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| Afghanistan |
| Green Berets Face Hearing on Killing of Suspect in Afghan |
| 2007-09-21 |
| The Captain's Journal and Blackfive and Ace of Spades are on this. If the story is even close to as presented, then I believe we need to bring all our troops home now. From everywhere. And discharge them from service. It is wrong to have an army and expose it to harm if you won't back it up. By PAUL von ZIELBAUER Published: September 18, 2007 FORT BRAGG, N.C., Sept. 17 — From his position about 100 yards away, Master Sgt. Troy Anderson had a clear shot at the Afghan man standing outside a residential compound in a village near the Pakistan border last October. When Capt. Dave Staffel, the Special Forces officer in charge, gave the order to shoot, Sergeant Anderson fired a bullet into the man’s head, killing him. In June, Captain Staffel and Sergeant Anderson were charged with premeditated murder. On Tuesday, in a rare public examination of the rules that govern the actions of Special Operations troops in Afghanistan, a military hearing will convene at Fort Bragg to weigh the evidence against the two men, both Green Berets. The case revolves around differing interpretations of the kind of force that the Special Forces team that hunted and killed the man, Nawab Buntangyar, were allowed to use once they found him, apparently unarmed. To the Special Forces soldiers and their 12-man detachment, the shooting, near the village of Ster Kalay, was a textbook example of a classified mission completed in accordance with the American rules of engagement. They said those rules allowed the killing of Mr. Buntangyar, whom the American Special Operations Command here has called an “enemy combatant.” Mr. Buntangyar had organized suicide and roadside bomb attacks, Captain Staffel’s lawyer said. But to the two-star general in charge of the Special Operations forces in Afghanistan at the time, Frank H. Kearney, who has since become a three-star general, the episode appeared to be an unauthorized, illegal killing. In June, after two military investigations, General Kearney moved to have murder charges brought against Captain Staffel and Sergeant Anderson — respectively, the junior commissioned and senior noncommissioned officers of Operational Detachment Alpha 374, Third Battalion, Third Special Forces Group. The soldiers’ cases also highlight the level of scrutiny that General Kearney, who also ordered swift investigations into an elite Marine unit accused of killing Afghan civilians last March, has given to the actions of some of the most specialized and independent American troops fighting Taliban and insurgent forces along the border with Pakistan. Mark Waple, a civilian lawyer representing Captain Staffel, said the charges against his client and Sergeant Anderson carry a whiff of “military politics.” In an interview, Mr. Waple said that General Kearney proceeded with murder charges against the two soldiers even after an investigation by the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command concluded in April that the shooting had been “justifiable homicide.” |
| Posted by:Glenmore |
| #4 If there is a disagreement on what was permitted, the General in charge was not clear in giving his instructions, nor in confirming his intent was understood. It's a straightforward manager screw-up, and he either needs to be counselled and retrained or let go for incompetence in a critical skill set. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-09-21 23:31 |
| #3 keep General Kearney in the spotlight. IF he doesn't like it, he's a roach. Sounds like a PC/JAG FUBAR |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-09-21 21:24 |
| #2 Obviously the general is looking at a political career. Keep him in mind when he runs and remember. |
| Posted by: Xenophon 2007-09-21 21:03 |
| #1 i didn't evenb read it and agree with the first comment on top of the article. or better yet give them all a new car and a pat on the back |
| Posted by: sinse 2007-09-21 20:27 |