, only his head was visible. Sandoval's spotter, Staff. Sgt. Michael Hensley, relayed the order to kill.
On April 27, in dangerous terrain south of Baghdad, Sandoval pulled the trigger to fire a bullet hundreds of yards into the man's skull, killing him instantly. Moments earlier, the man, according to testimony and court documents, had been fleeing an attack on U.S. soldiers and was holding the sickle to masquerade as a farmer. After killing him, Sandoval and Hensley allegedly placed a spool of wire -- commonly used to make bombs -- on the man's body to ensure the shooting would not be questioned.
Sandoval's court-martial on premeditated murder charges for this killing is scheduled to begin today in Baghdad. As he and two other snipers face charges of killing Iraqis, legal experts are debating how large a role a classified program of "baiting" their targets played in the cases. The soldiers in the unit had the spool of wire, defense attorneys said, only because the Army's secretive Asymmetric Warfare Group had given it to them -- along with other items, such as plastic explosives and AK-47 rounds -- so the snipers could boost the number of suspected insurgents they killed by shooting whoever picked up the materials.
However, some soldiers serving in Iraq said that the program and the subsequent murder charges have caused them to rethink pulling the trigger in the field out of concern that they could be charged with crimes for doing so....make a split-second decision ...the man and possibly face scrutiny, or let him go and possibly put...service members in jeopardy in the future.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Have they ever been wrong before?
Nah. Not ever, not once.
Yes, you are:)
Does the sun come up in the east?
I don’t know what the heck is going on. I hope somebody will get news from Curtis or Jim tomorrow. I’ll pass on anything I hear.
But now I’m going to bed! See you guys tomorrow.
Thanks RedRover, wish I didn’t have to work this weekend, or I’d head for the fishing spot and revel in the silence.
Night, fred. Keep the faith of your Forefathers. Let us know if you hear from your brother.
Prayers up, over, and out.
Pleasant dreams, FRiend.
I’m not putting any faith in AP, Fred, compared to the other.
You know I would get you some WTF towels for your scuttlebutt.
Good thing you’re not taking Girlene to the fishing hole, fred. She’d yack your ear off about her Beany Babies.
Don’t read post 111.
I’m sure jaz chortles not infrequently at your merry japes.
You have Beany Babies???
You mean conformed.
I can’t believe we are not holding this conversation in the green room.
Good thing I’m not taking Girlene to the fishing hole, my wife would Hack my ears off, among other things... and Goodnight to all.
That, too. And, hey, keep it down, would you? I’m trying to get some sleep around here!
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