https://www.foxnews.com/us/former-d...in-2010-killing-of-suspect-taliban-bomb-maker Weird this is coming up after all that time. He must have pissed someone off recently.
I spent 36 years in the Army and Army Reserve and working for the Army Reserve for 25 of those years as what was called a Military Technician(had to be a member of the Army Reserve). I am afraid this is what happens when you go and get yourselves involved in a war situation and do not fight to win and get a bunch of lawyers involved in the military decision process. The bottom line is: Is it a war or is it something else? My contention is that if you don't want it to be a war do not involve the Armed Forces and don't involve the country. We have accomplished very little or nothing in Afghanistan and my opinion based on my professional training is that we will not do so with the present course of action we are conducting. To sum it up; It is the Army's job to kill people and break things until the enemy is destroyed or surrenders. The policy we are conducting in Afghanistan does not destroy the enemy or compel him to surrender.
Iraq/Afghanistan = Total waste of personnel and resources. Just like Vietnam. Cannot be "won". 250,000 rounds of ammo expended per insurgent kia. Or, at .33cents per round it costs us $82,500 dollars to kill "one" insurgent. GAO(General Accounting Office) statistics.
The Geneva Convention. Well, and ever mentioning it again. Instead of "I don't remember the details." The problem here is, no one wins. The military won't be looked upon for doing the right thing for going after him. That said, war crimes shouldn't go unpunished.
Just IMO, but I think it is a crime to send men, some of them superlative, to go to war for 17 years, and then second guess what they are doing to this degree. The assholes who are sending them WON'T & CAN'T do the job. I am told that the stats are now being censored as to the losses of the Afghan army. In short, they are a formidable force, but are now in a sitting duck strategy. The pay is good, but the life expectancy is going lower by the day, so recruitment is getting difficult. I wonder where that army gets the money to pay them? If we look at the stats for poppy production in the country, it has skyrocked in the last 3 years. Hmmmm. After 17 years, only 2/3 of the country is controlled by the gov't. This, in a nut shell tells us what we need to know about the mission and the accusers of the Major. The Major didn't become a Major for being a poor soldier and a poor leader. He's supposed to be in Bragg this a.m. to be charged for the incident from which he was cleared in 2015.
I believe it does not apply (though we CHOOSE to at times) as these are not regular soldiers. No uniform etc. if memory serves there is a section in there on how irregulars are excluded. And another on how BOTH parties have to be in compliance before you are obligated. Something that has not even been close to happening.
Fine - I expected this. He also broke Rules of Engagement and was insubordinate in a lawful order. Both violations of the UCMJ. Look, in this case, I totally get why he did it, and why the military should actually let it slide. BUT, I also know the military is big on rules. You can't just make up your own law and order, and there are thousands of examples of the wrong order given for the right reasons (and vice versa). The mistake here is that he talked about it again. If he'd kept his mouth shut, he had a good chance of never having to deal with this. Its unfortunate for everyone.
No argument there. Just don't give protections of the Geneva Convention to irregulars who torture our people.
They should have killed him the moment the found him with bomb making materials, but they were hoping to interrogate him and get more bombers or suppliers. Then when he didn’t talk, they had to let him go. If he’d made it back to the Taliban, he’d have ratted out all the villagers who told the Americans about him and they’d have all been killed.
This seems much like the decision that had to be made by the SEAL team on Operation Red Wings. Seems like another situation where what is good for your fellow warriors may not be good for your country. Tough decision.
