Posted on 09/28/2007 4:56:37 AM PDT by Paige
BAGHDAD - A military panel Friday acquitted U.S. Army Spc. Jorge G. Sandoval on charges he killed two unarmed Iraqis, but it convicted him of planting evidence on one of the men in attempt to cover up the shooting. Sandoval, 22, of Laredo, Texas, had faced five charges in the April and May deaths of two unidentified men. He was found not guilty of the two murder charges, but the panel decided he had placed a detonation wire on one of the bodies to make it look as if the man was an insurgent.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
This all raises the question: "What are the ROEs for a sniper when they are sent on a mission?"a. Shoot on sight?
b. Shoot if you see them doing something wrong?
c. Shoot if you think they're doing something wrong?
d: Shoot after receiving permission from the courts after the suspected target has been informed of his rights, allowed legal counsel, allowed access to CAIR and Red Crescent, allowed to see his wife and kids one more time...
“Sandoval might be “not guilty” of murder, but planting evidence is a serious crime, and I’ll bet the maxium is still years in prison”
You’re probably right but I don’t see how he planted evidence. Evidence of what? IF he planted the cord then at most it should be waste of govt materials. They knew the guy was an enemy so how can he be guilty of planting evidence proving he was an enemy?
WHY are we doing this to our troops. Lets do this to the lawyers who’ve forced us into this position instead.
The Shadow Government that opposes this war fights their battles in the State Department, the CIA, the Justice Department...
They’ve politicized the war and have seen to it that they will not respect the sitting administration.
whew
You got it - JAGs have some of our guys second and triple guessing themselves....constantly. We need Commands to start standing up and backing their men down range...come hell or high water (when appropriate). If they had the stones to do such....JAGs would be put back in their place.
I'm guessing you are right.
These investigations have to stop. We are fighting a war, not policing the streets of Detroit. When are they going to get that?
Would you want your young 18-24 year old, even if he is a sergeant, put in the middle of this crock!?
No.
It’s sad that comments here so frivilously disregard the Rules of Engagement and associated military codes. Shooting unarmed, non-threatening civilians is dishonorable from a moral and military perspective.
To support men like this is a slap in the face to the men and women who are serving honorably and to the high standards of the United States armed services in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite the incredible pressure and danger upon them.
Shame on you, comment section.
Put Hillary in the situation and see how she reacts.
But, at the rate things are going, who knows.
There were reports, after the Abu Grahib scandal, that guards’ ammo was changed from real to rubber bullets.
[Imagine guarding the worst of the worst terrorists and being only armed with rubber bullets. Our military guards were.]
save to say that I DON'T want her to be killed. I want her to live to a ripe old age and die a natural death surrounded by her friends. If any. Otherwise, she becomes a "martyr" to the anti-American, communist, islamist left.
YOU obviously don't know the case.
You tell us.....what are the ROEs for SNIPERS in Iraq?
You tell us.....what are Sgt Hensley's comments on these episodes?
You tell us....was one of the shootings against a man who had just been witnessed running from an attack on Americans?
You tell us....were these men taught to "bait" targets?
“To support men like this is a slap in the face to the men and women who are serving honorably and to the high standards of the United States armed services in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite the incredible pressure and danger upon them.”
These men are ordered to go out and agressively target the enemy. The enemy does not wear a uniform, it hides behind children and women. It even will wear womens clothes in a culture that makes that practice extremely degrading. This enemy will turn children into suicide bombers; it has killed dozens of kids to kill 1 or 2 Americans.
The dead guy was a known enemy. The soldier may have placed the demo cord there but if he did it does not change that it was a righteous shoot. How is it shameful to kill your enemy?
That he was ever charged in the first place is a blot on the service and a disgrace to this nation. Heads need to roll in the Pentagon. Bush needs to clear out the Clintonista scum amongst the bureaucracy once and for all (unless he agrees with them?)
It is NONE of the above that are prosecuting these soldiers/Marines.
It is the DoD, and the JAG prosecuting these cases. Bush and his groupies have done more to handcuff our troops by NOT letting us take the gloves off completely than anyone else.
The shame is on people like you who do not give our troops the benefit of the doubt, who pronounce them guilty even when military courts do not.
Who in this case was found guilty of "shooting unarmed, non-threatening civilians"?
No one.
So why did you assert something that wasn't true?
Specialist Sandoval’s court-martial on murder charges began here on Wednesday, and is scheduled to conclude Friday. Sergeant Hensley’s court-martial on murder charges is scheduled to begin here Oct. 22.
An evidentiary hearing for Sergeant Vela, who took the stand on Thursday in the Sandoval court-martial after being granted immunity from incriminating himself in that case, is expected later this year.
Sergeant Murphy has been investigated for a killing of another Iraqi man on April 7. Prosecutors have warned two more battalion members that they are also suspected of committing possible crimes as accomplices in the murder cases.
Struggling to explain why a highly trained Army sniper unit, renowned for its lethal economy of patience and discipline, would bog down under a cloud of murder investigations, some soldiers in interviews faulted commanders for pushing units to keep their kill counts high.
Others pointed toward the outsized influence on the unit by Sergeant Hensley, who, according to other soldiers’ testimony, was dealing with two recent deaths: that of a close friend, killed in a roadside bomb, and also the suicide of his girlfriend back home.
"Staff Sgt. Hensley just continued to drive on," said Specialist Joshua Lee Michaud, in testimony at the July hearing about the sergeant’s toughness. “Both of them didn’t even faze him."
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