Sgt. Evan Vela - collection
David Grace
US snipers told to lay bait for Iraqis
September 25, 2007
WASHINGTON: US military snipers in Iraq are reportedly
baiting for Iraqis by scattering detonation cord,
plastic explosives and ammunition in the streets
before killing those who pick them up, in a program
ordered by the Pentagon.
The classified military program was described in
investigative documents related to recently filed
murder charges against three US snipers accused of
planting evidence on Iraqis they killed, The
Washington Post reported yesterday.
"Baiting is putting an object out there that we know
they will use, with the intention of destroying the
enemy," Captain Matthew Didier, the leader of a sniper
scout platoon, is quoted as saying in a sworn
statement.
"Basically, we would put an item out there and watch
it," he says. "If someone found the item, picked it up
and attempted to leave with the item, we would engage
the individual, as I saw this as a sign they would use
the item against US forces."
In documents obtained by the Washington Post from
family members of the accused soldiers, Captain Didier
says members of the Pentagon's Asymmetric Warfare
Group visited his unit in January and later passed
along ammunition boxes filled with the "drop items" to
be used "to disrupt ... attempts at harming coalition
forces and give us the upper hand in a fight".
US National Institute of Military Justice president
Eugene Fidell said such a baiting program should be
reviewed.
"In a country that is awash in armaments and magazines
and implements of war, if every time somebody picked
up something that was potentially useful as a weapon,
you might as well ask every Iraqi to walk around with
a target on his back," Mr Fidell told the newspaper.
US soldiers said about a dozen platoon members were
aware of the program, and numerous others knew about
the "drop items" but did not know their purpose, the
Post reported.
Two soldiers, who had not been officially told about
the program, came forward with allegations of
wrongdoing after they learned they were going to be
punished for falling asleep on a sniper mission, the
paper said.
Army officials declined to discuss the classified
program, according to the report.
After US units in the area suffered heavy losses,
members of the sniper platoon said they felt pressure
from commanders to kill more insurgents.
The sniper unit, dubbed "the painted demons" because
of their use of tiger-stripe face paint, often pursued
insurgents going to and from hidden weapons caches.
Months after the program's introduction, three snipers
in Captain Didier's platoon were charged with murder
for allegedly using items to make the killings appear
legitimate, the Post reported.
While the three alleged shootings may not specifically
have been part of the classified program, defence
lawyers argue that the program paved the way for the
soldiers' actions by blurring the legal lines of
killing.
James Culp, a civilian lawyer for one of the snipers,
Sergeant Evan Vela, said the soldiers were
"battle-fatigued pawns in a newfangled concept of
'baiting' warfare that, like an onion, perhaps looked
good on the surface, but started stinking to high hell
the minute the layers were pulled back and
scrutinised".
Specialist Jorge Sandoval and Sergeant Michael Hensley
allegedly put wire - often used to detonate bombs - in
the pocket of an Iraqi man whom Specialist Sandoval
had shot on April 27 on Sergeant Hensley's orders.
The man was cutting grass when he was shot, court
documents show. The pair were charged with murder and
with planting evidence.
Two weeks after the killing, Specialist Sandoval and
his sniper team spent the night in the village of
Jurf-as-Sakhr on the Euphrates River. While other
snipers slept, Sergeant Hensley watched as an Iraqi
man, Genei Nesir Khudair, approached the hide.
Sergeant Hensley radioed to Captain Didier for
permission to go for a "close kill".
"I told him that as the ground forces commander, I
would authorise that if it was necessary," Captain
Didier testified.
"And about five minutes later, he told me he had
indeed killed the individual."
The US military alleges that Sergeant Vela, on
Sergeant Hensley's order, shot the Iraqi twice in the
head after he had been taken into custody. It was
Sergeant Vela's first kill, and he was visibly shaken.
"He looked weird," Sergeant Robert Redfern testified.
"Just messed up from it."
Sergeant Vela and Sergeant Hensley claimed the man had
an AK-47 with him and that he posed a threat, but
other soldiers alleged the AK-47 was planted next to
Khudair's body after he was shot.
Specialist Sandoval's lawyer, Captain Craig Drummond,
told the Post his client was innocent.
Sergeant Hensley is also accused of killing an Iraqi
man the sniper team suspected of placing wires on a
road. Sergeant Hensley allegedly shot the man outside
his home, claiming he appeared to be moving for a
weapon.
Specialist Sandoval is expected to face a
court-martial in Baghdad tomorrow.
Sergeant Vela's father, Curtis Carnahan, was quoted by
the Post as saying the US military was holding the
proceedings in a war zone to hide the facts.
AFP, agencies
+++++
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070925/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_snipers
U.S. snipers accused of 'baiting' Iraqis
By PAULINE JELINEK and ROBERT BURNS, Associated Press
Writers
Sept 24, 2007 - 1 hour, 4 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Army snipers hunting insurgents in Iraq
were under orders to "bait" their targets with
suspicious materials, such as detonation cords, and
then kill whoever picked up the items, according to
the defense attorney for a soldier accused of planting
evidence on an Iraqi he killed. Gary Myers, an
attorney for Sgt. Evan Vela, said Monday his client
had acted "pursuant to orders."
"We believe that our client has done nothing more than
he was instructed to do by superiors," Myers said in a
telephone interview.
Myers and Vela's father, Curtis Carnahan of Idaho
Falls, Idaho, said in separate interviews that sworn
statements and testimony in the cases of two other
accused Ranger snipers indicate that the Army has a
classified program that encourages snipers to "bait"
potential targets and then kill whoever takes the
bait.
The Army on Monday declined to confirm such a program
exists.
"To prevent the enemy from learning about our tactics,
techniques and training procedures, we don't discuss
specific methods targeting enemy combatants," said
Paul Boyce, an Army spokesman.
Boyce also said there are no classified programs that
authorize the murder of Iraqi civilians or the use of
"drop weapons" to make killings appeared to be legally
justified, which is what Vela and the two other
snipers are accused of doing.
The transcript of a court hearing for two of the three
accused snipers makes several references to the
existence of a classified "baiting" program but
provides few details of how it works. A copy of the
transcript was provided to The Associated Press by
Vela's father.
The Washington Post, which first reported the
existence of the "baiting" program, cited the sworn
statement of Capt. Matthew P. Didier, the leader of a
Ranger sniper scout platoon.
"Baiting is putting an object out there that we know
they will use, with the intention of destroying the
enemy," Didier said in the statement. "Basically, we
would put an item out there and watch it. If someone
found the item, picked it up and attempted to leave
with the item, we would engage the individual as I saw
this as a sign they would use the item against U.S.
forces."
The Post said the program was devised by the Army's
Asymmetric Warfare Group, which advises commanders on
more effective methods in today's unconventional
conflicts, including ways to combat roadside bombs.
Within months of the "baiting" program's introduction,
three snipers in Didier's platoon were charged with
murder for allegedly using those items and others to
make shootings seem legitimate, according to the Post.
The Post said that although it doesn't appear that the
three alleged shootings were specifically part of the
classified program, defense attorneys argue that the
program may have encouraged them by blurring the legal
lines in a complex war zone.
The court martial of one of the accused soldiers,
Spec. Jorge Sandoval Jr., is scheduled to begin in
Baghdad on Wednesday. Also facing premeditated murder
charges are Vela and Staff Sgt. Michael Hensley.
They are part of the Headquarters and Headquarters
Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th
Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, based at
Fort Richardson, Alaska.
+++++
http://sergeantevanveladefensefund.org/
An Appeal From The Parents of Sergeant Evan Vela We
are the proud parents of an Army Ranger. We are
Curtis G. Carnahan and Anna Vela of St. Anthony,
Idaho. Our son, Evan, has been wrongly accused of the
murder of a military-age Iraqi male in Iraq. Of our
four children, two serve in the US Armed Forces. Evan
is in the Army, and Cory is an active six-year veteran
in the Navy. Evan has served for three years and is
currently a Sergeant. He is married with a family.
Evan and his wife, Alyssa have two children, a son,
Jarom, who is four years old, and a daughter, Blair,
who is 5 months old. His unit, the 1st Battalion,
501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th
Infantry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska,
has served tough assignments in Iraq. On or about June
23rd of 2007, our son, Sergeant Evan Vela, was engaged
in combat action in Iskandariyah, one of the most
dangerous areas in Iraq known as the Triangle of
Death. Evan was a member of a sniper scout squad
that operated for nearly nine continuous months behind
enemy lines. Evan has been charged with one count of
premeditated murder of a military-age Iraqi male,
planting weapons, false official statement, and
obstruction of justice. The charges against Evan
carry the possibility of confinement for life without
parole. These charges are the result of our son being
put into an impossible and untenable situation in
Iraq. Evan is being held in a Field Confinement
Facility in Kuwait, and the Army is trying to rush him
to trial in Baghdad. The Army intends to hold Evans
trial in Iraq, even if his unit redeploys to Alaska
before the trial is conducted. We know and believe
in our son. He is no murderer. For the last year,
Evan has been fighting for our country and our way of
life. Evan has served our country with honor, pride
and distinction. Evan has proven his bravery by
volunteering for the Army, becoming a paratrooper, a
Ranger, an expert infantryman, and for service in
Iraq. Our son is a patriot and a hero. Evan needs
help. Our son is represented by the law firm of Gary
Myers, James Culp, and Associates. Gary Myers is a
former JAG Officer, and James Culp is a former JAG
Officer, paratrooper and infantry sergeant. Mr. Myers
and Mr. Culp only practice military law, and do so
worldwide. Mr. Myers and Mr. Culp have extended
themselves greatly for our family, and are doing
everything possible in defense of Evan. Though they
are attempting to get Evans trial moved to the United
States, Mr. Culp is willing to put himself in harms
way by flying into Baghdad where the hearings are
currently scheduled to be held. We are proud
Americans. We fly our countrys flag with pride at
our home. We are a hard working, blue-collar family
who has always believed that we could take care of our
own problems, as well as those of our children. Yet
in this instance, our family has exhausted all of our
resources. We have mortgaged our home, drained our
savings accounts, and gotten as much help from family
and friends as possible. We have given our children
and our financial security to this war. What lies
ahead is beyond the scope of our abilities. We have
nothing more to give and desperately need your help.
We have established a trust fund for Evan. Mr.
William R. Forsberg, Attorney at Law, Rexburg, Idaho
has set up the fund, and Mr. Brad Smith, CPA, also of
Rexburg is the funds Trustee. We are appealing to
our fellow Americans to help our son by contributing
to the Sergeant Evan Vela Defense Fund. Your
contributions can be made in person at any Key Bank
office across the country or by mail at:
Evan Vela Defense Fund, KeyBank
C/O Ann Marie Chaffin
1625 Northgate Mile
Idaho Falls, ID 83401
Thank You. May God Bless America and Our Troops.
Curtis G. Carnahan & Anna Vela
Interview with father of Evan Vela, Curtis Carnahan on
News Channel Six.
http://www.kpvi.com/global/story.asp?s=7043955
Contact
ta...@sergeantevanveladefensefund.org
+++++
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sergeant, is a veteran trial lawyer and the first
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with the U.S. Army Trial Defense Service as a Defense
Counsel and Senior Defense Counsel.
A graduate of both UCLA and the UC Berkeley School of
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Featured Cases
HADITHA
On 19 November 2005, Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas, a
U.S. Marine, was killed in an improvised explosive
attack (IED) while on a convoy in Haditha, Iraq.
Several other Marines responded to the attack. In late
December 2006, military prosecutors charged four
Marines involved in the subsequent battle with murder.
The firm of Gary Myers, James Culp and Associates
represents Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt, one of the
charged Marines.
News clips:
<http://mcmilitarylaw.com/news.php#haditha>
ABU GHRAIB
Beginning in 2004, numerous accounts of prisoner abuse
in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq came to the publics
attention. The acts were alleged to have been
committed by various Soldiers, CIA officers, and
contractors involved in the occupation of Iraq.
Seven U.S. Army Soldiers were eventually charged with
various offenses including dereliction of duty,
maltreatment, aggravated assault, and battery. The Abu
Ghraib courts-martial were politically charged and
were riddled with issues of unlawful command
influence.
As civilian counsel for the most senior of the seven
Soldiers charged, Gary Myers openly challenged several
of the Armys decisions regarding who would be
charged, arguing that several key leaders who were
directly responsible for the conditions that led to
the abuses were escaping justice.
Gary Myers also challenged the Armys decision to hold
several of the courts-martial in Iraq though most of
the witnesses had already rotated out of the combat
zone. For more on Gary Myers role in the trials and
the subject of who was ultimately responsible for the
abuses, See Chain of Command, published by Harper
Collins, 2005.
News clips:
<http://mcmilitarylaw.com/news.php#abu>
MY LAI
On 16 March, 1968, in the hamlet of My Lai, Vietnam,
U.S. soldiers of C Company 1st Battalion, 20th
Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, Americal Division
killed hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians,
mostly women and children. The massacre prompted
widespread outrage around the world and reduced
American support at home for the war in Vietnam. Lt
William Calley, the units platoon leader, was charged
with several counts of premeditated murder in
September 1969.
Several other officers and enlisted men were later
charged with related crimes. Lt Calley alleged that he
and his men had been ordered to commit the massacre by
their Company Commander, Captain Ernest Medina.
Lt Calley was convicted in 1971 of premeditated murder
in ordering the shootings and initially sentenced to
life in prison. However, two days later President
Richard Nixon ordered him released from prison,
pending appeal of his sentence. Lt Calley served 3=
years of house arrest in his quarters at Fort Benning,
Georgia, and was then ordered freed by a federal
judge.
Captain Medina was acquitted of any wrongdoing during
a highly publicized trial. See Medina, Mary McCarthy,
published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972, for a
recounting of the trial of U.S. v. Medina and Mr.
Myers's participation in it. Of then Captain Myers,
Mary McCarthy wrote:
Widmers (Captain Medinas RTO and Captain Myers
client) determination, in any case, was matched by
that of his defender, who appeared in the courtroom
like some uncompromising puritan angel, wearing full
regulation uniform that stood out dark and trim
against the summer tans of military counsel and the
M.P.s on guard. Gary Myers was the Aubrey Daniel (Lt
Calleys prosecutor) of the Medina case. One could
imagine him as belonging to that idealistic cell of
young lawyers in JAG who had argued for a
Nuremberg-style war-crimes trial. Pg. 51.
News clips:
<http://mcmilitarylaw.com/news.php#my>
SGT CHARLES JENKINS
In the early morning hours of Jan. 5, 1965, Sergeant
Charles Robert Jenkins, then 24 years old, was leading
a night reconnaissance patrol near the Demilitarized
Zone (DMZ) that separates North Korea from South
Korea.
At around 2:30 a.m., he told his men he was going to
investigate the road up ahead . . . and disappeared.
Almost 40 years later, Sergeant Charles Jenkins
appeared before a U.S. general court-martial at a U.S.
military base near Tokyo. From a packed courtroom and
closed-circuit viewing hall, the world got its first
extended look at the soldier who came in from the
cold.
Originally charged with one count of desertion, one of
aiding the enemy, two of soliciting others to desert,
and four charges of encouraging disloyalty, Jenkins
came to court with a pretrial agreement negotiated by
his attorney, James Culp, in which he would plead
guilty only to desertion and aiding the enemy. The
plea agreement also guaranteed Jenkins a maximum of 30
days' confinement.
For more on the court martial of Charles Jenkins and
James Culps participation in it, look for Charles
Jenkins autobiography, To Tell The Truth, scheduled
to be printed in English in December of 2007 by
University Press.
News clips:
<http://mcmilitarylaw.com/news.php#jenkins>
Mahmudiya
In July of 2006, U.S. Army prosecutors in Iraq charged
four infantry soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division
with the rape of an Iraqi girl and the murder of her
family in a village near the market town of Mahmudiya,
Iraq. A fifth person accused of the crime, a
discharged private first class, was arrested by
federal authorities in North Carolina.
The charges against the four soldiers carried the
possibility of punishments that included life in
prison without the possibility of parole, and death.
Over the next several months James Culp and his
co-counsel, who represented one of the 4 soldiers
charged, successfully argued that the death penalty
was an inappropriate sentence for their soldier-client
who had been severely affected by the constant fear of
death, the trauma of several devastating incidents
that the soldier had experienced in two combat tours
in Iraq, and a complete leadership failure that had
abandoned the soldiers at a remote checkpoint in the
heart of the Triangle of Death for nearly a month.
Avoiding both the death penalty and a life sentence,
in November of 2006, the soldier was sentenced to a
term of years that guaranteed his eligibility for
parole.
News clips:
<http://mcmilitarylaw.com/news.php#mahmudiya>
RAMADI
On 25 June 2006, the U.S. Army formally announced that
two soldiers assigned to the 1st Battalion, 109th
Infantry (mechanized) of the Pennsylvania National
Guard "have been charged with several violations of
the uniform code of military justice." "Specialist
Nathan B. Lynn was charged with one count of voluntary
manslaughter for allegedly shooting an unarmed male
Iraqi civilian on February 15 in front of a home where
Lynn was pulling security for members of his unit,"
the military said. Lynn was also charged with one
count of obstructing justice for allegedly conspiring
with another soldier who allegedly placed an AK-47 gun
near the body of the mortally wounded man.
A month later, during an Article 32 investigative
hearing held at the U.S. military headquarters in
Baghdad, the Government prosecutor insisted that the
case against SPC Lynn should go forward to
court-marital, stating "danger in and of itself does
not mean soldiers have carte blanche to act in
whatever way they want." SPC Lynns lawyer, James
Culp, successfully argued throughout the investigative
hearing that the facts of the case did not support the
Governments allegations against SPC Lynn and that his
client should be allowed to go home.
The chief investigator in the case agreed with Culp
and recommended that the manslaughter charge against
Lynn be dismissed on the grounds that Lynn believed
the Iraqi man was armed and so acted within the rules
of engagement in killing him. The conspiracy charge,
that Lynn knew that others placed an AK-47 rifle next
to Zabens body to justify the shooting, was also
dropped on the grounds there was no proof Lynn was
aware of this. "This is a war, and we were stationed
in one of the worst places in Iraq," Lynn said in a
telephone interview from Baghdad. "This fell within
the guidelines of my ROE.
News clips:
<http://mcmilitarylaw.com/news.php#ramadi>
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+++++
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/07/third-us-army-soldier-charged-with.php
Monday, July 02, 2007
Third US Army soldier charged with premeditated murder
of Iraqis
Michael Sung at 3:24 PM ET
Photo source or description
[JURIST] The Multinational Force-Iraq (MNF-I)
[official website] announced Monday that US Army Sgt.
Evan Vela has been charged [press release] with
premeditated murder, obstruction of justice,
wrongfully placing weapons with the remains of
decreased Iraqis, and making a false official
statement in connection with the killing of three
unarmed Iraqis in three separate incidents between
April and June 2007 in the vicinity of Iskandariyah,
Iraq [GlobalSecurity backgrounder]. Vela is the third
US soldier charged over the killings.
Last Saturday, MNF-I announced similar charges [JURIST
report] against Staff Sergeant Michael A. Hensley and
Specialist Jorge G. Sandoval, Jr. The three will face
an Article 32 hearing [JAG backgrounder] to determine
whether they will face courts-martial. If convicted of
premeditated murder, Hensley, Sandoval, and Vela could
face the death penalty. AP has more.
+++++
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070702/D8Q4JGTG0.html
Third GI Charged in Iraq Murder Probe
Jul 2, 2007 1:38 PM (ET)
BAGHDAD (AP) - A third U.S. soldier has been charged
in an investigation into alleged attempts to cover up
the deaths of Iraqi civilians by planting weapons to
portray them as combatants, the U.S. military said
Monday.
Sgt. Evan Vela, of Phoenix, Idaho, was charged Sunday
with one count of premeditated murder, making a false
official statement and obstruction of justice, the
military said in a statement. He was placed in
pretrial confinement.
Two other soldiers - Staff Sgt. Michael A. Hensley, of
Candler, N.C., and Spc. Jorge G. Sandoval, Jr., of
Laredo, Texas - were charged last week for allegedly
killing three Iraqis and placing weapons on their
bodies to make them appear as fighters. Vela is
charged in one of the alleged slayings, but the
military statement did not specify which incident.
Military prosecutors say the killings occurred between
April and June near Iskandariyah, a mostly Sunni Arab
city south of Baghdad.
All three soldiers are assigned to Headquarters and
Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry
Regiment, 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry
Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska.
+++++
http://www.rivercityweekly.com/paper%5C091307%5C0913%20RCW%20Page%2008.pdf.
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:kqp6TU9RjLMJ:www.rivercityweekly.com/paper%255C091307%255C0913%2520RCW%2520Page%252008.pdf+Sgt.+Evan+Vela&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us&client=firefox-a
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:kqp6TU9RjLMJ:www.rivercityweekly.com/paper%255C091307%255C0913%2520RCW%2520Page%252008.pdf+Sgt.+Evan+Vela&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us&client=firefox-a
Page 1
8 RIVER CITY WEEKLY September 13, 2007
Defend An
Idaho Soldier
Sgt. Evan Vela
Defense Fund
An appeal from the parents of Sergeant Evan Vela of
St. Anthony:
We are the proud parents of an Army Ranger.
We are Curtis G. Carnahan and Anna Vela of St.
Anthony, Idaho. Our son, Evan, has been wrongly
accused of the murder of a military-age Iraqi male in
Iraq.
Of our four children, two serve in the US Armed
Forces. Evan is in the Army, and Cory is an active
six-year veteran in the Navy. Evan has served for
three years and is currently a Sergeant. He is married
to Alyssa and they have two children, Jarom, 4, and
Blair, 5 months. His unit, the 1st Battalion, 501st
Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th
Infanatry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska,
has served tough assignments in Iraq.
On or about June 23rd of 2007, our son, Sergeant Evan
Vela, was engaged in combat action in Iskandariyah,
one of the most dangerous areas in Iraq known as the
Triangle of Death. Evan was a member of a sniper scout
squad that operated for nearly nine continuous months
behind enemy lines.
Evan has been charged with one count of premeditated
murder of a military-age Iraqi male, planting weapons,
false official statement, and obstruction of justice.
The charges against Evan carry the possibility of
confinement for life without parole. These charges are
the result of our son being put into an impossible and
untenable situation in Iraq. Evan is being held in a
Field Confinement Facility in Kuwait, and the Army is
trying to rush him to trial in Baghdad. The Army
intends to hold Evan s trial in Iraq, even if his
unit redeploys to Alaska before the trial is
conducted. We know and believe in our son. He is no
murderer. For the last year, Evan has been fighting
for our country and our way of life. Evan has served
our country with honor, pride and distinction. Evan
has proven his bravery by volunteering for the Army,
becoming a paratrooper, a Ranger, an expert
infantryman, and for service in Iraq. Our son is a
patriot and a hero.
Evan needs help.
Our son is represented by the law firm of Gary Myers,
James Culp, and Associates.
Gary Myers is a former JAG Officer, and James Culp is
a former JAG Officer, paratrooper and infantry
sergeant. Mr. Myers and Mr. Culp only practice
military law, and do so worldwide, and they have
extended themselves greatly for our family. They are
doing everything possible in Evans defense. Though
they are attempting to get Evans trial moved to the
United States, Mr. Culp is willing to put himself in
harms way by flying into Baghdad where the hearings
are currently scheduled to be held. We are proud
Americans. We fly our countrys flag with pride at our
home. We are a hard working, blue-collar family who
has always believed that we could take care of our own
problems, as well as those of our children. Yet in
this instance, our family has exhausted all of our
resources. We have mortgaged our home, drained our
savings accounts, and gotten as much help from family
and friends as possible. We have given
our children and our financial security to this war. .
What lies ahead is beyond the scope of our abilities.
We have nothing more to give and desperately need your
help. We have established a trust fund for Evan. Mr.
William R. Forsberg, Attorney at Law, Rexburg, Idaho
has set up the fund, and Mr. Brad Smith, CPA, also of
Rexburg is the funds Trustee. We are appealing to our
fellow Americans to help our son by contributing to
the Sergeant Evan Vela Defense Fund.
Your contributions can be made in person at any Key
Bank office across the country, by Paypal at
www.sergeantevanveladefensefund.org, or by mail:
Evan Vela Defense Fund, KeyBank
c/o Ann Marie Chaffin
1625 Northgate Mile
Idaho Falls, ID 83401
For more information go to:
www.sergeantevanveladefensefund.org
For more information about Gary Myers,
James Culp & Associates go to www.mcmilitarylaw.com
Thank you. May God bless America and our troops.
Curtis G. Carnahan & Anna Vela
Sgt. Evan Vela needs communitys help
Sgt. Evan Vela of St. Anthony is being held in Kuwait,
awaiting trial on charges that he wrongfully killed an
Iraqi man. Vela is a sniper and an Army Ranger and was
following orders, his father Curtis Carnahan said.
Vela is also a husband and the father of a four year
old and a five month old.
A couple of us at River City Weekly have known Sgt.
Velas father Curtis for years he works at an Idaho
Falls printing company. This is a good, hard-working
family, and they need our communitys help now.
Please consider making a donation to help this family
hire attorneys to bring their son home. Sgt. Vela has
served the country with honor. His family has provided
the story on this page (left).
If you are able to make a donation, you can take a
check payable to the Evan Vela Defense Fund, to Ann
Marie Chaffin at Key Bank, 1625 Northgate Mile. Or you
can bring a check payable to the defense fund to our
office, and we will make a daily deposit for him at
Key Bank.
If all of the nearly 37,000 people who received this
newspaper donated just $2, his defense fund would be
more than enough to get his family the help they need.
For more information, visit
www.sergeantevanveladefensefund.org.
+++++
http://www.kidk.com/news/9967031.html
Rigby Soldier Accused of Murder; Father Speaks Out
YouNewsTV YouNewsTV
Sep 24, 2007 at 5:33 PM MDT
By Nate Eaton
Video
A Rigby soldier accused of murdering an Iraqi man will
appear in a Baghdad courtroom this week.
Sgt. Evan Vela is charged with one count of
premeditated murder but his family says he's been
wrongly accused.
Curtis Carnahan, Vela's Father: "He has said from the
very beginning that he doesn't feel like he's guilty
of anything."
Sgt. Evan Vela's dad describing how his son feels
about being charged with premeditated murder.
The incident stems from a few months ago when Vela was
working in a sniper squad and an Iraqi man was killed.
Carnahan: "There's no question that these Iraqi's were
engaged by this sniper squad. That's not the issue.
The issue is why they were engaged."
According to today's Washington Post, military
documents show a Pentagon group urged the snipers to
target Iraqi's by scattering bait...things like
plastic explosives, ammunition, or detonation cords.
Carnahan: "If somebody picked up the so-called bait
and acted like they were going to take it with them,
that would be considered a hostile act and the sniper
squad was at that time ordered to engage."
Carnahan says his son and the two others being charged
were following orders and they are the victims of a
military program gone wrong.
Carnahan: "As far as I'm concerned, not only my son
but Staff Sgt. Hensley and Spec. Sandoval should all
have the charges dropped against them because they're
just soldiers doing what they are supposed to be doing
to defend our country in what they've been trained to
do."
Carnahan says he's not getting any help from the
government so he's hired one of the top military
attorneys in the county to defend his son.
The cost for the legal services are very expensive so
a defense fund has been set up.
+++++
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/23/AR2007092301431.html?hpid=topnews
U.S. Aims To Lure Insurgents With 'Bait'
Snipers Describe Classified Program
By Josh White and Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, September 24, 2007; A01
A Pentagon group has encouraged some U.S. military
snipers in Iraq to target suspected insurgents by
scattering pieces of "bait," such as detonation cords,
plastic explosives and ammunition, and then killing
Iraqis who pick up the items, according to military
court documents.
The classified program was described in investigative
documents related to recently filed murder charges
against three snipers who are accused of planting
evidence on Iraqis they killed.
"Baiting is putting an object out there that we know
they will use, with the intention of destroying the
enemy," Capt. Matthew P. Didier, the leader of an
elite sniper scout platoon attached to the 1st
Battalion of the 501st Infantry Regiment, said in a
sworn statement. "Basically, we would put an item out
there and watch it. If someone found the item, picked
it up and attempted to leave with the item, we would
engage the individual as I saw this as a sign they
would use the item against U.S. Forces."
In documents obtained by The Washington Post from
family members of the accused soldiers, Didier said
members of the U.S. military's Asymmetric Warfare
Group visited his unit in January and later passed
along ammunition boxes filled with the "drop items" to
be used "to disrupt the AIF [Anti-Iraq Forces]
attempts at harming Coalition Forces and give us the
upper hand in a fight."
Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute of
Military Justice, said such a baiting program should
be examined "quite meticulously" because it raises
troubling possibilities, such as what happens when
civilians pick up the items.
"In a country that is awash in armaments and magazines
and implements of war, if every time somebody picked
up something that was potentially useful as a weapon,
you might as well ask every Iraqi to walk around with
a target on his back," Fidell said.
Soldiers said that about a dozen platoon members were
aware of the program, and that numerous others knew
about the "drop items" but did not know their purpose.
Two soldiers who had not been officially informed
about the program came forward with allegations of
wrongdoing after they learned they were going to be
punished for falling asleep on a sniper mission,
according to the documents.
Army officials declined to discuss the classified
program, details of which appear in unclassified
investigative documents and in transcripts of court
testimony. Criminal investigators wrote that they
found materials related to the program in a white
cardboard box and an ammunition can at the sniper
unit's base.
"We don't discuss specific methods targeting enemy
combatants," said Paul Boyce, an Army spokesman. "The
accused are charged with murder and wrongfully placing
weapons on the remains of Iraqi nationals. There are
no classified programs that authorize the murder of
local nationals and the use of 'drop weapons' to make
killings appear legally justified."
It is unclear whether the program reached elsewhere in
Iraq and how many people were killed through the
baiting tactics.
Members of the sniper platoon have said they felt
pressure from commanders to kill more insurgents
because U.S. units in the area had taken heavy losses.
The sniper unit -- dubbed "the painted demons" because
of the use of tiger-stripe face paint -- often went on
missions into hostile areas to intercept insurgents
going to and from hidden weapons caches.
"It's our job out here to lay people down who are
doing bad things," Spec. Joshua L. Michaud testified
in Iraq in July, discussing the unit's numerous
casualties. "I don't want to call it revenge, but we
needed to find a way so that we could get the bad guys
the right way and still maintain the right military
things to do."
Within months of the program's introduction, three
snipers in Didier's platoon were charged with murder
for allegedly using those items and others to make
shootings seem legitimate. Though it does not appear
that the three alleged shootings were specifically
part of the classified program, defense attorneys
argue that the program may have opened the door to the
soldiers' actions because it blurred the legal lines
of killing in a complex war zone.
James D. Culp, a civilian attorney for one of the
snipers, Sgt. Evan Vela, said the soldiers became
"battle-fatigued pawns in a newfangled concept of
'baiting' warfare that, like an onion, perhaps looked
good on the surface, but started stinking to high hell
the minute the layers were pulled back and
scrutinized."
Spec. Jorge Sandoval and Staff Sgt. Michael Hensley
are accused by the military of placing a spool of wire
into the pocket of an Iraqi man Sandoval had shot on
April 27 on Hensley's order. The man had been cutting
grass with a rusty sickle when he was shot, according
to court documents.
The military alleges that the killing of the man
carrying the sickle was inappropriate. Hensley and
Sandoval have been charged with murder and with
planting evidence.
As Sandoval and Hensley approached the corpse,
according to testimony and court documents, they
allegedly placed a spool of wire, often used by
insurgents to detonate roadside bombs, into the man's
pocket in an attempt to make the case for the kill
ironclad.
One soldier who came forward with the allegations,
Pfc. David C. Petta, told the same court that he
believed the classified items were for dropping on
people the unit had killed, "to enforce if we killed
somebody that we knew was a bad guy but we didn't have
the evidence to show for it." Petta had not been
officially briefed about the program.
Two weeks after that killing, Sandoval and his sniper
team stopped for the night in a concealed "hide" in
the village of Jurf as Sakhr along the Euphrates
River. While other snipers slept, Hensley watched as
an Iraqi man, Genei Nesir Khudair, slowly approached
the hide. He radioed to Didier, then a first
lieutenant, for permission to go for a "close kill."
"I told him that as the ground forces commander, I
would authorize that if it was necessary," Didier
testified. "And about five minutes later, he told me
that he had indeed killed the individual."
The U.S. military alleges that Vela, on Hensley's
order, shot the Iraqi man twice in the head with a 9mm
pistol after he had been taken into custody. It was
Vela's first kill, and he was visibly shaken. "He
looked weird," Sgt. Robert Redfern testified. "Just
messed up from it. How would you feel if you had to
shoot someone?"
At the time the two shots rang out, Sandoval was on
guard duty about 20 meters away, out of sight of Vela,
inside a broken-down pump house along the Euphrates
River, soldiers testified.
Vela and Hensley told investigators that the man had
an AK-47 with him and that he posed a threat, but
other soldiers have alleged that the AK-47 was planted
next to Khudair after he was shot.
Hensley's attorney could not be reached to comment.
Sandoval's attorney, Capt. Craig Drummond, thinks his
client is innocent in both deaths.
"Literally, they have charged this guy with two
murders when on both occasions he was just doing his
job," Drummond said.
Drummond said Sandoval did not have anything to do
with placing an AK-47 in the pump-house killing.
Sandoval made a statement to investigators discussing
his involvement in planting the command wire on the
first victim.
"That was done by one of the soldiers at the scene
basically out of stupidity. The guys were trying to
ensure that there were no questions at all about this
kill," Drummond said. "It was done to overly justify a
kill that didn't need justification."
Hensley is also charged with killing an Iraqi man whom
he approached after the sniper team noticed the man
placing wires on a road. Hensley shot him outside his
home, maintaining that the man appeared to be moving
for a weapon.
Two and a half months after the shooting near the pump
house, authorities seized Sandoval while he was
vacationing at his mother's house in Laredo, Tex. The
charges have baffled family members, who describe
Sandoval as a caring and honest young man who is being
punished for following orders.
"This has been a shock to all of us," said his eldest
sister, Norma Vasquez. "He's been in shock, too, he
doesn't know what . . . is going on."
Sandoval, a former high school ROTC member, is
scheduled to face a court-martial in Baghdad on
Wednesday.
Vela's father, Curtis Carnahan, said he thinks the
military is rushing the cases and is holding the
proceedings in a war zone to shield facts from the
U.S. public.
"It's an injustice that is being done to them,"
Carnahan said. "I feel like you can't prosecute our
soldiers for acts of war and threaten them with years
and years of confinement when this program, if it
comes to the light of day, was clearly coming from
higher levels. . . . All those people who said 'go use
this stuff' just disappeared, like they never
sanctioned it."
Partlow reported from Baghdad. Researcher Julie Tate
contributed to this report.
+++++
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/02/AR2007070200174.html
Iran's Elite Force Is Said to Use Hezbollah as 'Proxy'
in Iraq
General Describes Aid To Shiite Militiamen
By Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, July 3, 2007; A08
BAGHDAD, July 2 -- An American general said on Monday
that Iraqi Shiite militiamen are being trained by
Iranian security forces in cooperation with Hezbollah,
the Lebanese Shiite movement, offering the most
specific accusations to date of Iranian involvement in
specific attacks against U.S. forces.
Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner, a U.S. military
spokesman, asserted that Iran's elite al-Quds Force, a
wing of the Revolutionary Guard, was providing
armor-piercing weapons to extremist groups in Iraq,
funneling them up to $3 million a month and training
Iraqi militiamen at three camps near Tehran.
"The Iranian Quds Force is using Lebanese Hezbollah
essentially as a proxy, as a surrogate in Iraq,"
Bergner said. "Our intelligence reveals that senior
leadership in Iran is aware of this activity."
Officials at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad could not
be reached for comment on Monday, but in response to
previous assertions of this kind they have denied Iran
is in any way responsible for violence in Iraq.
Similar denials have been issued by Hezbollah.
The accusations against Iran occurred on a day when
Iraqi health officials said U.S. airstrikes had caused
civilian casualties in the southern city of Diwaniyah.
Early Monday, about 25 mortar shells struck inside the
perimeter of Camp Echo, a base for Polish troops in
Diwaniyah, injuring three coalition soldiers, the U.S.
military said. Two U.S. F-16 fighter jets then bombed
the suspected launch sites of the mortar and rocket
attack.
The airstrikes killed at least 10 people and wounded
35, according to Hussein al-Jarrah, director of
Diwaniyah General Hospital. In a statement about the
incident, the U.S. military made no mention of
civilian casualties, but said the bombing took place
along a street "where insurgents persistently use
urban areas from which to attack, in order to use
civilians as human shields."
Angered by the violence, residents staged a protest
near a government building and some threw rocks.
Gunfire broke out, killing one of the demonstrators,
police said. Two policemen were injured.
Also Monday, the U.S. military said a third American
soldier had been charged in the deaths of three
civilians near Iskandariyah. Sgt. Evan Vela, of
Phoenix, Idaho, was charged Sunday with premeditated
murder, wrongfully placing a weapon by the remains of
a dead Iraqi, making a false statement and obstruction
of justice.
Two other soldiers from the same unit -- Staff Sgt.
Michael A. Hensley of Candler, N.C., and Spec. Jorge
G. Sandoval Jr. of Laredo, Tex. -- have also been
charged in the case. The alleged crimes took place
over the past three months, the U.S. military said.
On Monday, the U.S. military also announced the deaths
of five American soldiers and a Marine. One soldier
was killed and two others were wounded by a bomb that
exploded near their vehicle in Salahuddin province on
Monday. The day before, a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol was
hit by a roadside bomb and gunfire in western Baghdad,
killing one soldier and injuring two Iraqi policemen.
Another soldier was killed by gunmen in southern
Baghdad. Two other soldiers and the Marine died in
Anbar province in western Iraq.
In what U.S. military officials called a "deliberate
ambush," insurgents early Monday opened fire with
heavy machine guns on two U.S. Kiowa light attack
helicopters south of Baghdad, downing one of the
aircraft. The two pilots crash-landed the damaged
copter, suffering only minor injuries, and were
rescued by an Apache combat helicopter called to the
scene.
Bergner's briefing for reporters in Baghdad emphasized
a Jan. 20 attack on a provincial government complex in
the southern city of Karbala, during which gunmen
wearing U.S. military-style uniforms and driving
sport-utility vehicles entered the compound, killed an
American serviceman and abducted four others, later
killing them.
In March, a U.S. raid in Basra captured Qais Khazali,
who admitted to authorizing the Karbala attack,
Bergner said. Bergner asserted that Khazali, a former
spokesman for Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, worked
closely with the Iranian Quds Force -- in particular a
man known as Haji Yusif, deputy commander for the
al-Quds Force Department of External Special
Operations -- to develop a network of Shiite fighters
in Iraq.
During the March raid, U.S. forces also captured Ali
Musa Daqduq, who initially pretended that he was deaf
and mute but later admitted to U.S. forces that he had
been working with Hezbollah since 1983, Bergner said.
Daqduq allegedly commanded a Hezbollah special
operations group, provided security for the movement's
leader, Hasan Nasrallah, and in May 2006 went to Iran
to work with the Quds Force to train Iraqi Shiite
militiamen organized into units that Bergner referred
to as "special groups."
"Both Ali Musa Daqduq and Qais Khazali state that
senior leadership within the Quds Force knew of and
supported planning for the eventual Karbala attack
that killed five coalition soldiers," Bergner said.
During his four trips into Iraq before his capture,
Daqduq "monitored and reported on the training and
arming of special groups in mortars and rockets,
manufacturing and employment of improvised explosive
devices and kidnapping operations," Bergner said.
"Most significantly, he was tasked to organize the
special groups in ways that mirrored how Hezbollah was
organized in Lebanon."
A videotape of Daqduq detailing the training program
he ran in Iran and his activities in Iraq is
circulating among U.S. officials in Washington, a
senior U.S. official said Monday.
Hezbollah spokesmen in Lebanon said they were checking
whether Daqduq was a member of the movement. The
spokesmen would not make any other comment and
declined to be identified further.
A spokesman for Sadr described the accusations against
Daqduq and Khazali as "the lies of the occupation
forces."
"The Mahdi Army is self-financed from inside the
country, and has no political, financial or military
relations with Iran," said Ahmed al-Shaibani. "The
reason for arresting Khazali is because he was the
second spokesman for Moqtada al-Sadr after me."
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said in a brief
telephone interview that he had not seen the details
of the American presentation and could not respond to
the specific allegations. But he agreed that senior
Iraqi officials have repeatedly "raised these
concerns" about Iranian involvement in Iraq at the
"highest levels" of the Iranian government.
Bergner, referring to recent talks between Iranian and
U.S. officials, said, "There does not seem to be any
follow-through on the commitments that Iran has made
to work with Iraq in addressing the destabilizing
security issues here in Iraq."
Bergner said that the Quds Force runs three camps "not
too far from Tehran" where groups of 20 to 60 Iraqis
are trained in the use of roadside bombs, rockets,
sniping and other violent tactics, with the intent
that they will return to Iraq to fight. These
militiamen include fighters from the Mahdi Army, the
militia run by Sadr, Bergner said. But he sought to
distance Sadr -- who has increasingly advocated
against violence that could injure Iraqis -- from
these fighters.
"We believe that these are operating outside his
control and that he shares the concern and the
seriousness that they represent and is trying to find
ways to bring an end to it," Bergner said.
Since Feb. 9, the U.S. military has captured or killed
27 people it believes are members of the so-called
special groups, Bergner said.
Special correspondents Naseer Nouri in Baghdad, Saad
Sarhan in Najaf and Alia Ibrahim in Beirut,
correspondent Ellen Knickmeyer in Cairo and staff
writers Ann Scott Tyson and Robin Wright in Washington
contributed to this report.
+++++
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Two_US_soldiers_charged_with_murder_07192007.html
Two US soldiers charged with murdering Iraqi
AFP
Published: Thursday July 19, 2007
The US military said Thursday it had charged two
soldiers with the premeditated murder of an Iraqi in a
yet another scandal to rock the American forces in
Iraq since the invasion to oust Saddam Hussein.
Sergeant 1st Class Trey Corrales and Specialist
Christopher Shore were charged for the murder last
month near the northern oil city of Kirkuk, the
military said in a statement.
The charges were levied after reports of "alleged
wrongdoing made by fellow soldiers to military
authorities," the military said.
No more details of the alleged murder were revealed.
The pair are assigned to a company based at Schofield
Barracks in Hawaii but currently deployed in northern
Iraq.
The military said the commander of the unit Lieutenant
Colonel Michael Browder was replaced "due to lack of
confidence in his ability to command effectively."
Browder is not accused of committing any crime, the
military said, but added that the two soldiers were
under his command.
The latest murder charges come within a month after
three other US soldiers were charged with the murder
of three Iraqis.
Staff Sergeant Michael Hensley, Sergeant Evan Vela and
Specialist Jorge Sandoval are accuse of premeditated
murder over the killing of three Iraqi nationals in
three separate incidents.
They have also been charged with wrongfully placing
weapons with the remains of the deceased Iraqis after
complaints from fellow soldiers led to an
investigation.
The killings allegedly took place between April and
June 2007 near the town of Iskandiriyah, 50 kilometres
(30 miles) south of Baghdad.
The latest charges come a day after a US Marine was
found guilty of kidnapping and conspiring to murder an
Iraqi civilian killed during a late-night raid in
northern Iraq last year.
A nine-member panel ruled that Trent Thomas, 25, had
been part of a plot to murder Hashim Ibrahim Awad, who
was shot dead after being taken from his home in
Hamdania on April 26, 2006.
A series of scandals have rocked the US military in
Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to topple Saddam's
regime.
In 2004, pictures of the abuse of detainees at the
notorious Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad shocked
the world.
Three marines also face murder charges over the
killings of 24 Iraqis while four other soldiers stand
accused of covering up the deaths, the most serious
war crimes case involving US forces since the
invasion.
Prosecutors allege marines went on a killing spree in
Haditha, in the heart of the Sunni triangle, shooting
unarmed men, women and children after a comrade was
killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol.
In another gruesome case, five soldiers are accused of
being involved in raping and murdering a 14-year-old
Iraqi girl and the slaying of her parents and younger
sister in the town of Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad, in
March 2006.
+++++
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_2141152,00.html
'All my kills are legitimate'
04/07/2007 14:05 - (SA)
North Carolina - A soldier charged with killing Iraqi
civilians and trying to cover up the deaths told his
parents he is not guilty, and "all my kills are
legitimate", a newspaper reported.
Staff Sergeant Michael A Hensley, of Candler, North
Carolina, and Jorge G Sandoval Jnr, of Laredo, Texas,
are accused of killing three Iraqis and placing
weapons on their bodies to portray them as combatants.
"First thing all of you should know is that all my
kills are legitimate and I am innocent of these
charges," Hensley wrote in an e-mail to his parents on
Thursday, the day he was charged, the Asheville
Citizen-Times reported.
Hensley's parents are missionaries in Macedonia. They
told the newspaper that the e-mail was the last
communication they had with their son, who revealed
nothing about the circumstances around the deaths.
Military prosecutors said the deaths occurred
separately between April and June near Iskandariyah, a
mostly Sunni Arab city south of Baghdad.
The investigation began after military authorities
received reports of alleged wrongdoing from fellow
soldiers, the Army has said.
Hensley and Sandoval were charged last week with three
counts each of premeditated murder, obstructing
justice and "wrongfully placing weapons with the
remains of deceased Iraqis".
Sergeant Evan Vela, of Phoenix, Idaho, was charged on
Sunday with one count of premeditated murder, making a
false official statement and obstruction of justice,
the military said.
All three soldiers are assigned to Headquarters and
Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry
Regiment, 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry
Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska. They are
being held in pre-trial confinement.
+++++
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/25/world/middleeast/25abuse.html?hp
Snipers Baited and Killed Iraqis, Soldiers Testify
By PAUL von ZIELBAUER
Published: September 25, 2007
Under a program developed by a Defense Department
warfare unit, Army snipers have begun using a new
method to kill Iraqis suspected of being insurgents,
using fake weapons and bomb-making material as bait
and then killing anyone who picks them up, according
to testimony presented in a military court.
The existence of the classified baiting program, as
it has come to be known, was disclosed as part of
defense lawyers efforts to respond to murder charges
the Army pressed this summer against three members of
a Ranger sniper team. Each soldier is accused of
killing an unarmed Iraqi in three separate shootings
between April and June near Iskandariya, and with
planting drop weapons like detonation wires or other
incriminating evidence on the bodies of the victims.
In sworn statements, soldiers testifying for the
defense have said the sniper team was employing a
baiting program developed at the Pentagon by the
Asymmetrical Warfare Group, which met with Ranger
sniper teams in Iraq in January and gave equipment to
them.
The Washington Post described the baiting program on
Monday.
An Army spokesman, Paul Boyce, said Monday that the
Army did not publicly discuss specific methods for
targeting enemy combatants, and that no classified
program authorized the use of drop weapons to make a
killing appear justified. Army officers involved in
evidentiary hearings in Baghdad in July did not
dispute the existence or use of a baiting program.
The court-martial of one accused soldier, Specialist
Jorge G. Sandoval Jr., is scheduled to begin in
Baghdad on Wednesday. The two other soldiers facing
premeditated murder charges are Staff Sgt. Michael A.
Hensley, the sniper team squad leader, and Sgt. Evan
Vela. All three are part of the headquarters of the
First Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, Fourth
Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, based at
Fort Richardson, Alaska.
None of the soldiers deny that they killed the three
Iraqis they are charged with murdering. Through their
lawyers and in court documents, the soldiers say the
killings were legal and authorized by their superiors.
But defense lawyers raised the issue of the baiting
program in response to prosecutors allegations that
the soldiers had planted items, like wire for making
bombs, on the bodies of the victims.
A transcript of the hearing was provided by a family
member of an accused soldier.
Snipers are among the most specialized of soldiers,
using camouflage clothing and makeup to infiltrate
enemy locations, and high-powered rifles and scopes to
stalk and kill enemy fighters. The three snipers
accused of murder had for months ventured into some of
the most dangerous areas of Iraq, said lawyers for
Sergeant Vela.
Snipers are special people who are trained to shoot
in a detached fashion, not to see their targets as
human beings, said James D. Culp, one of Sergeant
Velas lawyers. Snipers have split seconds to take
shots, and he had a split second to decide whether to
shoot.
After visiting the sniper unit in Iraq, members of the
Asymmetrical Warfare Group gave soldiers ammunition
boxes containing so-called drop items like bullets,
plastic explosives and bomb detonation cords to use to
pinpoint Iraqis involved in insurgent activity,
according to Capt. Matthew P. Didier, a sniper platoon
leader who gave sworn testimony in the accused
soldiers court hearings.
Captain Didier, in a sworn statement about the program
that was obtained by The New York Times, described
baiting as putting an object out there that we know
they will use, with the intention of destroying the
enemy.
After placing the bait, snipers observed the area
around it, Captain Didier said in his statement. If
someone found the item, picked it up and attempted to
leave with the item, he said, we would engage the
individual, as I saw this as a sign that they would
use the item against U.S. forces. (Engage is a
military euphemism for firing on or killing an enemy.)
The Asymmetrical Warfare Group, based at Fort Meade,
Md., grew out of a task force created after the
American invasion of Iraq in 2003 to develop methods
to defeat roadside bombs. Not all of the groups
tactics were meant for sniper units, and most of them
have not been publicly disclosed.
For instance, the group last year advised kill teams
from the Third Brigade, Second Infantry Division, to
dig holes resembling those used by insurgents to hide
roadside bombs, and to shoot Iraqis who tried to place
things in the holes, said a soldier who was briefed on
the program and who spoke on condition of anonymity to
avoid retribution.
The kill teams used the tactic not to kill people, but
to wound them with gunshots and then capture and
interrogate them, the soldier said. Its pretty
common, and its pretty effective, the soldier said
in an interview. The soldier lamented the disclosure
of the baiting and other anti-insurgent combat tactics
because its probably saving a lot of soldiers
lives.
James Ross, the legal and policy director for Human
Rights Watch, said using fake weapons and ammunition
as bait to attract and kill insurgents creates blurry
ethical boundaries for soldiers fighting in Iraq, and
great risk to civilians who are not legal targets in
war. International law recognizes that killing any
individual who is directly or indirectly taking part
in hostilities can be justified, Mr. Ross said, but
it is not precise about how such distinctions should
be applied.
Mr. Ross said the dispersal of ammunition and
explosives by American forces as part of an effort to
attract insurgents would present obvious human rights
problems.
It seems to me that there are all sorts of reasons
that civilians would want to pick up ammunition that
is sitting on the ground, he said.
Specialist Sandoval is the first of the three suspects
to be tried in a court-martial. He and Sergeant
Hensley were accused of leaving a spool of wire that
could be used to detonate roadside bombs in a pocket
of the man whom Specialist Sandoval shot in April, on
Sergeant Hensleys command.
+++++
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Parents say (Army) son rejects plea deal in Iraq
killings, is innocent
Houston Chronicle ^ | 9 Aug 07 | AP
Posted on 08/09/2007 10:49:28 PM PDT by xzins
Mother: Son did not kill innocent Iraqis Family
reflects on ordeal involving Candler soldier
ASHEVILLE, N.C. The parents of a North Carolina
soldier charged with killing three Iraqis and planting
weapons on them say their son turned down a plea offer
and maintains his innocence.
Staff Sgt. Michael A. Hensley, of Candor, is one of
three soldiers charged with murder and obstruction of
justice. The deaths occurred between April and June
south of Baghdad.
"In your worst nightmare, you don't think something
like this could happen," Jannette Hensley said
Tuesday.
The Hensleys are from the Asheville area and have been
out of the country working as missionaries in
Macedonia. Jannette Hensley came back to North
Carolina over the weekend.
Michael Hensley is being held in Kuwait and stays in
regular contact with his parents. He last spoke to his
mother Tuesday morning, she said.
His father, Bill Hensley, remains in Macedonia for
now. The parents said their son refused a military
plea deal. The military didn't immediately respond to
inquiries about the case.
"He's not saying he didn't kill them," Jannette
Hensley said. "He's just saying they were legitimate
(kills). I believe him. He's just very adamant about
it."
Spc. Jorge G. Sandoval, Jr., of Laredo, Texas, was
charged with Hensley in June, the military said. They
were accused of killing the Iraqis near Iskandariyah,
a mostly Sunni Arab city south of Baghdad, and placing
weapons on their bodies to make them look like
fighters. Charges against them included wrongful
placement of weapons.
Sgt. Evan Vela, of Rigby, Idaho, was charged in July
with one count of premeditated murder, making a false
official statement and obstruction of justice, the
military said in a statement.
The soldiers are members of the Fort Richardson,
Alaska-based 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade
(Airborne) of the 25th Infantry Division.
Jannette Hensley said her son caught malaria in
Afghanistan and stayed in the Army instead of being
discharged. He deployed on his first tour in Iraq in
October.
Her son had been in Iraq a month when his best friend
was killed in a roadside bombing. She said her son
watched the soldier die. Michael Hensley's fiance
committed suicide two months later in Alaska and he
returned home to bury her, she said.
"In my heart, I didn't feel like he was ready" to
return to Iraq, Jannette Hensley said.
TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; US: North
Carolina
KEYWORDS: army; combat; evanvela; fog; hensley; iraq;
iskandariyah; jorgesandoval; michaelhensley;
militaryfamilies; soldiers
Staff Sgt. Michael A. Hensley, of Candler, was
charged June 28 with three counts of premeditated
murder, three counts of obstruction of justice and
three counts of wrongfully placing weapons with the
remains of deceased Iraqis. Spc. Jorge G. Sandoval
Jr., of Laredo, Texas, was charged with one count of
premeditated murder and one count of wrongfully
placing a weapon with the remains of a deceased Iraqi.
Sgt. Evan Vela, of Phoenix, Idaho, was charged with
one count of premeditated murder, wrongfully placing a
weapon with the remains of a deceased Iraqi, making a
false official statement and obstruction of justice.
The soldiers were accused of killing the Iraqis in
separate incidents between April and June in the
vicinity of Iskandariyah, a town 30 miles south of
Baghdad. The three soldiers are assigned to the 1st
Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade
(Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, which is based in
Fort Richardson, Alaska.
1 posted on 08/09/2007 10:49:31 PM PDT by xzins
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies ]
To: RedRover; Girlene; P-Marlowe; 4woodenboats;
aculeus; American Cabalist; AmericanYankee; ...
I was on vacation near Asheville NC when I saw this
headline about Hensley grieving mother in the
Asheville paper. We cant post the Asheville Citizen
Times on Free Republic, so I found the information
elsewhere.
Im not familiar with the Iskandariyah charges against
Hensley & Sandoval.
Anyone know anything?
2 posted on 08/09/2007 10:51:47 PM PDT by xzins
(Retired Army Chaplain And Proud of It! Those who
support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]
To: xzins
There seems to be a shift from guilty to not guilty
occuring about our guys in uniform.
Eisenhower had a very good grasp on the connection
between the military and politics ... I think we're
seeing a simular phenomenom.
3 posted on 08/10/2007 12:48:15 AM PDT by knarf (I say
things that are true ... I have no proof ... but
they're true.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies ]
To: xzins
I know nothing of war but my husband who is a veteran
of Vietnam is Outraged over these prosecutions of our
soldiers!
The Vermin that hide behind their women and children
to attack our men and then, RUN as quickly as they can
to OUR media AND Our Politicians crying Murder, well
.. I cant print here, ANY of the words that my better
half has to say about this 8(
(Well he did mention being sick of Politically Correct
Generals)
He, (hubby) says that this kind of manipulation by our
enemy all started in Vietnam and that the
mooslime(sp?)have every reason to believe that it will
work as well, or better now.
Brenda
4 posted on 08/10/2007 1:58:59 AM PDT by brwvabell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]
To: xzins
I honestly didnt hear of this one
When they get his friends to take plea bargains, that
is all that will matter, he will be convicted
regardless of the evidence
5 posted on 08/10/2007 3:34:50 AM PDT by RaceBannon
(Innocent until proven guilty; The Pendleton 8: We are
not going down without a fight)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]
To: RaceBannon; brwvabell; knarf; RedRover; Girlene
I am sick of this dragging our troops before tribunals
based on the accusations of Muslims. There is
something terrible about offering the so-called
bereaved money when they have a family member killed.
There is something terrible about receiving
accusations but refusing to insist on forensic
evidence.
I suppose they believe our soldiers keep AK47s that
they can just pull them out when they need them???
If these troops DID put AKs with bodies, wouldnt they
be saying that these AKs were found at the site of the
firefight??? What is so wrong with that?
Cant they simply explain that fact and be told to
drive on with their mission?
6 posted on 08/10/2007 4:25:19 AM PDT by xzins
(Retired Army Chaplain And Proud of It! Those who
support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies ]
To: Congressman Billybob
Should have pinged you to the article, CB, this is
Shulers District. Someone should note whether he
tries to help this soldier or just gives his family
the old razzle-dazzle.
7 posted on 08/10/2007 4:51:58 AM PDT by xzins
(Retired Army Chaplain And Proud of It! Those who
support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies ]
To: Congressman Billybob
Should have pinged you to the article, CB, this is
Shulers District. Someone should note whether he
tries to help this soldier or just gives his family
the old razzle-dazzle. (The Citizen-Times says Shuler
knows about this.)
8 posted on 08/10/2007 4:52:24 AM PDT by xzins
(Retired Army Chaplain And Proud of It! Those who
support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies ]
To: xzins
The hardest part about being 'of age' is, my life is
somewhat over.
I don't have much to jeapordize by things I say, and
I'll wager other men are in the same position.
We may not understand how or why younger people come
to the conclusions they do, or why they do what they
do.
It's easy for me to sit here and feel the angst about
a matter ... because I jeapordize no one .. not even
myself.
A younger man is looking into a future that, at best,
reveals only that he is (will be) alive.
All his plans and dreams vaporize when he is accused
of something that invalidates all the decisions he's
made to date.
We whom dare, must expose the socialists and confront
them at every turn ... hoping that we might validate
our own existence ... that of the framer's posterity.
As your home page reveals ... some things are of
prayer only.
9 posted on 08/10/2007 10:34:11 AM PDT by knarf (I say
things that are true ... I have no proof ... but
they're true.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies ]
To: xzins
This is the uncle of Sgt. Evan Vela. He has told the
family he was
ordered to fire by a superior officer and followed
that order. The person
in question was identified as a person on an Al Queada
list.
Vela has been offered a plea agreement. WE are pissed.
The military
says he has been trained to distinguish an illegal
order from a legal
order and didnt have to follow that order. More B.S.
My brother has
been in contact with Senator Mike Crapos office, who
say they cant help.
The military has more or less decided his fate. If
this person was the
enemy, then why the charges? What did The President
send those people over
there for? Who cares if this bastard was executed? Do
you think the
families of all the Americans, from the Revolutionary
War to the
present, who have died to make and keep this the best
place on the
planet to live, really care?
These people hide behind
womens skirts, slaughter us, slaughter their own, and
then cry foul. If we are now so seemingly
willing to eat our young, then it is past time to wave
the white flag, and
bring everyone home. If we are going to turn on our
own, then we need to
stand and cheer every time another American dies.
10 posted on 08/10/2007 7:50:00 PM PDT by bigheadfred
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To: bigheadfred; RedRover; Girlene; pissant
It is good to hear from you. Im glad you signed up
for Free Republic today. Welcome.
I have read your comments, and it sounds like they
were in a combat or insurgent environment and were
doing their job....catching or killing terrorists.
Is there a newspaper article anyplace that covers what
supposedly happened at Iskandiriyah with Hensley,
Sandoval, and Vela?
This whole thing sounds fishy to me.
Where do soldiers GET AK7s in the first place? They
get them from the enemies theyve just shot. My
comment on that is: Whats wrong with that?
I know that our troops were FORBIDDEN to have
contraband weapons they had taken from the enemy, so
its not like our guys have such things stashed in
their bunks and vehicles. It simply doesnt happen
that way.
Those AKs were on the battlefield that day. AKs are
the weapons of the enemy. What were they doing there?
Also, Uncle, do you know if there was a firefight that
day?
11 posted on 08/10/2007 9:09:54 PM PDT by xzins
(Retired Army Chaplain And Proud of It! Those who
support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies ]
To: xzins
I pray that he is exonerated. Something stinks about
this whole episode.
12 posted on 08/10/2007 10:24:50 PM PDT by pissant
(Duncan Hunter: Warrior, Statesman, Conservative)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]
To: xzins
Haven't heard much about this case. Here's some info
from an AP article in the Boston Globe in early July.
Soldier claims innocence in Iraqi deaths
13 posted on 08/11/2007 5:32:02 AM PDT by Girlene
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies ]
To: pissant
My nephew has told the family his mission has been
part of what I call a Hunter/Killer squad. They are
given files on people and then sent out to find these
people, whether on patrols or in a sniper scenario,
where they wait, sometimes for days. When the target
is identified, the target is eliminated. SOP is two
shots to the head. If they are planting weapons then I
believe it is sanctioned. But like in Mission
Impossible, if any of your team is caught, then the
government will disavow any knowledge or culpability.
And you are fed to the wolves. Evans plea offer is 17
years in Leavenworth. The alternative is life. In the
military, life is life, whereas,in Idaho, you can be
eligible for parole in 25. His JAG attorney, a career
man, Im sure, has been told the best bet is to take
the deal. The Judge is the C.O. of the 101 first and
said to be a hanging judge. The JAG atty. indicated
the military wants it over and capped. My brother has
told JAG to slow this down, they want it over by Aug.
31. But we want more information. And we cannot afford
private council, which will be the only way hard
questions are asked. Hoping, Praying for a better
outcome.The people/person giving these orders have
(effectively) killed 6 people, 3 of theirs, 3 of our
own.
14 posted on 08/11/2007 9:58:39 AM PDT by bigheadfred
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies ]
To: Girlene; bigheadfred; pissant
The uncle says in #14 below that they are snipers.
They are light infantry, so that type of mission is
possible. It would not necessarily, then, be in the
context of a firefight.
15 posted on 08/11/2007 11:39:09 AM PDT by xzins
(Retired Army Chaplain And Proud of It! Those who
support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies ]
To: xzins
My name is Clayton Carnahan. I am Evan Velas uncle. I
will be speaking with the Idaho State Attorney
Generals office On Monday 8/13/2007, in reference to
starting a defense fund and then start asking for
contributions. I am searching for any people or
organizations who can help in this endeavor. I live in
Shelley, Idaho. I will be coordinating these efforts
with another of Evans uncles, David Vela. Further
info to follow when we have the proper paperwork filed
and a website up and running.
16 posted on 08/11/2007 8:36:04 PM PDT by bigheadfred
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies ]
To: xzins
So what do we have here? Another Iraqi reporter or
civilian making statements that our soldiers killed
Iraqis. Well, maybe they did. But it was insurgent
Iraqis that were killed.
Is this war getting so PC that even ROE are changed in
mid battle?
17 posted on 08/11/2007 8:43:44 PM PDT by Doc91678
(Doc91678)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]
To: Doc91678; bigheadfred; RedRover
...so PC that even ROE are changed in mid-battle?
It appears that the fights in question occurred
between April and June....that's the nearest I can
tell from the news articles I have seen.
What we don't have is a description of those battles
at that time. I haven't found a single article on the
subject.
What we need is some description of what was going
one:
1. We need it from the perspective of each of the
young troops involved.
2. We need it from the perspective of other unit
members.
3. We need anything written by any investigators,
reporters, or witnesses.
Even without all these things, I will automatically
side with our troops, because (1)they are in the
middle of a war and deserve the benefit of any doubt;
and (2) our system says they are INNOCENT until PROVEN
guilty.
The one bit of info that we do have that troubles me
is that they are accused of planting AK47's on the
bodies. As everyone knows, our troops don't have AK's;
they aren't allowed to "save" AK's, but have to turn
them in; and AKs aren't just lying around everywhere,
easy to pick up anytime on wants one.
In short, they got those AKs during a battle/fight,
and it makes most sense that they got them during that
particular battle/fight. Did anyone even bother to
check if they'd been fired?
18 posted on 08/12/2007 2:55:46 AM PDT by xzins
(Retired Army Chaplain And Proud of It! Those who
support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies ]
To: xzins
Has anyone read the article on the soldiers who were
sent to raid an island and to kill any man of
military age there which they did while trying to
take three men prisoner. They say the three offered
resistance and felt under their ROE that their action
was justified. Or the article where NCOs are telling
troops to watch news feeds to learn what not to do in
Iraq. Arent our soldiers trained to rely on the
command structure? Under the duress of any field
operation, surely any soldiers reliance is in the
command structure. If that structure is a house of
cards, any little breeze causes it to fall...
19 posted on 08/12/2007 6:41:24 AM PDT by bigheadfred
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies ]
To: xzins
Here's another article from July about Jorge Sandoval,
Laredo Texas. Arrest of GI from Laredo stuns family
The article indicates he was arrested at his home in
Laredo, Tx, then transferred to Kuwait - not sure why.
...Sandoval and Staff Sgt. Michael Hensley of Candler,
N.C., were charged the same day with murder,
obstruction of justice and planting a weapon,
according to a military news release.
Three Iraqis were killed in separate incidents between
April and June near Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of
Baghdad, the military said.
The investigation stems from "three alleged
unjustified killings during recent military operations
in Iraq," the Army statement said.
This article mentions a third guy from the Alaska
based unit that was also arrested.
Meanwhile, on Sunday [back in July] a third soldier
from Sandoval's unit was arrested and faces similar
charges.
Sgt. Evan Vela, of Phoenix, Idaho, was charged with
murder, making a false official statement and
obstruction of justice.
All three soldiers are assigned to Headquarters and
Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry
Regiment, 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry
Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska.
20 posted on 08/12/2007 7:49:16 AM PDT by Girlene
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies ]
To: xzins
Here's a summary of some info from WikiNews on what's
out there so far. Third US soldier charged in
investigation into murder of Iraqi civilians from July
5, 2007.
21 posted on 08/12/2007 8:07:16 AM PDT by Girlene
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies ]
To: Girlene
It is Hensley who is claiming his kills were
legitimate. Vela is being charged with one of the
three killings, as is Sandoval. Hensley is being
charged with all three. Hensley was in command of the
unit.
22 posted on 08/12/2007 8:49:17 AM PDT by bigheadfred
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies ]
To: xzins
There should be UAC video of the battle. As in the
Haditha case the battle was photographed by video. In
that case the NCIS didnt use the videos and claimed
the men were guilty of violating ROE.
I agree with your premise that AK-47s are collected
and turned in after a battle.
I have a feeling that the investigation is not
complete, nor have these GIs committed crimes.
23 posted on 08/12/2007 9:56:41 AM PDT by Doc91678
(Doc91678)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies ]
To: xzins
There should be UAC video of the battle. As in the
Haditha case the battle was photographed by video. In
that case the NCIS didnt use the videos and claimed
the men were guilty of violating ROE.
I agree with your premise that AK-47s are collected
and turned in after a battle.
I have a feeling that the investigation is not
complete, nor have these GIs committed crimes.
24 posted on 08/12/2007 9:57:08 AM PDT by Doc91678
(Doc91678)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies ]
To: xzins
A little more from Army Times, July 22(about halfway
down)
...The charges against the soldiers stemmed from
reports from fellow soldiers alleging wrongdoing.
An investigation by Army Criminal Investigation
Command continues, but officials have said the
soldiers are accused of planting either materials used
to make improvised explosive devices or a small-arms
weapon next to the remains of the dead Iraqis....
A personal perspective re. Hensley from a former
church Church prays for accused soldier
Another article (I think it's a different one than you
posted) at the Citizens Times Parents call son
finest soldier
25 posted on 08/12/2007 10:32:17 AM PDT by Girlene
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies ]
To: Girlene; Doc91678; bigheadfred
Every indication is that these are normal Americans,
loved in their communities, respected in their units,
being promoted at a normal to above-normal pace, and
very experienced in the climate of war in Iraq.
One article says: either IED materials or small arms
were planted. I assume those papers got that
information from some source. They fail to mention the
source. Often the media will report in a
sensationalistic way and ignore anything exculpatory
in a report.
My experience says that the Army simply doesnt allow
its troops to collect AK47s or IED materials and KEEP
THEM. They MUST turn them in. If found with them, it
is a court-martial offense.
Where did the AK47s come from that these troops
supposedly placed around the bodies? If they came
from that days battle space, which is most likely,
then why are the soldiers wrong to assign them to the
bodies of those they thought to be insurgents. Its
not like they have the enemy weapons cards and have
absolute knowledge about which weapons goes with which
body.
Why would they assign them to particular bodies?
Because they have a responsibility to report during an
AAR (After Action Review) about the sequence and
events in a battle.
I think theyre innocent.
26 posted on 08/12/2007 2:07:42 PM PDT by xzins
(Retired Army Chaplain And Proud of It! Those who
support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies ]
To: xzins
I have learned that vela made a statement reflecting
what his co told him to report. Apparently his
conscience took over and he filed a clear and concise
statement as to what really took place. This is where
his charges stem from (filing a false report among the
rest) We dont know any real particulars of the events
or situation. The military is very reticent.So
innocent, maybe not completely so, mitigating
circumstances, definitely, but not knowing what they
were actually doing makes it very hard to make any
judgments. We love and support evan with all our
hearts, minds, and souls.
27 posted on 08/12/2007 2:54:51 PM PDT by bigheadfred
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies ]
To: Girlene; bigheadfred; RedRover
Heres the Centcom link to the original press release.
They have no new info, and really appear to be using a
standard reporting format.
http://www.centcom.mil/sites/uscentcom2/Lists/Current%20Press%20Releases/DispForm.aspx?ID=5231
A similar article on Vela is on the July 2/3 pages of
the Centcom site.
28 posted on 08/12/2007 8:07:03 PM PDT by xzins
(Retired Army Chaplain And Proud of It! Those who
support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies ]
To: xzins
I totally agree with you.
This is another Haditha expose tat will come back to
bite the perp. More than likely another pseudo
reporter.
29 posted on 08/13/2007 7:35:16 AM PDT by Doc91678
(Doc91678)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies ]
To: xzins; bigheadfred
I'll set up a webpage so we can keep track of the
case.
The biggest challenge will be a lack of information.
We got fairly regular reports on Hamdania and Haditha
because the North County Times covers Pendleton.
30 posted on 08/13/2007 10:11:38 AM PDT by RedRover
(DefendOurMarines.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies ]
To: RedRover; bigheadfred
Ive looked on both the Centcom and the MNF-Iraq
websites, and all we get is the bare bones
information.
We need the soldiers themselves to get their lawyers
to get some information out.
We dont even know when the incidents are supposed to
have taken place.
31 posted on 08/13/2007 10:20:26 AM PDT by xzins
(Retired Army Chaplain And Proud of It! Those who
support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies ]
To: xzins
Most of our information has come from news reports,
which also amounts to very little. My brother has been
in limited phone contact, but cant get much hard info
as calls are monitored. The Military Combat Defense
Fund has evinced interest in helping. Private counsel
is way beyond our means, working check to check. But
out resovle is strong. Evans JAG Attorney is no help.
Were going to try and delay this long enough to get
him home. If you feel Strongly enough tell everyone
you know to get involved, and stop this madness.
For all of our sakes, for all our troops.
32 posted on 08/13/2007 4:54:05 PM PDT by bigheadfred
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies ]
To: bigheadfred; xzins
Bigheadfred, I've set up a web page here. We've been
able to help spread the word and raise funds for the
Haditha Marines and others.
We'll do what we can to start getting the word out.
Please stay in touch. You can always reach me at
WarChr...@Verizon.net.
33 posted on 08/13/2007 6:50:44 PM PDT by RedRover
(DefendOurMarines.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies ]
To: bigheadfred
And let me know if youf family needs any help finding
a lawyer.
34 posted on 08/13/2007 7:12:12 PM PDT by RedRover
(DefendOurMarines.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies ]
To: RedRover
Vela, on advice from his Jag attorney, has waived his
Article 32. Guess whose side hes on. This story, as
far as we know, was first reported by the Anchorage
Daily News. They were the first to contact us, dont
know how to ping,pong or much else with this
contraption. Send a prayer for evans new daughter,
born this spring, that he may be around to see her
grow up. Thats what hes fighting for.
35 posted on 08/13/2007 8:22:12 PM PDT by bigheadfred
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies ]
To: bigheadfred; RedRover
Vela, on advice from his Jag attorney, has waived his
Article 32.
Fred, in the military the Art 32 hearing is the same
as a civilian grand jury hearing. The point of the Art
32 is to see if there is enough evidence to require
that the case go to a trial.
The military is actually better than the civilian,
though, because in a military Art 32, the defendant is
allowed to present evidence and must get all the
evidence that the prosecution has. It has been BECAUSE
of the Art 32 hearings for the Marines, that General
Mathis has decided NOT to have them go to trial.
Another point is that there is no jeopardy at an Art
32 hearing. I'm really puzzled by your nephew being
advised to waive his Art 32.
Can you tell me the RANK and years of military
experience of his lawyer? Does he have a civilian
lawyer, too?
36 posted on 08/14/2007 2:19:55 AM PDT by xzins
(Retired Army Chaplain And Proud of It! Those who
support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies ]
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