"My client is no murderer. He is a victim"

[deep]

They placed the man on the ground and searched him, he said.

Hensley appeared agitated after waking up, and slammed his knee into the man's back, Vela said. Then Hensley grabbed the man by the mouth and threatened to kill him, he said. Hensley then strung the man's arms behind his back.

A child wandered up to their camp, and Hensley briefly held the child on the ground, holding a poncho over his head, Vela said. He eventually released the boy, who looked at the man and called him "father." Then the boy fled.

Vela said he thought they were going to free the man, but Hensley called their platoon commander and said he saw a "suspicious person" moving toward their position. Hensley then asked for permission to shoot to kill, Vela recalled.

"At this point, I was really confused about what he was saying," Vela said.

Hensley then gave Vela the order to shoot the man, Vela said.

Once it was done, Vela testified, he watched Hensley grab an AK-47 rifle from his backpack and place it beside the dying man. Hensley radioed his captain and told him that they had engaged AIF, military jargon for firing on insurgents.

The Iraqi man convulsed. Blood covered his face and beard.

"Sgt. Hensley was kind of laughing about it. He hit him in the throat and said shoot him again, which I did," Vela told the judge.

---------

"My client is no murderer. He is a victim," said James Culp, Vela's civilian defense attorney, who suspects that baiting contributed to the slaying of the Iraqi man on May 11.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-sniper28sep28,1,1653779,print.story?coll=la-headlines-world&ctrack=5&cset=true



There are a lot of incidents like this happening all the time.

I believe that for each one that sees the light of day,
there are dozens and dozens of others that occur with no one knowing -
except for the family members and friends of the innocent people that are killed, which adds to more attacks on our soldiers,

The U. S needs to draw down and withdraw the troops,

there is more to lose by staying.

 

[dazzlingamy]

Speechless.

I understand following orders - but blindly doing what someone says when you know it is SO WRONG, is no excuse. Walk away and fight it our in court. Don't kill some innocent man because your sargent is a fuckwit. Not a victim.

 

[fly so high!]

A victim of bad decisions by his superior and a training regime that leaves US armed forces resembling mindless robots......if that's the case, George W Bush should be charged with War Crimes.

I was told of a incident where a Lieutenant of the Australian Army had ordered 2 soldiers during a firing drill to target a Kangaroo. The 2 soldiers hesistated and stated it was wrong to target a living creature that posed no threat whatsoever to them. The Lt. made an order to shoot the kangaroo, this drew the attention the nearby Sargent who ordered the soldiers to stand down, an altercation occured between the sargent and Lt, the sargent had the Lt. charged and as a result the Lt. was severly punished.

You would like to think that someone would be able to have the same compassion for human beings as someone would have for a kangaroo.

 

[Angela Harlem]

Don't you face court martial for disobeying a direct order in the US military?

 

[CTU2fan]

Where is Rush? Shooting an unarmed, bound man in front of his son sounds like the actions of a "phony soldier", no?

I think the sergeant is the bigger villain here, but this guy is no victim...to suggest as much is absurd.