Posted on 09/18/2007 8:12:33 PM PDT by SevenMinusOne
FORT BRAGG, N.C., Sept. 17 — From his position about 100 yards away, Master Sgt. Troy Anderson had a clear shot at the Afghan man standing outside a residential compound in a village near the Pakistan border last October. When Capt. Dave Staffel, the Special Forces officer in charge, gave the order to shoot, Sergeant Anderson fired a bullet into the man’s head, killing him.
In June, Captain Staffel and Sergeant Anderson were charged with premeditated murder. On Tuesday, in a rare public examination of the rules that govern the actions of Special Operations troops in Afghanistan, a military hearing will convene at Fort Bragg to weigh the evidence against the two men, both Green Berets.
The case revolves around differing interpretations of the kind of force that the Special Forces team that hunted and killed the man, Nawab Buntangyar, were allowed to use once they found him, apparently unarmed.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Frank H. Kearney
General Kearney proceeded with murder charges against the two soldiers even after an investigation by the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command concluded in April that the shooting had been “justifiable homicide.”
What is this guy's motivation?
To get his sorry P.C. ass promoted, pure and simple. Visibility.
Beneath contempt.
General, I hope you're reading this. I'd love to challenge you to your face, damn you.
The guys on the ground have a rather extensive checklist to complete before authorization to conduct this type of action is released.
I wonder what we're not being told.
Can it, DevSix.
These constant prosecutions and investigations wear on the morale of military people (been there, done that). Bush is the one guy who can review our ROE and end this ridiculous PC second guessing.
Under our ROEs these guys WILL be cleared - If you think the POTUS/CinC can micromanage the Mil justice system you are an F'ing fool -
As I said knock of the foolish and childish BS. It serves no purpose.
OReilly is talking about this right now
Hope Bill follows through with following the procedings.
He will. I haven’t been a fan since he ignored the Swiftvets during the last election...but for the most part when he picks a cause like this one he goes after it full force.
I thought we sent these guys over there to kill people.
MAC~SOG LIVES...
My grandfather served as an advisor to the South Korean Army during the period between World War Two and the Korean War. During that time, he and the other American advisors under his command were engaged in a number of major combat operations and dozens of smaller skirmishes. He lost at least one officer killed, had two captured (but they managed to escape the next day), and had a number of others wounded (himself included).
But the paperpushers, or waffle-bottoms as he called them, back at headquarters refused to approve any of his endorsements for medals for these troops, including the Purple Hearts that many of them had earned the hard way. They informed him that no American troops were involved in combat operations in the Pacific Theater since the surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945.
Wait a minute. Premeditated murder? Soldiers and Marines have been charged with murder for violating the ROE and killing civilians. Most have been acquitted based on a 'heat of battle' argument, or just a lack of evidence.
In this case, 'premeditated' means they planned to kill him at a time and place of their choosing--which is legal. However, they violated ROE and comitted 'murder' because he was unarmed?
While they could premeditate his killing legally, how could they know beforehand that he wouldn't be armed so they could violate the ROE and 'murder' him?
On the battlefield, with the ROE in place, if it is premeditated, it's not 'murder'. If it is 'murder', it is not 'premeditated'.
How are they going to prove that not only did they plan to kill him legally, but illegally planned to catch him specifically unarmed so that they could 'murder' him outside of the ROE?
Well stated. Unfortunate for the pain they and their families are going through during the interim after which they’ll hopefully be cleared.
Give it a rest DevSix. You’re in no position to preach to others about “BS”.
And thanks for the profanity and the personal insult... very professional of you.
Bullseye.
Why don’t they charge some WWII vets with killing nazi’s while they’re at it?
Saw this on O’reilly. Some jackass with a crooked bowtie really pissed me off.
Most officers (Legs) detest the SF. And the majority that do go Airborne and then put in a stint in SF due so only to polish their resume and get out asap. At least this was how it was in the 'olden days'.
Then again, Rummy sure took a lot of crap and internal sabotage from the 'Leg' apple polishers when he started to emphasize the SF and Special Ops in general so maybe that attitude is still prevalent.
“If this is how we are going to fight wars we should pull out of Ashcanistan and Iraq RIGHT NOW.”
I agree. If they are found guilty of murder, we should immdediately pull our troops out of Iraq, Afghanistan, Europe, Korea, and wherever our troops are stationed around the world. This is total bs.
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.