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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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December 11th,
2006 - Colonel Will Be Called to Testify In Soldier’s Murder Trial |
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Colonel Will Be Called to
Testify In Soldier’s Murder Trial The Monroe County Advocate December 11, 2006 The family of Staff Sgt.
Raymond Girouard is hoping recent court rulings in favor of another soldier
also accused of murder in the May deaths of three Iraqi detainees bode well
for the Sweetwater soldier. Girouard, a 2001 Sweetwater
High School graduate who was raised here by his grandparents Ronald and Pat
Bentley, was charged in June with pre-mediated murder in connection with the
shooting deaths of three Iraqi men during an operation at a chemical complex
north of Baghdad May 9. He is facing a court-martial
in Fort Campbell, Ky., early next year. He stands charged in the
alleged crime along with three other 101st Airborne soldiers, Spc. William
Hunsaker, Spc. Juston Graber and Pfc. Corey Clagett. But Ronald Bentley said the
court will allow the testimony of another solider in Clagett’s case that will
dispute the claims of the four soldiers’ main accuser, Pfc. Bradley Mason. “He will testify there was
never a conspiracy,” Joy Oakes, Girouard’s sister. Mason claims the accused
soldiers planned to shoot the detained men all along then Girouard, Clagett
and Hunsaker threatened to kill him if he told on them. According to a report in the
Clarksville, Tenn., newspaper, The Leaf-Chronicle, two expert witnesses, a
forensic pathologist and a social psychologist, can testify on behalf of
Clagett. The report said the accused
soldiers’ former commander, Col. Michael Steel, must testify as well. The accused soldiers claim
the colonel had told them to kill all military-aged males during the
operation in May. However, they claim they
were not going to kill the men, but had to shoot them when the Iraqis
attacked them and tried to escape. Girouard’s family says he
was not present when the shootings occurred, but as the superior officer he
is being held accountable. Bentley said the family now
believes there is a good chance Girouard’s court-martial will never take
place. External link: http://monroe.xtn.net/index.php?table=news&template=news.view.subscriber&newsid=135696 |