[Murder] The Six-Letter Word That Changes Everything [Evan Vela case]

Esquire ^ | July issue | Tom Junod

[RedRover]

The first page of the Esquire article (read it all at the LINK)...

[RedRover]

A long but very well written piece about the Iskandariyah case (501st Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division: SSgt Michael Hensley, Spc. Jorge Sandova, Sgt. Evan Vela: Army snipers accused of murder).

For a quick summary of the case, LOOK HERE.

[ValerieTexas]

I’ll have to read this. I have been surprised by the good quality of Esquire articles. Our store (Men’s Wearhouse) has a subscription, and while the fashion in the magazine can be laughable, the writing is often superb.

[RedRover]

[RedRover]

I don't think you'll be disappointed. Tom Junod is a terrific writer. He wrote one of the best retrospective pieces on 9-11, THE FALLING MAN.

[Cacique]

btt

[Girlene]

Very long but interesting perspective by this writer. Still reading.

[RedRover]

Glad you’re getting into the piece. It wasn’t the writer’s intention, but it lays out the basis for Vela’s appeal.

[Girlene]

Thanks for the link with all the raunchy side ads! NOT! :-)

From what I've read so far, the author is painting Hensley as the Loose Cannon in this whole deal. Right, wrong, effective or not....the article is more about his impact on the whole situation going down in that area.

It appears they brought him in specifically to deal with their lack of containing insurgency activity in their area. The surge was yet to arrive in full force, but was in the works. When leaders started dealing (paying) with local sheiks to minimize US casualties, they no longer needed Hensley and his teams' kills.

The May 11 incident that Evan Vela was involved with had already happened. Too late to take that back. Hensley wasn't about to change his mission once it was assigned and he took it to "heart".

Still reading.

[bigheadfred]

I’m chiming in just to throw everyone of a higher rank in that battalion Ssgt. under the bus. Twice.
I’m still at work.

[bigheadfred]

I’m chiming in just to throw everyone in that battalion over the rank of Ssgt. under the bus.

Preview then post preview then post...

[Girlene]

....and then Hensley dissed his leader. He was a one-man show with his team of snipers. He hadn't accepted the memo about working with the insurgency, buying them off. He had his own plan.

His command felt they had a problem with Hensley's leadership and influence. To take him out of theatre and that influence, he needed to be convicted. Evan Vela was the means to get Hensley.

He didn't give them Hensley. He paid the final price....10 years for following Hensley's orders. Hensley is still training other soldiers while Vela sits in Leavenworth.

Very interesting article and perspective by the auther.

[Marine_Uncle]

Thanks for the ping. I’m not up to a a long read at present so I will with hold any comment.

[bigheadfred]

hey r.r., have you seen this story?

INSANE, INSANE, INSANE...

Girlene, there is more to this story, and to call it Hensley’s plan might not completely cover everything. Remember the baiting program. The plan came from the heavenly skies above, some of the method’s are Hensley’s.

[bigheadfred]

For anyone interested enough to help Evan with his Appeal, we have a website HERE with information on what you may do to help.

We have been asking for letters of clemency as well as contributions to the defense fund.

As things stand now we simply cannot afford this people. The price of the trial was far too high.

I would encourage you to visit this SITE as well. It has numerous articles about the case.

[Girlene]

Yes, I remember the baiting program. It was not covered in this article....(maybe because the writer couldn’t get any confirmation?)

Also not covered in this article was why the prosecutors insisted on trying these cases in Iraq. Cases that could have resulted in life in prison, right? The prosecution forced lawyers, family, everybody to travel to Iraq (and pay the extra costs) vs holding it in the US. WHY?

[bigheadfred]

(maybe because the writer couldn’t get any confirmation?)

He won't get any confirmation, either. Since it didn't exist.

The warning was given not to discuss anything that couldn't be backed up by documents, so yeah, right, whatever.

Why? It is so easy to understand. All you have to do is turn on your family, take money from hard working people, and use that money to buy new friends.

Remember THIS Diana West story?

Lt. Col. Robert Balcavage -- who just happens to be the commander of Evan Vela's battalion, and is said by Vela's team leader to have pushed for higher kill rates from snipers -- explained it this way last August to the Washington Post: "The Jenabi tribe, the problem they're having is that the Al Qaeda is them." So let's review. Evan Vela in May 2007 kills a member of "the Al Qaeda is them" tribe who has compromised his squad, and gets convicted of murder in February 2008 in Baghdad. Baghdad? It was when I heard the court martial was in Baghdad -- not stateside, like other such trials -- that my initial outrage became the queasy feeling mentioned above, which only intensified on learning that Sgt. Vela's division had actually been ordered back to the United States before the trial began. And the smell of a rat grew stronger still when I read that the Iraqi Minister for Human Rights, Wijdan Salim, attended the trial. "I want to be sure that any American soldier who wrongs an Iraqi will go on trial," Ms. Salim told Time magazine. "(Evan Vela) killed an Iraqi man, an unarmed man. He must be punished."

Evan Vela isn't guilty of anything.

[RedRover]

You'd think Wijdan Salim would have her hands full with real human rights violations (whether the hell that even means) in Iraq.

But no!

She has time to attend trials of American servicemen and do investigations into incidents such as Haditha...

[bigheadfred]

Well, first off, you have to be a Human Being to have human rights violated. So I would say she has a lot of time on her hands.

[freema]

Indeed, Girlene. The new company commander (6 days prior): But Levine was a different kind of officer. He didn't understand -- he objected to -- the "aura that these guys are supposed to have, as snipers. Okay? It's not Delta Force, it's not the movies. It's just a job. It's not a calling, if you will. These guys have a skill, and it's long-range marksmanship. But let's not make them something they're not. Sniper is an E-3 [low-ranked] position. They're like truck drivers."

[freema]

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