I Don’t Believe What I’m Hearing . . .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 wounded.
It’s not like West actually harmed the prisoner … he just scared the truth out of him and, as a result saved some American troopers lives and effectively slowed down the terrorism around Tikrit.
According to Rowan Scarborough in the Washington Times, West told them in an e-mail this week that he was desperate to gain information to protect his soldiers. They face almost daily attacks as they work to impose security around Saba al Boor, near Tikrit, Saddam‘s hometown.
The story continued, “West’s lawyer, Neal Puckett, said the prosecutor has offered Col. West two choices: quit now, short of his 20-year retirement eligibility ,,, or face criminal proceedings that could lead to a trial. The assault charges carry a maximum penalty of eight years in prison.
“Puckett is a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who, as a judge advocate and military judge, handled more than 1,000 criminal cases. He said it is not unusual to suggest an officer quit rather than face charges.”
The Army relieved West of his battalion command, which effectively ends his career.
The way I got the story is: West troops were unable to get information from an individual (an Iraqi policeman turned in by an informant) who supposedly had made a comment that ‘more Americans were going to die.’ One can only suppose that the colonel took this personally since he was the battalion commander.
The Iraqi was not forthcoming so West drew his weapon, explained to the man that he was a poor shot and fired a round into a nearby barrel … the man was somewhat chastened, but still not forthcoming … so West fired another round a bit closer to the man, noting that his marksmanship was improving and he MIGHT be able to put the next round between the man’s eyes.
That noticeably loosened the man’s tongue and “West said the detainee then provided the names of two accomplices and told of another planned sniper attack the next day.
"I have never denied what happened and have always been brutally honest," said Col. West. "I accept responsibility for the episode, but my intent was to scare this individual and keep my soldiers out of a potential ambush. There were no further attacks from that town. We ... apprehended two other conspirators (a third fled town) and found out one of the conspirators was the father of a man we had detained for his Saddam Fedeyeen affiliation.
"(The Iraqi policeman [the detainee]) and his accomplices were a threat to our soldiers and the method was not right, but why should I lose 20 years of service or be forced into prison for protecting my men?"
The military has seen fit to put professionals and reservists in harm’s way and, since they’re fighting a no-holds-barred insurgent war in which the ‘bad guys’ don’t play by the rules of the Geneva Convention, it behooves the leaders to make the extra effort to save the lives of their troopers … particularly given the fact that troops continue to die almost daily.
Lt. Col. West did what was right and did what was necessary to save his troops … he should not be punished because the stuffed shirts in the judge advocate’s office and the Pentagon failed to support him.
Back to Active Unit Main News Page
