Posted on 02/08/2003 10:11:24 AM PST by Clive
A Canadian sniper up for the Bronze Star medal for his combat role in Afghanistan has been cleared of allegations he desecrated the body of a dead al-Qaeda fighter, the Defence Department said yesterday.
Military investigators lacked evidence for charges against Master Corporal Arron Perry and another Canadian, following allegations soldiers cut the finger off an enemy combatant and staged a "trophy" photo of the body.
The investigation also examined claims a soldier defecated on a second body. Master Cpl. Perry had been suspended pending the outcome of the probe, but was returned to duty yesterday in Edmonton.
"After a thorough investigation by the National Investigation Service, the evidence wasn't sufficient to support charges in that case," said Captain Mark Giles, a Department of National Defence public affairs officer.
Master Cpl. Perry, a member of Edmonton's 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, said he was relieved the investigation had concluded.
"I'm glad finally it's done," he said.
The sniper was part of a small group of Canadian soldiers who directly engaged the Taliban and al-Qaeda during a tour in Afghanistan. He has been credited with helping save soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division pinned down by enemy fire in Shah-i-Kot Valley.
The Canadians' sharp-shooting on al-Qaeda machine-gun nests and mortar positions were chronicled in Soldier of Fortune magazine. U.S. commanders have since recommended the snipers for Bronze Stars recognizing heroic or meritorious service.
But a few weeks after that triumph, Master Cpl. Perry was sent home under a cloud of suspicion. Allegations surfaced in mid-March that he had interfered with a body and there were reports of a photograph showing a dead enemy fighter with a cigarette in his mouth and a small sign on his chest reading "f--k terrorism."
But the investigation centred on claims a soldier had taken a finger from the body.
"The photos, while being perhaps inappropriate, that was not the main focus of the investigation. The main focus was the allegations of interfering with the dead body," Cpt. Giles said. "It's as much moral as it is legal. We always want dead bodies, whether they be enemy or friendly, to be treated with dignity."
Military investigators dug up the corpse and searched tents at the Canadian military base, seizing a knife. DNA tests were conducted to see if the knife could be tied to the body, but no link was established.
Right. OJ, Perry, and you.
Yeah, that's a match.
This is the most important point.
Perry hasn't been railroaded.
He's had the benefit of the doubt, and then some.
There is much talk about those who "advocate the desecration of the dead". I'm not one of them. There is, however, a middle category. Those who don't advocate it but understand it, or the emotions that can lead to it. I'm one of those. Many of those who are arguing Perry's corner are being categorized as "advocates". They're not, although some are.
Let me give you an example. Jihad Johnny turns up in your neighborhood. He rapes, mutilates and slaughters your own wife and children and those of your next door neighbor and leaves your respective houses a river of blood. Not the Americans' on the other side of the Pacific. Yours. Your neighbor arrives home and shoots him dead.
You, being respectful of the dead, refrain from touching the lifeless corpse. Your neighbor, on the other hand, takes an axe and lops off the head of the dead Jihadi.
You, while not advocating defilement of the dead, will, fully understand your neighbor's action, I think. Will you condemn it in the same self-righteous tones you reserve for Perry, even as you survey the remains of your family?
This was the action of a solitary man from all accounts, if indeed it did occur. It does mean that western civilization is approaching the inhuman nadir of the Islamic terrorists. A sense of proportion is lacking in this debate.
Please replace "desecration of the dead" with "Islamofascist terrorism" and see if you can still utter those two sentences with a straight face.
Your example is contrived, so tortuous, so irrelevant, that all it shows is what contortions the pro-Perry camp have to put themselves through, in their attempt to justify his actions.
What is really happening on this thread is that people with no morality and no honour think what Perry did is OK.
Well said!
Hey Poohbah, do these moral vacuums saying 'it's all about war' remind you of when the same type used to say 'it's all about sex'? Cheers, By.
Speaking as a former infantry soldier,I'd go so far as to say I can get enthauistic about killing people who shoot at US military members.
I only wanted to temper the statment/feeling that desacration of bodies ect. is acceptable for our troops.
It's only acceptable if there is a point to it. Taking a dump on the face of a dead terrorist sends them the message that we ain't as weak as they have been lead to believe,and that we don't hold them in any particiluar high amount of esteem. Even better would be putting something like a link sausage or pork rind in the mouth of each body. They want war,let's give it to them.
The fact that we do not do that is a great motivator when it comes time for the enemy to surrender.
This might be true on a conventional battlefield,but does not apply when fighting terrorists who are religious fanatics waging a religious guerilla war against you. If I were president,I would go on international tv and offer a multi-million dollar reward to anybody who could deliver to me the heads of bin Laden and his top aides so I could use them to decorate the White House fence as a "Don't Tread on ME!" warning to other terrorists. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pyx.
This-is-not-about-the-battlefield. Can you please get that through your head? The trophy taking happened in cold blood, *after* the battle.
As to Vab, if someone wants to discuss the issue, we'll accomodate them. If they just want to throw darts, we'll accomodate that, too. I think it's time we all just walked away from this thread, because all we're doing is saying the same thing again and again. We've gone from an acceptable albeit hot argument to just sheer stubbornnness, with everyone in their respective bunkers. Cheers, B.
And what war did I lose? Read the history of MACV-SOG and get back to me.
So what? We aren't fighting 99.9% of the Muslims. Not yet,anyway. Is this your major malfunction? Are YOU a Muslim?
YES,WE ARE! The fact that you can't recogonize this tells you just how far out of plumb you are on this issue. We aren't facing a organized army wearing a uniform with a capital and ambassadors to the UN. We are fighting religious nutcases who hit and run,and whose targes when they do hit are unarmed civilians for the most part.
We're discussing the desecration of corpses:
Make up your mind. In some posts you are (rightly) complaining about reports of torture,and in others you are complaining about desecration of corpses.
an action which is morally wrong, a breach of military code, and brings disgrace on the armed forces.
MORE BS! If you had ever been on a battlefield after the battle is over,you would know better than this.
No,it doesn't. You can hold your breath until you turn blue,and this won't change.
It makes no distinction at all to as to the status of 'persons.'
To have status as a "person",you have to be alive.
You are more full of crap than a Christmas goose. Tell me,Mr.,"I know how soldiers in war act",what was YOUR MOS,and where did YOU fight?
Look,pussyboy,I haven't been calling you names on these threads,so if you want to be left alone,back the hell off!
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