Posted on 03/25/2003 9:24:53 AM PST by TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Army sergeant suspected in a deadly grenade attack in Kuwait will be moved to Germany after a military magistrate found probable cause that the soldier committed the crime, the Army said Tuesday.
Sgt. Asan Akbar was taken into custody Sunday, shortly after a series of explosions rocked tents at the headquarters of the 101st Airborne Division's 1st Brigade. A captain was killed and 15 soldiers injured, including the brigade commander, Col. Ben Hodges.
In a statement issued by Fort Campbell, the 101st Airborne Division's home base, the Army said Akbar was taken Monday to Camp Virginia, Kuwait, where a magistrate reviewed evidence. The military magistrate "found that a crime was committed, that it is probable that the accused soldier committed that crime," the statement said.
"It appears that the explosions were the result of three grenades that were thrown or rolled through the front door of each of these three tents," the statement said. "These grenades were both fragmentary and incendiary devices designed to cause either death or serious battlefield injuries."
Akbar was then taken from Camp Virginia to Camp Doha, also in Kuwait, and was to be transported to Mannheim, Germany, to await formal charges and a pretrial investigation.
The Army stressed Akbar should be considered innocent until proven otherwise.
"The command is cognizant of the fact that one of the things that separate us from our current enemy is the fairness of our system of justice," according to the statement issued by Maj. Trey Cate, 101st Airborne public affairs officer in Kuwait.
Meanwhile, family members in Louisiana said Akbar gave no hint of any problem with the military, though he once complained about difficulties blacks had in attaining rank.
During an interview aired Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America," Ismail Bilal said his brother "spoke just like any other soldier going overseas," Bilal said.
"You know, 'I would rather be at home. But I got to do my job,'" he said.
The brother said he felt "a melting pot of emotions" after learning about the allegation against Akbar.
Akbar's former stepfather, William Bilal, told "Good Morning America" the last time he was with Akbar three years ago, "he spoke about how hard it was for a black man to make the rank in the military."
"And I told him that's how it is," he said. "We still have racial issues, but you would have to deal with."
William Bilal said he did not speak with Akbar before his deployment.
William Bilal, 53, was married to Akbar's mother, Quran Bilal, for five years before they divorced. During that period, the family lived in Baton Rouge, where William Bilal continues to live.
The family then moved to Moreno Valley, Calif., about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, before returning to Louisiana last summer.
I do wonder if a firing squad is still the exact rendered way, if a military magistrate/court martial finds this individual, guilty of treason/murder? Leavenworth for life,? or do they still indeed, execute (after a trial) a firing squad?
Lethal injection has been the prescribed means for carrying out capital punishment under the Uniform Code Of Military Justice since a 1984 Reagan Administration executive order. Details at FReeppost *here*.
The last military death sentence carried out was that of U.S. Army Private John A. Bennett, hanged on April 13, 1961 after being convicted of rape and attempted murder.
-archy-/-
WorldNetDaily
Tuesday, March 25, 2003
Military magistrate finds probable cause he committed deadly assault
Posted: March 25, 2003
12:55 p.m. Eastern
The Muslim U.S. soldier accused of killing a division captain and wounding 15 fellow soldiers in a grenade and automatic weapon attack on members of the Army's 101st Airborne Division encamped in northern Kuwait made anti-American statements after he was apprehended, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"You guys are coming into our countries, and you're going to rape our women and kill our children," Army Sgt. Asan Akbar was overheard as saying by soldiers who survived the attack.
Akbar, 31, has been held at Camp Virginia, Kuwait, since early Sunday for allegedly rolling grenades into three tents where officers and senior noncommissioned officers were sleeping and shooting at least two fellow soldiers as they raced from their tents.
The Army announced today that Akbar will be moved to Germany after a military magistrate found probable cause he committed the crime. He'll be taken to Camp Doha, Kuwait, before being transported to Mannheim, Germany, where he'll await formal charges and a pretrial investigation.
The Army statement warned against the rush to judgment on Akbar.
"The command is cognizant of the fact that one of the things that separate us from our current enemy is the fairness of our system of justice," read the statement issued by Maj. Trey Cate, 101st Airborne public affairs officer in Kuwait.
Survivors of the base attack recounted the chaotic events for the Times.
Following the explosion of the first grenade, the suspect shouted, "We're being attacked!" officers said.
"The first thing I thought was some sort of commando attack, or a terrorist raid," the commander of the division's 1st Brigade, Col. Frederick B. Hodges, said.
Hodges narrowly escaped when an incendiary grenade rolled into his tent, setting it on fire.
"I was furious," added Sgt. Maj. Bart Womack, who shares the tent with Hodges. "I was thinking, 'How did the enemy get into our camp?'"
Womack shook the colonel awake just as a fragmentation grenade exploded next to his cot, spraying shrapnel and wounding Hodges.
The duo stumbled over each other in the smoke as they struggled to get out of the tent. The colonel emerged first, only to be shot in the leg by the suspect, who had been lying in wait by the tent entrance with his rifle.
Womack said Akbar then ran to the next tent a few paces away and tossed a fragmentation grenade inside. When an officer ran out, Womack told the Times, "The guy just stopped, shot the officer in the back when he paused to put on his mask, then he kept on running."
Akbar subsequently was caught carrying two grenades and a standard-issue M-4 automatic rifle. His leg was bleeding, apparently cut by shrapnel.
Of the 16 soldiers injured, 11 were evacuated by helicopter, reports Army Times. The Army identified the soldier who died as Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert, 27.
The camp was named Camp Pennsylvania in honor the victims of the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania during the Sept. 11 attacks. Located approximately 20-30 miles south of the Iraqi border, the camp is surrounded by large berms and guarded by armed soldiers, with others in observation posts watching the desert. The camp also is home to Patriot missile batteries.
The paper reports the attack leaves many at the remote camp feeling vulnerable and betrayed.
"It's bad enough we have to worry about enemy forces, but now we have to worry about our own guys," Spc. Autumn Simmer told the Times. Simmer had been sleeping in a row of tents behind those that were attacked.
The motive in the attack ''most likely was resentment,'' said Army spokesman Max Blumenfeld, but he did not elaborate.
Two high-ranking U.S. Army sources say Akbar was opposed to the killing of Muslims and opposed to the war in Iraq, according to NBC News.
The Muslim soldier reportedly had become a concern to his commanding officers. Military criminal investigators said he was recently reprimanded for insubordination and was told he would not join his unit's push into Iraq.
Other soldiers told Sky News that Akbar had been acting "weird" for days.
Having graduated from Locke High School in Los Angeles, Akbar, who is black, studied at the Masjid Bilal Islamic Center, a predominantly African American mosque in South-Central Los Angeles.
Those who knew Akbar from the past expressed disbelief that he could be responsible. Imam Hasan told the Times that the Akbar he remembered was a quiet, shy and studious boy who stayed out of trouble, even normal schoolyard scuffles and roughhousing.
"He was never a troublemaker," Hasan said. "I'm remembering him as a kid and listening to what he's charged with, and it doesn't compute. It's completely against the character of the person I knew."
Akbar's mother, Quran Bilal, told the Chicago Sun-Times her son has been accused simply because he is a Muslim, and that he had feared problems due to his faith.
''He said, 'Mama, when I get over there, I have the feeling they are going to arrest me just because of the name that I have carried,'" Bilal continued.
''He's not like that,'' she said. ''He said the only thing he was going out there to do was blow up the bridges. He was never like that.''
She told the paper her son did not participate in the first Iraq war because his religion created a ''conflict of interest."
Akbar's former stepfather, William Bilal, recalled his last conversation with Akvar three years ago on ABC's "Good Morning America." Bilal said Akbar "spoke about how hard it was for a black man to make the rank in the military."
"And I told him 'That's how it is. We still have racial issues," he said.
The Leaf-Chronicle newspaper in Clarksville, Tenn., reported that the FBI combed Akbar's apartment complex in that town early Sunday, looking for clues.
Dennis Olgin, a former Army prosecutor told Fox News Akbar could be charged with treason, but murder and attempted murder would be easier to prove.
The penalty of life would be the minimum if Akbar were to be charged and convicted of murder.
If you'd like to sound off on this issue, please take part in the WorldNetDaily poll.
Earlier story:
Muslim-American soldier detained in Kuwait attack
I believe Pvt Eddie Slovak, shot for desertion during the Battle of the Bulge during WWII in an attempt to stiffen the resolve of other troops inclined to bug out or surrender, was the last US soldier to be executed by firing squad. Up until 1961 most of the military's assorted rapists and murderers were hanged instead, though I may have missed data involving possible executions during the Korean War, and some summary executions by shooting have occurred a few times, including during Vietnam.
In general, shooting remains a death reserved for a soldier, if one who discharged his duty imperfectly. The rapists and murderers, particularly those who have killed other soldiers, are undeserving of any such treatment, and a neck-breaking rope or chemical cocktail similar to those used to still a rabid dog seem far more fitting.
-archy-/-
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.