U.S. Army sniper sentenced in Iraq case
U.S. Army sniper sentenced in Iraq case
By KIM CURTIS, Associated Press Writer 31 minutes ago
BAGHDAD - A military panel on Saturday sentenced an Army sniper to five months in prison, a reduction in rank and forfeiture of pay for planting evidence in connection with the deaths of two Iraqi civilians.
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The country's sectarian violence, meanwhile, claimed 18 more lives on Saturday, including six people killed when a suicide truck bomber detonated his explosive payload near a Humvee filled with Iraqi soldiers, officials said. Two American soldiers also were killed - one hit by "enemy gunfire" in Diyala province and the other fatally shot during a firefight in Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
Spc. Jorge G. Sandoval, 22, was acquitted of murder charges in the April and May deaths of two unidentified men. The panel decided he was guilty of a lesser charges of placing detonation wire on one of the bodies to make it look as if the man was an insurgent.
"I feel fortunate that I have been served this sentence," Sandoval said. "I'm grateful that I'm able to continue to be in the Army."
The prosecution had argued Sandoval should be sentenced to five years in prison.
Sandoval, of Laredo, Texas, had faced five charges in the deaths of the two unidentified Iraqi men. In dramatic testimony during the two-day court-martial, Sandoval's colleagues testified they were following orders when they shot the men during two separate incidents near Iskandariyah, a volatile Sunni-dominated area 30 miles south of Baghdad, on April 27 and May 11.
Sgt. Evan Vela and Staff Sgt. Michael Hensley will be tried separately in the case. All three soldiers are part of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska.
Gary Myers, one of Vela's lawyers, claimed this week that Army snipers hunting insurgents in Iraq were under orders to "bait" their targets with suspicious materials, such as detonation cords, then kill those who picked up the items. He said his client was acting on orders.
Asked about the existence of the "baiting program," Capt. Craig Drummond, Sandoval's military defense attorney, said it was unclear "what programs were going on out there and when," especially "if there were things that were done that made the rules of engagement not clear."
On Saturday, Iraqi soldiers acting on a tip tried to intercept the suicide driver as his pickup truck headed toward Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad. As the Iraqi Humvee neared the truck, the driver detonated his explosive payload, according to the officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. Three soldiers and three civilians were killed, the official said.
Late Friday, police officials said Iraqi Interior Ministry commandos handed over nine decomposing bodies to a hospital in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad. The officials requested anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Earlier Friday, Iraq's prime minister told The Associated Press that a Senate proposal seen in Iraq as an attempt to split the country into regions according to religious or ethnic divisions would be a "catastrophe."
The nonbinding Senate resolution calls for Iraq to be divided into federal regions under control of Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis in a power-sharing agreement similar to the one that ended the 1990s war in Bosnia. U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., was a prime sponsor of the measure.
The Kurds in three northern Iraqi provinces are running a virtually independent country within Iraq, while nominally maintaining relations with Baghdad. They support a formal division, but both Sunni and Shiite Muslims have denounced the proposal.
The majority Shiites, who would retain control of major oil revenues under a division of the country, oppose the measure because it would diminish the territorial integrity of Iraq, which they now control. Sunnis would control an area with few if any oil resources. Kurds have major oil reserves in their territory.
"It is an Iraqi affair dealing with Iraqis," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told AP Friday on a return flight to Baghdad from New York, where he appeared at the U.N. General Assembly. "Iraqis are eager for Iraq's unity. ... Dividing Iraq is a problem, and a decision like that would be a catastrophe."
Iraq's constitution lays down a federal system, allowing Shiites in the south, Kurds in the north and Sunnis in the center and west of the country to set up regions with considerable autonomous powers.
By KIM CURTIS, Associated Press Writer 31 minutes ago
BAGHDAD - A military panel on Saturday sentenced an Army sniper to five months in prison, a reduction in rank and forfeiture of pay for planting evidence in connection with the deaths of two Iraqi civilians.
ADVERTISEMENT
click here
The country's sectarian violence, meanwhile, claimed 18 more lives on Saturday, including six people killed when a suicide truck bomber detonated his explosive payload near a Humvee filled with Iraqi soldiers, officials said. Two American soldiers also were killed - one hit by "enemy gunfire" in Diyala province and the other fatally shot during a firefight in Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
Spc. Jorge G. Sandoval, 22, was acquitted of murder charges in the April and May deaths of two unidentified men. The panel decided he was guilty of a lesser charges of placing detonation wire on one of the bodies to make it look as if the man was an insurgent.
"I feel fortunate that I have been served this sentence," Sandoval said. "I'm grateful that I'm able to continue to be in the Army."
The prosecution had argued Sandoval should be sentenced to five years in prison.
Sandoval, of Laredo, Texas, had faced five charges in the deaths of the two unidentified Iraqi men. In dramatic testimony during the two-day court-martial, Sandoval's colleagues testified they were following orders when they shot the men during two separate incidents near Iskandariyah, a volatile Sunni-dominated area 30 miles south of Baghdad, on April 27 and May 11.
Sgt. Evan Vela and Staff Sgt. Michael Hensley will be tried separately in the case. All three soldiers are part of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska.
Gary Myers, one of Vela's lawyers, claimed this week that Army snipers hunting insurgents in Iraq were under orders to "bait" their targets with suspicious materials, such as detonation cords, then kill those who picked up the items. He said his client was acting on orders.
Asked about the existence of the "baiting program," Capt. Craig Drummond, Sandoval's military defense attorney, said it was unclear "what programs were going on out there and when," especially "if there were things that were done that made the rules of engagement not clear."
On Saturday, Iraqi soldiers acting on a tip tried to intercept the suicide driver as his pickup truck headed toward Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad. As the Iraqi Humvee neared the truck, the driver detonated his explosive payload, according to the officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. Three soldiers and three civilians were killed, the official said.
Late Friday, police officials said Iraqi Interior Ministry commandos handed over nine decomposing bodies to a hospital in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad. The officials requested anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Earlier Friday, Iraq's prime minister told The Associated Press that a Senate proposal seen in Iraq as an attempt to split the country into regions according to religious or ethnic divisions would be a "catastrophe."
The nonbinding Senate resolution calls for Iraq to be divided into federal regions under control of Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis in a power-sharing agreement similar to the one that ended the 1990s war in Bosnia. U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., was a prime sponsor of the measure.
The Kurds in three northern Iraqi provinces are running a virtually independent country within Iraq, while nominally maintaining relations with Baghdad. They support a formal division, but both Sunni and Shiite Muslims have denounced the proposal.
The majority Shiites, who would retain control of major oil revenues under a division of the country, oppose the measure because it would diminish the territorial integrity of Iraq, which they now control. Sunnis would control an area with few if any oil resources. Kurds have major oil reserves in their territory.
"It is an Iraqi affair dealing with Iraqis," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told AP Friday on a return flight to Baghdad from New York, where he appeared at the U.N. General Assembly. "Iraqis are eager for Iraq's unity. ... Dividing Iraq is a problem, and a decision like that would be a catastrophe."
Iraq's constitution lays down a federal system, allowing Shiites in the south, Kurds in the north and Sunnis in the center and west of the country to set up regions with considerable autonomous powers.
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He got off lucky when compared to the Marines, who did basically the same thing by attempting to make their killing of a civilian look like as though was an insurgent, and are now spending years in a Naval prison. I believe this is what our GB members call taking the gloves off in Iraq. 0 -
Not quite. "Taking the gloves off" would mean pulling out troops, nuking the joint to a glass parking lot, then taking it over as a U.S. Territory as soon as it is safe. 0 -
if he wasnt a terrorist today he would have probably been one next week! [;)][:D] 0 -
Spec. Sandoval just got his orders mixed up.
He was supposed to plant the det cord, and then pull the trigger.
He pulled the trigger, and then planted the det cord.0 -
quote:Originally posted by allen griggs
Spec. Sandoval just got his orders mixed up.
He was supposed to plant the det cord, and then pull the trigger.
He pulled the trigger, and then planted the det cord.
HAHAHAHA!0 -
quote:Originally posted by allen griggs
Spec. Sandoval just got his orders mixed up.
He was supposed to plant the det cord, and then pull the trigger.
He pulled the trigger, and then planted the det cord.
LOL. He must have been suffering from dyslexia0 -
This kind of crap is why we will lose this war.
Elements inside the various agencies have wanted this to be "vietnam" i.e. a humiliating LOSS, borne of a half-a55ed "effort" to "achieve parity" rather than VICTORY at all costs.
D.0 -
I wonder why they let him stay in ??
Does he know something they don't want him to tell.
The eagle sneers at midnight.
Doug0 -
quote:Originally posted by Doug Wilson
I wonder why they let him stay in ??
Does he know something they don't want him to tell.
The eagle sneers at midnight.
Doug
That also crossed my mind Doug. The Marines, who are now behing bars, apparently thought their execution up on their own (probably after reading a number of Gun Broker posts which would also include shooting Mexicans for sport) while these snipers (apparently) had orders from higher up the chain of command. How high up? High enough for that poor grunt to stay in the Army.0 -
What I don't see is any mention of evidence that the people he shot were defenantly NOT insurgents. Which is the ONLY way I would support his sentence.
It takes a special mentality to be a sniper. Shooting an enemy in war that is shooting at you is one thing. Killing someone who may not know you're even there is another. Even if he is an enemy that would kill you if he could. To the civilian mind set it is nearly the same as cold blooded murder. In fact Snipering was considered barbaric in not so distant times.
Yet we need men who can seperate themselves from the "normal mindset" and do these things. Men who will get the job done.
Then we prosecute them for it?
If he crossed the line and began killing indescriminantly, then I can see it. But IMO ANY benefit of doubt goes to the soldier. If there is ANY reason to think the people he killed were the enemy, I don't give rats patoot how he managed to get them in his sights.0 -
War is hell. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Fatstrat
What I don't see is any mention of evidence that the people he shot were defenantly NOT insurgents. Which is the ONLY way I would support his sentence.
It takes a special mentality to be a sniper. Shooting an enemy in war that is shooting at you is one thing. Killing someone who may not know you're even there is another. Even if he is an enemy that would kill you if he could. To the civilian mind set it is nearly the same as cold blooded murder. In fact Snipering was considered barbaric in not so distant times.
Yet we need men who can seperate themselves from the "normal mindset" and do these things. Men who will get the job done.
Then we prosecute them for it?
If he crossed the line and began killing indescriminantly, then I can see it. But IMO ANY benefit of doubt goes to the soldier. If there is ANY reason to think the people he killed were the enemy, I don't give rats patoot how he managed to get them in his sights.
+1
Well said!0 -
Something else I don't understand is this. I was always under the impression that snipers try to stay concealed. Now, I understand that this whole urban warfare thing is a little different, but, like I said, I was under the impression that snipers were either in support roles or if they were conducting a mission, they go out, shoot the bad guys and leave. Why should they ever have to go near the dead guys? Just leave them where they lay and move on.
Am I missing something?0
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