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September 26th,
2007 - U.S. Soldier Faces Court-Martial in Iraq News article by the Associated Press |
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U.S. Soldier Faces Court-Martial
in Iraq By Katarina Kratovac Associated Press September 26, 2007 Baghdad - A U.S. soldier
pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of killing Iraqis and then trying to
cover it up by planting weapons on their bodies. Spc. Jorge G. Sandoval, of
Laredo, Texas, has been charged with premeditated murder, wrongfully placing
weapons with the remains of the Iraqis and obstructing justice. He faces a
maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted. Military prosecutors said
the deaths occurred separately between April and June near Iskandariyah, a
mostly Sunni Arab city 30 miles south of Baghdad. The investigation began
after military authorities received reports of alleged wrongdoing from fellow
soldiers, the Army has said. Wearing his military
uniform, Sandoval sat flanked by two military defense lawyers during the
opening day of his court martial on a U.S. base west of Baghdad. "War in Iraq is
hell," the defense attorney, Capt. Craig Drummond, said in his opening
statement. "Battle lines are sometimes unclear. The enemy does not
always show itself. The enemy of this war attacks, hides, then attacks
again." Sandoval faces five charges,
including an April 27 murder of an unknown Iraqi male, placing a detonation
wire on his body, premeditated murder of another Iraqi male with a 9mm pistol
on May 11, placing an AK-47 rifle on his body and failing to ensure humane
treatment of a detainee - the victim. The prosecutor, Capt. Sarah
Rykowski, told the court it must decide "what was in the accused's mind
when he shot an unknown man cutting grass" and killed another "with
a 9mm pistol from a few inches away." Spc. Alexander Flores, who
was in the same squad as Sandoval on the day of the April killing, testified
they were acting on orders of their platoon leader who said the suspect was
"our guy" and ordered them to "move in," which they
interpreted as "take the target out." After the killing, Flores
said Hensley told him to place a spool of detonation wire on the body and in
the man's pocket, which would make him appear to be an insurgent. "The burden to prove
this case is on the government," Drummond told The Associated Press
during a recess. "We heard from Flores' own mouth that he placed the
command wire on the body, not Sandoval." Sgt. Evan Vela of Rigby,
Idaho, and Staff Sgt. Michael Hensley of Candler, N.C. are also charged in
the case. They are part of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st
Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry
Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska. Sandoval was arrested in
June while on a two-week leave visiting his family. Vela's defense attorney,
Gary Myers, claimed earlier this week that Army snipers hunting insurgents in
Iraq were under orders to "bait" their targets with suspicious
materials, such as detonation cords, then kill whoever picked up the items.
He said his client was acting "pursuant to orders." Vela, who is being flown in
from Kuwait, was expected to testify Thursday. Another prosecution witness,
Capt. Matthew Didier, testified that on the day of the second killing, he was
monitoring the snipers from an observation post and communicating with them
over the radio when he received a report from Hensley saying a man who had
approached them was armed. "I authorized a close
kill with a 9mm, based on Sgt. Hensley's report," Didier testified. The Washington Post, which
first reported the "baiting" program, said it was devised by the
U.S. Army's Asymmetric Warfare Group, which advises commanders in unconventional
conflicts. Within months of the
"baiting" program's introduction, Sandoval, Vela and Hensley were
charged with murder for allegedly using those tactics to make shootings seem
legitimate, according to the Post. The Army has declined to
confirm such a program exists. The Iraq war has seen U.S.
service members face prosecution in several high-profile incidents, including
abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison, the killings of 24 civilians by
Marines in Haditha, and the rape and killing of a 14-year-old girl and the
slaying of her family south of Baghdad. Iraqis often accuse American soldiers
of unnecessary killings or abuse, fueling resentment toward U.S. forces. © 2007 The Associated Press External link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/5166430.html Charges
Against Snipers Stir Debate on ‘Baiting’ Prosecution Causing Uncertainty, Soldiers in Iraq Say By Josh White & Ann Scott Tyson Washington Post September 26, 2007 Spec. Jorge Sandoval lay
face down in the foot-high grass, staring through his sniper rifle scope at
the Iraqi man holding a rusted sickle. The man had crouched down, only his
head was visible. Sandoval's spotter, Staff. Sgt. Michael Hensley, relayed
the order to kill. On April 27, in dangerous
terrain south of Baghdad, Sandoval pulled the trigger to fire a bullet
hundreds of yards into the man's skull, killing him instantly. Moments
earlier, the man, according to testimony and court documents, had been
fleeing an attack on U.S. soldiers and was holding the sickle to masquerade
as a farmer. After killing him, Sandoval and Hensley allegedly placed a spool
of wire - commonly used to make bombs - on the man's body to ensure the
shooting would not be questioned. Sandoval's court-martial on
premeditated murder charges for this killing is scheduled to begin today in
Baghdad. As he and two other snipers face charges of killing Iraqis, legal
experts are debating how large a role a classified program of
"baiting" their targets played in the cases. The soldiers in the
unit had the spool of wire, defense attorneys said, only because the Army's
secretive Asymmetric Warfare Group had given it to them - along with other
items, such as plastic explosives and AK-47 rounds - so the snipers could
boost the number of suspected insurgents they killed by shooting whoever
picked up the materials. However, some soldiers
serving in Iraq said that the program and the subsequent murder charges have
caused them to rethink pulling the trigger in the field out of concern that
they could be charged with crimes for doing so. As Sandoval prepared to shoot
and Hensley repeatedly asked him if he had the shot, they had to make a
split-second decision that U.S. troops have to make on a daily basis: Kill
the man and possibly face scrutiny, or let him go and possibly put U.S.
service members in jeopardy in the future. The charges against
Sandoval, Hensley and a third sniper, Sgt. Evan Vela, have caused some of their
sniper scout platoon's shootings to be questioned, as well. "I just came to a unit,
Delaware, that they will not pull the trigger on people," said Sgt.
Andrew G. Murphy III, according to transcripts of a Baghdad court hearing.
"Now they're like, 'What's going to happen if?' And I'm like, 'I don't
know; I can't tell you. If you feel threatened, take the shot, and I hope, I
pray, that your command takes your back, because you have split and
milliseconds to make decisions like this.' " Since the beginning of the
Iraq war, 69 U.S. service members have been charged in connection with Iraqi
civilian deaths, and 31 have been convicted of a crime, according to data
compiled by The Washington Post. Murphy, who has been
investigated for one such shooting, testified that snipers in the unit at
times felt that they should consider placing some of the classified materials
on dead bodies to legitimize shootings that they thought might draw scrutiny.
While the unit felt pressure for more kills, it also felt pressure to make
them all seem ironclad. The materials reached the
"painted demons" platoon of the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry
Regiment, in January, after members of the Asymmetric Warfare Group suggested
using them. Officers described the program, in unclassified statements
obtained by The Post, as involving the placement of the items in insurgent
areas and killing those who picked them up. The Asymmetric Warfare Group
is modeled after the Army's secretive Delta Force and grew out of a decision
by Army leaders in 2003 to seek new ways to counter insurgents' use of
roadside bombs, snipers and suicide bombs. The group is classified by the
Army as a Special Mission Unit and was formally established in January 2006. The teams, similar to the
small, Special Forces A-teams, circulate among military battalions in Iraq,
where they teach new counterinsurgency tactics. A more overarching goal of
the Asymmetric Warfare Group is to act as a catalyst "to change the way the
Army thinks," said one Special Forces officer familiar with the group.
It also analyzes new threats, generates new tactics, and identifies gaps in
capabilities and equipment, according to the Army. Retired Maj. Gen. Thomas J.
Romig, a former judge advocate general for the Army, said the group's baiting
program, as described publicly, opens up the possibility for indiscriminate
shootings - based on little information - that could lead to the death of
scavengers or curious passersby. He said that when troops kill civilians by
mistake, it can harm the war effort. "In those cases where
there are lots of questions, sometimes shooting is not the right answer,
because it has a huge potential for being indiscriminate," said Romig,
now dean of the Washburn University School of Law in Kansas. "When
guidance becomes fuzzy and the response is 'When in doubt, shoot,' then we
have problems." Army Maj. Gen. Richard
Sherlock, director of operational planning for the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
said at a Pentagon briefing yesterday that he would not discuss the sniper
case, but he noted that U.S. soldiers are not trained to kill
indiscriminately. "The laws of land warfare do not include engaging
someone simply for picking something up on the battlefield," Sherlock
said. Staff writer Joshua Partlow
in Baghdad and researcher Julie Tate in Washington contributed to this report. External link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/25/AR2007092502136.html |