In On Special Forces, Snipers and the ROE's, we met SF Troopers Master Sergeant Troy Anderson and Captain Dave Staffel, who are awaiting charges of premeditated murder for their sniping of Tango Nowab Buntangyar, who was on a "kill-or-capture" list. Although two subsequent investigations cleared the soldiers, recently promoted Gen. Frank Kearney chose to pursue charges anyway.
You might remember Gen. Kearney from this little incident.
At issue seems to be whether or not Buntangyar was in control of the Afghan forces who were present.The same Afghan forces who positively identified him for the sniper.
The charge sheet, which was filled out by a sergeant first class, was “as sloppy a job as I’ve ever seen,” Overholt said.
Capt. Jason Denney, a prosecutor, conceded there was “procedural strangeness” in the case, but he suggested the charges be dismissed and brought again.
Another prosecutor, Capt. Christopher Harry, said the case comes down to “a question of degree” and whether the coalition forces had “a sufficient level of control” over the man before he was killed. Source.
According to U.S. Army Special Forces Command spokesman Maj. Clarence Counts, the decision to take the matter to trial should be made within two weeks.
If they, for some unfathomable reason, decide to charge these two men with murder, we might as well pack up our troops and leave Afghanistan, because our effort there will have been lost, once again, by extremely poor leadershipand politicians who have never seen a battlefield.
These men were doing their jobs. Give them a good pat on the back, buy them a round, then send them out to do it again.
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