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 ...
Night, fred. One heck of an evening.
I gotta go ck my Ebay items. Good night.
Yikes! I peeked. :-)
Whew...you are ok. I didn’t have to call Johnny and Roy to whip out the paddles and say “CLEAR”.
Nobody has to say “clear” to me, I know how the patients jump when they’re zapped, it’s scary. lol
Yeah, Red turns in too early but then he’s still a working stiff so I guess we can’t blame him.
If you are a non-combatant in a Combat Zone...
You become a combatant when you pick up or are in possession of a weapon.. Det Cord, a Clacker a box of ammunition.
(There would be some limited exceptions to this for example moving a suspected bomb away from a market or something to that effect.. Others ...Say goodnight Gracie...
How would you determine who the the enemy or their supporters are?
In Iraq every home may have 1 AK47 or equivalent for self defense..
You cannot get more reasonable than that.
W
Every cdr I’ve talked to on Iraq and every commander I ever had emphasized repeatedly that battlefield contraband (enemy weapon) is a chargeable offense. They were insistent on enforcing it.
WHERE is the most likely place these snipers got a forbidden AK47?
I thoroughly agree with you that the climate that makes these troops think they have to cover themselves is the problem of our military investigative & legal system. I would also bet that they learn of some of these things from the “debriefings” they give troops that are supposedly “confidential.” Run, don’t walk, when you’re told something is confidential in the military.
Finally, the ROEs MUST be different for snipers. They’ve just got to be. If they can’t shoot suspects who are not directly threatening them, then what exactly is the point of a sniper?
I was driving home from work and heard on Fox radio news 104.7 that Spec. Sandoval was acquitted or found not guilty of murder but guilty of the minor charge. No BS.
He was found not guilty of murder but guilty of planting wire.
He was worried about the lawyers ...
Apparently, 2 soldiers they were going to punish for sleeping on duty made the accusations. Reports are that these 2 weren’t even witnesses.
My guess is division level.
Lawyers, no doubt. My respect for the legal profession erodes like a swift river washes away a sand bank. Of course there are honorable solicitors, those defending our Fighters from false charges, those who seek to protect the unborn and those who defend our God given, Constitutional rights. Other than that...
Long growing season? Getting in the winter wheat? Actually that might not be so far fetched. I haven't a clue when they harvest in the Tigres-Euphrates region. Certainly they aren't likley to be growning much at the height of summer. Besides, sickles are also used to cut weeds and other undesirable plants.
WTF
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