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LTC ALLEN B. WEST
The disgraceful treatment dished out to Lt. Col. Allen B. West, who faced prosecution for firing his weapon to intimidate an Iraqi detainee into providing information about an upcoming assault on West’s unit, may be about to to be resolved.
Looks like he won’t be court-marshalled but will have to retire.
Honestly, the Army has to ask itself, how it is ever going to fight terrorism, if it’s soldiers always have one hand tied behind their backs.
Lt. Col. Allen B. West, who faced criminal charges for firing his weapon to intimidate an Iraqi detainee into providing information about an upcoming assault on West’s unit, has himself, dodged a bullet.

LTC West’s actions yielded critical information which enabled West and his soldiers to thwart the attack -- thus saving the lives of their fellow soldiers. It was and remains our position that LTC West’s actions were justified. Indeed, President Bush, on his visit to Iraq Thanksgiving Day, said "In some cases, the measured use of force is all that protects us from a chaotic world ruled by force." We believe this certainly applies in the case of LTC West.

To that end, The Federalist’s companion site, PatriotPetitions.US, collected more than 130,000 signatures asking President George Bush, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, acting Secretary of the Army Secretary Les Brownlee and Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno, exonerate LTC West from this grossly misguided prosecution and any criminal charges.

On the day LTC West’s Article 32 Board convened, Patriot Petitions released the results of the petition in support of LTC West. We learned yesterday afternoon, that the Army hearing officer in this case, LTC James Davis, has recommended to MGEN Raymond Odierno, the 4th Infantry Division commander, Article 15 administrative correction for LTC West -- but no court-martial. MGEN Odierno can accept or decline that recommendation.

"It’s extremely good news," said Neal Puckett, LTC West’s attorney. "This is what we think the Army should have done from the very beginning." LTC West indicated from the start of this case that he was willing to accept nonjudicial Article 15 punishment and then retire. MGEN Odierno has already relieved him of his artillery battalion command, a career killer. LTC West has submitted a retirement request and acting Army Secretary Les Brownlee may retire LTC West at his current rank, or at the reduced rank of major.

We contend that LTC West should have received honorable recognition for his actions and be promoted to full Colonel -- his considerable experience will be missed on the frontlines of our war with Jihadistan.


Posted by: tipper. 2003-12-11
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=22540