Army tapes reveal motive in Iraq prisoner killings

[sabra]

Source: CNN

A CNN investigation reveals why the Army's rules for holding detainees may have led to the murders of four Iraqis by three decorated Army sergeants. Watch Tuesday through Friday on "AC360" at 10 p.m. ET.


Vilseck, Germany (CNN) -- U.S. soldiers interrogated by the Army in the 2007 murders of four Iraqi detainees blamed a military policy they said made it too hard to detain suspected insurgents, a CNN investigation has found.

Soldiers questioned in the killings said the sergeant in command of their detachment ordered the suspected insurgents killed because Army rules made it too difficult to hold them.

"They're gonna be right back on the streets," one soldier put it.

CNN obtained an extraordinary 23½ hours of Army interrogation videotapes that detail the March 2007 executions of the prisoners by three sergeants who were attached to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment.

The tapes, to be shown on CNN's "AC360," show one of the sergeants confessing to the crime, as well as agents from the Army's Criminal Investigations Division telling soldiers involved in the crime that the military's reputation was at stake.

On one tape, an Army interrogator compares the potential fallout from the slayings to the scandal over the treatment of inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, telling a soldier, "This is gonna be ugly, 'cause it is."


Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/17/army.tapes.canal.killings/index.html?eref=rss_latest&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+(RSS%3A+Most+Recent)&utm_content=Twitter

[pleah]

1. I wonder if they will be held accountable for their actions.

I have my doubts.

[sattahipdeep]

6. Get this....A medic

"Just like them knuckleheads who were stacking naked prisoners
in the pyramids at Abu Ghraib," the interrogator says. "We walk
down the streets, and that's a shame we all carry. And I had
nothing to do with that.

"I don't know about you, but I wasn't at Abu Ghraib, but I can tell
you half the time I'm walking down the streets, that's what people
think when they're lookin' at us: 'Oh, there's those damn Americans
that abused those poor prisoners.' "
....
He added, "Frat boys get abused worse during pledge week in
college than that crap. But it's what the media made of it. What the
hell do you think they're gonna make of this?" :puke:

....
The three sergeants who killed the detainees were convicted of
premeditated murder and conspiracy in a military courtroom in
Germany earlier this year. All three are serving their sentences at
the U.S. military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Hatley received a life sentence that was later reduced to 40 years?

Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Mayo, who had pleaded guilty to the
charges, and Sgt. Michael Leahy, a medic, are serving 20-year
terms. Hatley and Leahy are appealing their convictions, while
Mayo is seeking a lighter sentence.

[pleah]

10. OMG!

:puke:

[leveymg]

2. Hold the bastards at the top accountable who put these soldiers in this dilemma

This sort of thing happens in wartime. The difference is, this was so clearly an optional, unjust war. What an unnecessary, criminal waste of lives.

[Downwinder]

4. Lets not wait 60 years. n/t

[The Stranger]

3. Murder

[Bette Noir]

5. Killing prisoners is never okay.

[prestonPjr21]

7. Take a breath,

and let`s take a step back for a moment, I know many people want to jump the gun and condemn these young soldiers. First of all, that is what they are, soldiers. Warriors who are at war, with a ruthless enemy. An enemy that uses strong fear tactics to try and break a soldiers morale. I ask anyone who wants to point a judgemental finger at these young soldiers, will you go over there? where these freedom fighters face this type of enemy every single minute of every single day. I can only imagine what kind of fear and urgency was taken place when this situation was at hand. I could never ever say,I would have not done something like this. Them young soldiers just may have saved many American lives!

[TroglodyteScholar]

8. Welcome to DU...

Don't get too comfy, though.

On edit: you may want to study the English language (at least the basics) before expecting to "pass" here at DU.

[prestonPjr21]

14. Sorry!

didht know I had to be a english (scholer)...

[EFerrari]

9. That was a joke, right?

[ShortnFiery]

12. We're talking about "military soldiers" not GANG members.

WARRIORS? :wtf:

Grow the fuck up.

[prestonPjr21]

13. Have you ever?

It`s easy to sit at home in your safe little environment and make safe little judgments! And yes they are. Look up the definition of Warrior, AND yes they are like brothers. What do you think what would happen to you if you were in the enemies hands? Headless!

[Ian David]

11. This should be the front page of every major newspaper today. n/t