It is a sad article. From the AP article (which we can’t post), the area was known for frequent roadside bomb attacks. The truck stopped at the same spot where just days earlier two people had been seen scooping out the area. The radio communications guy, Cpl. Alexander Wazenkewitz, indicated they used force because they felt threatened. He said he didn’t want to die.....that’s why they did it.
Does it get much simpler than that? Sgt. Winnick II had previously been given a meritorious promotion for killing an insurgent planting a roadside bomb. If this one had panned out the same, he’d probably have been given another. Since it wasn’t what he thought it was, he deserves 40 years?
You’ve got to wonder why any Marine lawyer looking at the facts of this case would ever recommend charges that would total 40 years.
At worst, this is a battlefield mistake.
There is no doubt that a sniper team in the field MUST consider itself in contact with the enemy.