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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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February 18th,
2008 - Court-Martial Set Tomorrow for Schofield Soldier News article by the Associated
Press |
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Court-Martial Set Tomorrow
for Schofield Soldier By Audrey Mcavoy Associated Press February 18, 2008 Honolulu - The Army will
convene a court-martial this week to hear allegations that a Hawai'i-based
soldier murdered an unarmed Iraqi during a raid on a suspected insurgent
hideout last summer. Spc. Christopher Shore's
trial is due to begin on Tuesday. His platoon leader will be court-martialed
in April for the same killing. The Iraqi was shot multiple
times in the head and chest near the town of Kirkuk on June 23. Shore, of Winder, Ga., and
his scout platoon staked out the house after fellow soldiers saw men they
believed were planting roadside bombs take refuge there. The platoon busted its way
into the building, captured the men and began testing their hands for traces
of a powder used to make roadside bombs, or improvised explosive devices. But before the raid was
over, one of the detained men was taken to the backyard of the house and
shot. The Army has not disclosed the victim's name and it has not been
revealed in the legal proceedings. Shore plans to plead not
guilty to the third-degree murder charge, which is similar to manslaughter in
civilian court. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life without
parole. There is no mandatory minimum sentence for third-degree murder. Shore told a preliminary
hearing in October that his platoon leader, Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales, had
dragged the man outside and then shot him multiple times. Corrales then ordered Shore
to "finish him," he said. Shore says he didn't want to
outwardly disobey the order because he was afraid of what Corrales - who he
said had been abusive toward his soldiers in the past - might do. Shore says
he resorted to firing his weapon but intentionally missed the man by shooting
off to the side. Corrales, of San Antonio,
waived his right to a preliminary hearing. He's been charged with
premeditated murder, with wrongfully ordering Shore to kill the Iraqi, and
planting an AK-47 on the victim. At minimum, Corrales would
be sentenced to life with parole if convicted and would have to serve at
least 10 years before becoming eligible for release. Corrales' court-martial
is scheduled for April 22. The men are assigned to the
25th Infantry Division's 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team at Schofield
Barracks outside of Honolulu. There have been a few other
murder cases involving service members serving in Iraq. Earlier this month, Army
sniper Sgt. Evan Vela was sentenced to 10 years in prison at a court martial
in Baghdad. He was found guilty of murder without premeditation, aiding and
abetting in the planting of an AK-47 on the dead man's body and of later
lying to military investigators about the incident. Four enlisted Marines were
initially charged with murder in the 2005 killings of 24 Iraqi men, women,
and children in Haditha. Four officers were charged with failing to
investigate the deaths. Since then, however, charges
against several of the men have been dropped, and none will face murder
charges. Col. Donna Wright will
preside over Shore's trial at Wheeler Army Airfield, a base next to Schofield
Barracks in central O'ahu. The Army has said the court-martial would likely
last three to five days, but proceedings could also end sooner or drag on
longer. A jury - which is called a
panel in the military justice system - of between five and 10 soldiers will
determine Shore's guilt or innocence. They would also sentence Shore if they
convict him. Shore invoked his right to
request that at least one-third of the panel be made up of enlisted soldiers
like himself. The remainder may be commissioned officers. Both the prosecution and
defense may object to any member of the panel if they believe he or she has
prior knowledge of the case or for other reasons. External link: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2008/Feb/18/br/hawaii80218026.html Georgia dad fights for GI
son charged with murder War crimes case: Kin see prosecution as a witch hunt, but others say
Army too lenient. By Moni Basu The Atlanta Journal-Constitution February 18, 2008 When Army Spc. Christopher
Phillip Shore's court-martial begins Tuesday, his father will tell jurors
that the Georgia soldier is a fine warrior trained to kill with uncanny
precision - but never to murder. That is the charge against
Shore, who spent 15 months at war and became the first soldier from Georgia
to be charged with the murder of an Iraqi. If found guilty, he could face a
maximum penalty of life without parole. Convinced of his son's
innocence, Brian Shore will take the stand along with his older son Derrick
Sparks, several of Phillip Shore's platoon mates and a forensic pathologist
at the court-martial in Honolulu, where Shore's battalion in the 25th
Infantry Division is based. Army prosecutors will try to
convince a jury of soldiers that Shore killed an Iraqi detainee during a raid
near the northern city of Kirkuk last June. Shore, 26, of Winder, has
said he was ordered to shoot the unidentified man by his patrol leader, Sgt.
1st Class Trey Corrales but that he deliberately missed. Corrales will face his own
court-martial April 22 for premeditated murder, soliciting another soldier to
shoot an unarmed detainee and then impeding an investigation by planting an
AK-47 rifle near the victim. Brian Shore said he would do
anything to save his child. The salesman for Cook's Pest Control in
Lawrenceville raised $30,000 for his son's defense. He questions why the Army
went after his son and believes the U.S. military has fallen prey to the
politics of the Iraq war. "I'm angry," said Shore, a man whose
unquestioning faith in the military withered as the case against his son
progressed. "After all this, they
just want some sort of conviction," he said. "There can't be any
kind of reality to this. It's got to be political." Iraq's real-time war has
fueled debate on the prosecution of war crimes. Some Americans, like Brian
Shore, believe the U.S. military has been overzealous in showing Iraqis that
it is willing to go after its own. Others believe the opposite:
that U.S. troops get away with the abuse and deaths of Iraqis. And even when
they are prosecuted, they are judged leniently by their military peers. They point to cases like the
2005 killings of up to 24 civilians in Haditha. None of the involved Marines
will face murder charges. The Army has charged 29
soldiers in Iraq with Article 118, or murder under the United States Code of
Military Justice. According to the Army Judiciary, 26 of those 29 soldiers
faced trial, 13 were convicted of murder and eight were found guilty of a
lesser offense. The latest was another 25th
Infantry Division soldier, Sgt. Evan Vela, who was convicted earlier this
month for shooting an unarmed Iraqi man and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Whatever the beliefs about
war crimes prosecutions, at least one military law expert thinks that
high-profile incidents like the Haditha killings and the Abu Ghraib prisoner
scandal have cast a spotlight on American wrongdoing in Iraq. "I think the armed
services are more concerned with the protection of detainees than they were
in previous wars such as Vietnam," said Gary Solis, a former Marine
Corps judge advocate who is now an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law
School. "Not that there are more incidents now but that greater
attention is given to reporting these incidents." Solis contends that in
today's combat zone, it's difficult to push things under the mat. Every
soldier has a camera, a laptop and a cellphone. "There are no secrets
anymore," he said. "The answer is always: 'We have to investigate.'
" Solis, who did two tours of
Vietnam, said "onesies or twosies" happened all the time in that
war. "Nobody can get away
with that now," he said. A plethora of Web sites,
many of them developed by military veterans and conservative Christians who
are upset by the prosecutions of men and women in uniform, have popped up in
recent months. "If you are charged
with a capital crime in Iraq or Afghanistan, we will try and help you,"
said Pat Barnes, a retired Marine who also went to Vietnam twice and now
helps run Military Combat Defense Fund, a nonprofit that disburses money to
service members who need legal help. One who benefited is Corrales, Shore's
platoon leader. The group's mission
statement says: "We believe in the fundamental decency of our armed
forces." Barnes' take is more pragmatic. "These people aren't
rich. They are blue-collar kids," he said. "Who knows the
circumstances? I can't make a judgment but we can help." The judgment to take Shore
to trial was made by the commander of the 25th Infantry Division. Solis could
not comment on the specifics of the case but he wondered why Maj. Gen.
Benjamin Mixon decided to proceed to trial after a report issued in November
stated that the Army lacked evidence to charge Shore with murder. Lt. Col. Raul Gonzalez
presided over the Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a Grand Jury
investigation, and concluded that no evidence existed to link shots fired by
Shore to the detainee's death. While an Article 32
recommendation is nonbinding, Solis questioned why Mixon decided to disregard
such a specific report. The Article 32 conclusions
instilled hope for Shore and his family. His lawyer, Michael Waddington of
Augusta, was confident the Army would toss the murder charges. Then came Mixon's decision,
just days before Christmas. And with it, the Shore family see-sawed between
anger one minute and worry the next. "This trial's just
going to be a repeat of the Article 32," Brian Shore said. "No new
evidence has come up. Why are they punishing him?" During the night of June 22,
Shore's platoon raided houses thought to be harboring insurgents. They
rounded up several men whose hands tested positive for explosives. Shore testified at his
Article 32 hearing that at some point during the raid, he ran out into a
courtyard and saw one of the detainees wounded on the ground. Corrales
ordered Shore to "finish him," Shore testified. He said he fired his M-4
Carbine but intentionally missed the man. The detainee died two days later. Shore reported the incident
to his supervisors. "If I were guilty, why would I turn myself in?"
he said in an interview in October. Brian Shore said he hoped
the trial would end the family's ordeal, one that consumes him as he hits the
road to sell his chemicals and as he goes to sleep each night. The trial is expected to
last two to five days. Specialist Shore said he is
confident he will be exonerated. He spent the week before his trial moving
his wife and two young daughters into new housing on post. Brian Shore said he's not
nervous either. "I know my kid. And I'm going in there with the
truth." External link: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/02/17/shore_0218.html |