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Statement from Ret Lt Col Allen West The following is a statement released by Retired Lt. Col. Allen West Thank you for your service Colonel West. This past Thursday 13 American Soldiers were killed and another 30 wounded at a horrific mass shooting at US Army installation, Ft Hood Texas. As I watched in horror and then anger I recalled my two years of final service in the Army as a Battalion Commander at Ft Hood, 2002-2004. My wife and two daughters were stunned at the incident having lived on the post in family housing. A military installation, whether it...

OPERATION: IRAQI FREEDOMLawyer: No court martial for Lt. Col. WestOfficer who used shock tactics to save lives faces non-judicial penalty Posted: December 10, 200311:53 a.m. Eastern By Art Moore© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com An officer in Iraq who used shock interrogation tactics to thwart an impending attack on American soldiers will not face a court martial, according to his lawyer. Lt. Col. Allen B. West will accept Article 15 non-judicial punishment from the commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division at a hearing Friday in Tikrit, Iraq, said Neal A. Puckett, a retired Marine officer. Lt. Col. Allen B. West in undated family...

<p>Lt. Col. Allen B. West was fined $5,000 by his commanding officer yesterday, closing a case in which the Army charged him with assault for firing his gun to frighten an Iraqi detainee into disclosing a planned ambush.</p> <p>Neal Puckett, Col. West's civilian attorney, said the officer plans to return to Fort Hood, Texas, where he expects to be granted a full-benefits retirement this spring after a 20-year Army career.</p>

An officer in Iraq who used shock interrogation tactics to thwart an impending attack on American soldiers was punished with forfeiture of two month's pay, according to his lawyer. Previously faced with the possibility of a court martial, Lt. Col. Allen B. West accepted Article 15 non-judicial punishment from the commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division at a hearing today in Tikrit, Iraq, said Neal A. Puckett, a retired Marine officer. Puckett said the loss of pay amounts to $5,000. "I'm pleased that it's over with," West told WorldNetDaily by telephone from San Antonio, Texas. "But I thought that...

Fox5 Atlanta says that Col. West will only receive a written reprimand and won't be prosecuted.

WASHINGTON — Despite criticism from leading Republicans on Capitol Hill, senior Army leaders are defending the filing of criminal charges against a battalion commander in Iraq who fired his pistol near the head of an Iraqi detainee in an attempt to frighten him into divulging information about a planned ambush against U.S. forces. A soldier of the 4th Infantry Division searched a detained man, left, as other blindfolded detainees waited during a May raid against Baath Party loyalists in Tikrit, Iraq, Saddam Hussein's hometown. A battalion commander from the 4th Infantry has been accused of abusing an Iraqi detainee. The...

Republican lawmakers are standing behind a lieutenant colonel who has been threatened by the Army with early retirement or criminal prosecution for his use of an unconventional interrogation technique. In a letter to acting Army Secretary Les Brownlee, Reps. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and John H. McHugh, R-N.Y., said they were "highly disturbed" the Pentagon was considering leveling criminal charges against Army Lt. Col. Allan West, Copley News Service reported. The Army is considering charging West, an artillery unit commander, with aggravated assault, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, for his dramatic interrogation technique against an Iraqi policeman suspected of...

PRESS RELEASE U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Chairman FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 21, 2003 HOUSE ARMED SERVICES LEADERS DEMAND INFORMATION CONCERNING LT. COLONEL WEST Actions to Save Soldiers Were Proper Based on Available Information WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and John M. McHugh (R-NY)are calling on U.S. Army leadership to immediately provide a report on the investigation of Lt. Col. Allen West. West is charged with improperly interrogating an Iraqi prisoner. Based on the information currently available to them, Hunter and McHugh believe that West's actions may well have been necessary...

OPERATION: IRAQI FREEDOMCongress members back Lt. Col. WestHeads of armed services panels appeal to Army secretary Posted: November 26, 20031:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee is appealing to the acting secretary of the Army to intervene on behalf of an officer in Iraq facing a possible court martial because of shock interrogation tactics used to thwart an impending attack on American soldiers. In a letter, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and a senior member of his committee, Rep. John H. McHugh, R-Pa., said they were "highly disturbed" the Army was considering criminal action against Lt....

<p>I felt it necessary to write this after a conversation with my father who is retired military. He explained to me that this Col. West was facing a court martial in regards to an incident in which he fired a weapon near an Iraq soldiers head. And that it was likely he would lose his pension after years of service to our great nation.</p>

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Army’s investigation of an officer accused of crossing the line in an attempt to get information from an Iraqi detainee is generating a grass-roots protest among some Americans who say the safety of troops trumps any temporary violation of interrogation rules. Army Lt. Col. Allen B. West, who is assigned to the 4th Infantry Division’s 2nd Battalion, 20th Field Artillery Regiment, in Tikrit, Iraq, stands accused of actions that occurred Aug. 20, at a detainee holding site in Taji, Iraq. Some members of Congress, meanwhile, are asking whether those rules may not be too strict in...

Senators Question Case Against Officer Accused of Abusing Iraq Detainee The Associated PressPublished: Nov 19, 2003 WASHINGTON (AP) - A Republican senator said Wednesday that a U.S. lieutenant colonel accused of mistreating an Iraqi detainee probably was more worthy of commendation than punishment. Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma said Lt. Col. Allen B. West was trying to protect his soldiers. "I think the message if we were to end up punishing someone for doing what it took to protect the soldiers entrusted to his command, it would be the wrong signal," Inhofe said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing...

Court martial of US officer in Iraq Tuesday 18 November 2003, 13:08 Makka Time, 10:08 GMT A court martial hearing against a high-ranking US military official on charges of beating up an Iraqi detainee has begun in Tikrit.  Court martial of US officer in Iraq Lieutenant-Colonel Allen West is charged on three counts -  beating Yahya Hamudi, threatening to kill him and firing his gun near the detainee's head during interrogation on 20 August. The hearing, which started on Tuesday, marks the first time that legal proceedings have been initiated against a senior US officer in Iraq. West's driver, appearing as a witness,...

I recently wrote an article an published on FreeRepublic entitled Colonel West...you've got my back anytime. That article haas received a lot of attention and became a very good thread with people inside and outside the military analyzing and commneting on the episode in Iraq where this fine Lt. Colonel acted on his own volition in a time-sensitive, combat environment to extract information from an enemy spy within the coalition fomred and supported Iraqi Police Force. The method of intimidation Colonel West used to extract the information has become the center of controversy and is leading to military legal proceedings...

One thing we know about Army Lt. Col. Allen B. West is that he actually succeeded in collecting human intelligence in Iraq. Another is that his emergency information gathering technique may have saved American lives without taking enemy lives. And a third is that the Army has relieved West of his command, and may now court-martial him, cancel his pension and send him to prison for up to eight years. Can't see how this adds up? Nor can I. But this is the sum of stories broken last week by Rowan Scarborough of The Washington Times. The Defense Department may...

OPERATION: IRAQI FREEDOMAmericans rally behind officer who foiled plot Family shares stress of assault charges, girls hear at school: 'Your daddy is no hero' Posted: November 5, 20031:00 a.m. Eastern By Art Moore© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com A U.S. Army officer is facing assault charges for allegedly frightening an Iraqi into disclosing details of an impending ambush plot, but he's garnering support from Americans who regard him as a hero even while his daughters endure taunts from classmates. Under threat of an attack, Lt. Col. Allen B. West, a battalion commander with the 4th Infantry Division, took charge of the interrogation of an Iraqi...

<p>With the clock ticking toward a scheduled Nov. 10 investigative hearing for Lt. Col. Allen B. West — on charges of mistreating an Iraqi prisoner in a successful effort to thwart a guerrilla attack on U.S. troops — it's time for the military to rethink the ill-considered decision to go forward with his prosecution.</p>

West Case Shows Even The Military Has Its Priorities Wrong By Nicholas G. Jenkins Silly me to assume that ends mattered more than means in the United States military. I thought in war, staying alive was paramount. Apparently not so in the Army, where Lieutenant Colonel Allen B. West faces an Article 32 hearing, possible court martial, and up to eight years in prison because he fired a gun to frighten an Iraqi resister into spilling the beans about attacks on American forces. Colonel West’s methods saved American lives (including, quite possibly, his own), but the process-obsessed Army doesn’t...

OPERATION: IRAQI FREEDOM 'Heroic' officer clings to faith Facing charges after foiling ambush plot, 'devastating' to be regarded as a criminal Posted: November 5, 2003 5:00 p.m. Eastern By Art Moore © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com A U.S. Army officer facing assault charges for frightening an Iraqi into disclosing details of an impending ambush plot says his faith in God has kept him from falling apart amid the severe pain it has caused him and his family. "Without God and my Savior Jesus Christ, I would have cracked a long time ago," Lt. Col. Allen B. West, a battalion commander with the...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exclusive commentary by Jon Connolly Nov 5, 2003 Has the army got its head up its collective tushie or what? The Pentagon, actually staff judge advocate for the 4th Infantry Division, has charged Lt. Col. Allen B. West with communicating a threat and aggravated assault during an interrogation and has requested an Article 32 hearing as prelude to a possible court martial. Don’t these lawyers understand we’re at war? You can bet your life -- which is exactly what the troops in Iraq do every day -- it’s literally a crap shoot who lives, who dies, or who is...