CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq — A top Army sniper testified Friday in a military court that he had ordered a subordinate to kill an unarmed Iraqi man who wandered into their hiding position near Iskandariya, then planted an AK-47 rifle near the body to support his false report about the shooting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/world/middleeast/09iraq.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

oh the NY times theres a respectable source.

It's the paper of record in the United States. Whatever slant you believe it may have, I'm not sure that there is any other news source other than first hand knowledge which can possibly be considered any more respectable.

NY times is not respectable no "NEWS" agency is respectable! they're all biased and NY times is a leftist rag.

sowhat exactly are you saying the story is a make believe fantasy?

While I certainly respect your opinion that you would prefer your news from a different source than the NYT, I'm just curious as yo where you get your news from? If you distrust all media outlets, then I can't imagine you are able to get much news at all that way...

I just wouldn't buy into it lock Stock and Barrel! but then I don't believe anything I read. all "NEWS" agencies are either left biased or right biased, they should all say "we report, you decide" because they're not gonna do anything to upset their followers.

Under a grant of immunity, the sniper, Sgt. Michael A. Hensley, an expert marksman and sniper trainer, testified in the court-martial of Sgt. Evan Vela. Sergeant Vela is accused of murder, impeding a military investigation and planting evidence to cover up an unjust shooting. An earlier charge of premeditated murder was dropped.

Sergeant Vela is the third soldier to be charged in the death of the Iraqi, Genei Nesir Khudair al-Janabi, last May. Sergeant Hensley and another soldier, Specialist Jorge G. Sandoval Jr., were acquitted of murder charges last year, but were convicted of planting evidence. As part of his sentence, Sergeant Hensley was demoted from staff sergeant.

All three soldiers were elite snipers with the 501st Infantry Regiment, Fourth Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska.

The military trials have highlighted a secret baiting program, begun in early 2007, in which snipers placed lures like fake explosives or other weaponry to draw insurgents into the open, where they could be killed.

But Sergeant Hensley’s testimony at the base here suggested that by last spring, in addition to baiting and killing, soldiers had added a new tactic: carrying weapons to plant on bodies to deter prosecution.

Sergeant Vela’s lawyer, James Culp, of Austin, Tex., did not dispute that his client had shot and killed Mr. Janabi, but emphasized the battlefield stresses the soldiers endured. Mr. Culp argued that Sergeant Vela had had only a few hours of sleep over three days of constant operations.

Mr. Culp also said his client’s superiors pressed his squad to increase their kill rate, while holding out the threat of prosecution for unjust shootings.

“It’s not a case of beyond reasonable doubt,” Mr. Culp said in an interview after Friday’s proceeding. “It’s about giving warriors the benefit of the doubt.”

Sergeant Vela may testify Saturday.

Sergeant Hensley said that on May 11, he led his squad to a hiding spot overlooking a village they suspected was controlled by Sunni insurgents. But after several days with little rest, soldiers were drifting into sleep.

“I woke up to a local national squatting in front me with his hands up,” Sergeant Hensley testified. The man was Mr. Janabi, who lived nearby. Sergeant Hensley said he tackled Mr. Janabi and pinned him to the ground.

Mr. Janabi was followed into the hide-out by his son, Mustafa, 17. Sergeant Hensley and his team held the two captive until he spotted several Iraqi men in the distance and Mr. Janabi became agitated. Sergeant Hensley feared that Mr. Janabi’s thrashing would alert the other Iraqis.

Sergeant Hensley said he released the boy and ordered everyone except Sergeant Vela to leave because he “didn’t want them to bear witness” to what they were about to do.

“I pretty much knew at this point that something was going to happen to the father,” Sergeant Hensley testified. “He was making too much noise. I thought that the only way to protect my guys was to take this guy’s life.”

Sergeant Hensley said he ordered Sergeant Vela to load his 9-millimeter pistol, and then made four radio calls to his command post to support a cover story. The first call reported that an Iraqi man was approaching, the second that the man was armed, the third that the sergeant was preparing to shoot.

The fourth call confirmed that he had killed his target.

“At that point his head was at Sergeant Vela’s feet, and I asked him if he was ready and then I moved out of the way,” Sergeant Hensley said. He ordered Sergeant Vela to fire, and Sergeant Vela complied immediately, Sergeant Hensley said.

“A round was fired into his head,” he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/world/middleeast/09iraq.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
here is the whole story since you didnt read it.....you decide

and you actually believe this story word for word huh??

Okay, let's break down this story:

These are sniper units, whose sole advantage is waiting in secret and not being seen. They are unmanned and underarmed to ever enter into a full out conflict with armed enemy.

"Sergeant Hensley said that on May 11, he led his squad to a hiding spot overlooking a village they suspected was controlled by Sunni insurgents. But after several days with little rest, soldiers were drifting into sleep."

Village that was suspected to be controlled by Sunni insurgents.

"Mr. Janabi was followed into the hide-out by his son, Mustafa, 17. Sergeant Hensley and his team held the two captive until he spotted several Iraqi men in the distance and Mr. Janabi became agitated. Sergeant Hensley feared that Mr. Janabi’s thrashing would alert the other Iraqis."

Several Iraqi men approaching the are and this captive was thrashing about causing plenty of noise and threatening to expose their position.

"Sergeant Hensley testified. “He was making too much noise. I thought that the only way to protect my guys was to take this guy’s life.”"

Felt the lives and safety of his squad was in serious threat.

--------

Okay, after that, let us parallel it to the story of Michael Murphy, as many of you may know he was the only soldier in Afghanistan thus far to received The Medal of Honor. In the story by the lone survivor of the mission, Marcus Luttrell, he details how their mission was compromised and it led to the deaths of his three Special Forces buddies.

They had the mission to find a key insurgent and during the mission they were inbedded in an army that was approached by two Afghanis, a father and a son, and captured them as the Afghanis stumbled upon them. They did not know what to do with them, release them or shoot them. They knew if they released them they could warn the al Qaeda insurgents and compromise the mission and threaten their lives, or they could shoot them immediately. However, they were at odds for they did not want to kill unarmed 'civilians' for they knew that the press would have a field-day with it, deem them as evil criminals and they would be tried. This was the direct words of Marcus Luttrell. Plus, there was the Christian factor of killing he detailed as well.

So, they released them.

Continuing to go further north suddenly they see in the distance dozens of armed al Qaeda and insurgents approaching in their direction, looking for them. Now these are Special Forces and there are only 4 of them, and the bad guys know exactly in what general vicinity they are. Marcus details how he and his men knew immediately their position had been given up by the two they had released.

To make the story short, suggest you all pick up the book, Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell, the 4 Special Forces members are highly outnumbered and all are killed besides Marcus who gets away and gets very fortunate. His rescue and protection is very interesting as well.

How Michael Murphy dies is very heroic as well, they had dropped the radio in the field right before the mountainside they had decided to go down. Under heavy fire and no cover Murphy knew he had to call to base or they were all dead. So, he did, shot multiple times while informing the base of their position and how the mission had be compromised.

Anyways, the point of the story is, by releasing the 'civilians' who discovered their position they compromised their mission, and put their lives in extreme danger which led to their deaths and one man being the sole survivor. Knowing such, what would you do when your position was compromised, you are undermanned, outgunned, and in a very bad position to survive should a force come at you?

Most people nowadays never see combat (thankfully), its kinda funny how our worries have evolved into things such as popularity or money. One thing you have to understand is when you fight a war you are reverting back to a much older lifestyle of survival. That is your one basic worry, whether or not you and your buddies will survive. Its a bit of a kill or be killed situation. This is why they say "war is hell" and why i say, until you've actually fought in it, and by fighting in it, i mean encounter near-death experiences, seen your buddies die, and killing people to prevent that from happening again, you really shouldn't try to criticize people for how they handle situations that are beyond your comprehension. No good decision was ever made in a swivel chair. — George S. Patton

pretty pathetic america is now so low we have to plant evidence to justify a murder or spin a story to make it seem "OK".

the pathetic part is that they feel they need to plant this "evidence" to justify their actions to people who question their every move. War is, and never will be "ok". So stop attacking our soldiers for responding to a situation at hand.

I realy dont think it can be called a war anymore, its more like a colonial upriseing.

nevertheless, i can understand your disgust, but those soldiers were just trying to get through a bad situation. And to them, it was,and still is very much a war.

I believe it word for word for the most part since the man testifieng was granted immunity. but I suppose it would be prudent to wait and see how the trial turns out. Its verry sad that stumbling into a snipers nest in Iraq is a death sentence. but what confuses me is that the boy was allowed to leave and they killed the father. I would think that if they were trying to conceal themselves they would have taken both there lives.

So, you do not think the soldiers have to weigh the options and make the decision immediately? The Iraqi man was thrashing about and they were afraid more would be alerted of their presence and they would be compromised.

Did you not read my previous post? They allowed the two to go on their own way, mission was compromised, and three of the soldiers were killed because of it.

Colonial Uprising. That is a ridiculous statement. Iraqis are in FULL control of 9 of the 18 provinces and they are likely to be in control of 14 of them by the end of this year. They have their own government, constitution, elections, and have paid off all IMF loans they receive with the oil revenues they are pumping out at near pre-war levels.

i do agree with you on both counts. It is a very sad day when you accidently stumble on your death in your own back yard. Definately a terrible situation. I can't lie, I also questioned why they let the boy go, but killed the older guy. Guess we will find out more info after the trials. I still make an effort to not question the guys on the ground since these situations can get so incredibly tricky. Its really hard to know what their reasoning was. Or even if their were fully capable of reasoning since they were severly sleep deprived and probably malnurished.

This is a war, and horrible unthinkable things are done during a war, I don't understand why anyone would have trouble believing that this could happen. Unarmed people are killed everyday in the US under much less stressful conditions.

I have family fighting over there right now and the change in the letters that we are recieving back is uncanny. There are good and bad in every profession. Why would a soldier be any
different?

Or if they felt the guy was going to expose their position, especially considering he was thrashing about even though it surely sounds like they understood and spoke english. Least they didn't execute the guy in front of the kid. I mean, they could certainly still be in the absolute wrong for all of this, that is quite possible, but I'm just adding the other side to the equation for thought.