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| Home Front: Politix |
| Soldier admits his story of Iraqi boy death a lie |
| 2004-12-10 |
| When Army Sergeant Dennis Edwards spoke at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School last month, 100 students listened in rapt silence as he told chilling tales of battlefield horror in Iraq and criticized President Bush's motives for going to war. Edwards, 23, a Barnstable High School graduate, said he and two other soldiers shot and killed a 10-year-old boy in Iraq who pretended to be wounded and suddenly fired an AK-47 rifle. The boy was found to have explosives attached to his body, Edwards told the stunned audience. Now, Edwards has admitted to his superiors in the elite 82d Airborne Division that the story about the shooting was a lie, Army officials yesterday. As a result, the veteran of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan could be charged with making false statements, face a court-martial, and be stripped of his rank. His confession has also saddened Dennis-Yarmouth teachers and students, who said they felt honored and captivated by his appearance. ''We need to use this as a teachable moment," Superintendent Tony Pierantozzi said yesterday. ''We need to make sure our students . . . clearly understand that sometimes individuals might elaborate stories or examples for their own benefit." No. You should teach your students not to lie. Oops.. sorry that would be to judgemental..... Edwards, an air-defense technician who remains on active duty at Fort Bragg, N.C., is the first soldier in the famed paratroop division to be investigated on suspicion of lying about his experiences in Iraq or Afghanistan, Fletcher said. Edwards's superiors learned of his comments during routine reviews of media coverage of the division. In an interview later, the Times reported, Edwards said that ''we went over there for one reason, and because that fell through we're stuck over there for another reason." Edwards, who served in Iraq from August 2003 to March of this year, said US officials had not planned well for the mission. Quagmire! Fletcher said Edwards will not be disciplined for those comments. Although soldiers can be charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for ''disloyal statements," Fletcher said, the 82d Airborne Division has a ''strong policy" not to prosecute for ''political or policy-based" comments. Any comments on if this is a good or bad policy? |
| Posted by:CrazyFool |
| #2 ’’We don’t want to interfere with a soldier’s First Amendment rights," Since when did the First Amendment give you the right to lie? |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2004-12-10 5:37:59 PM |
| #1 I nominate Edwards for the: Harkin Self-Aggrandizement To Justify Unjustified Pontification and Looneytoon Lies Award. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-12-10 5:07:26 PM |