DUers: Here is a theory on the torture and deaths of 3 GIs in Iraq

[IndianaGreen]

Reference this LBN thread by Barrett808:

U.S. troops accused of killing Iraq family (after raping daughter)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2364723

DUers: Here is a theory on the deaths of Babineau, Menchaca, & Tucker

Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, left, and
Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore.
(AP Photo/U.S. Army)

The bodies are believed to be of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25. The two soldiers disappeared after an insurgent attack at a checkpoint by a Euphrates River canal, 12 miles south of Baghdad, that killed another U.S. soldier.

The U.S. military recovered the bodies Tuesday in an area it said was rigged with explosives. It took troops roughly 12 hours to get to the bodies, said a second U.S. military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the details have yet to be released.

An Iraqi official said the Americans were tortured and killed in a "barbaric" way.

Spc. David J. Babineau, 25, was killed in the attack. The three men were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/21/iraq/main1738029.shtml

Right after the killing of Spc. Babineau and the kidnapping of Pfc. Menchaca and Pfc. Tucker, there was a lot of speculation as to why 3 GIs were by themselves manning a checkpoint at night in a very dangerous location.

What if one or more of these GIs had expressed a desire to report the rape and the murder that members of his platoon had committed, and the reason why they were sent "solo" to the checkpoint was because someone wanted them dead in order to cover up the crime?

[loveable liberal]

1. In a land of lawlessness, anything is possible.....

[sleipnir]

2. Humm....it does make some sense

I wonder.

I'll say that it's at least a probable explanation for the bizarre 3 man patrol. I don't know, but after I heard the details of the incident that night, I felt that something wasn't quite right. T

[AndyA]

3. I wouldn't put anything past the powers that be these days.

Allowing insurgents to do their dirty work for them would certainly fall within the realm of possibilities. The thought of it just makes me sick...

[rwork]

4. These soldiers torture and murder

are the direct result of bush*s turning his back on the rules of the Geneva Convention.These so called "Quaint Rules".

[IndianaGreen]

5. Exactly, once the President and the Pentagon are above the law

it becomes the law of the jungle. Might makes right!

[Breeze54]

6. Not enough troops on the ground?

I don't know but they are investigating that issue, according to this article.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_comments.php?id=71429_0_10_0_C

Congressman wants answers in Menchaca’s kidnapping, death

Posted on Jun 27, 06 | 12:01 am
BY EMMA PEREZ-TREVIÑO
The Brownsville Herald

A senior member of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee said Monday many questions
surround the slaying of Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and two fellow soldiers who were
ambushed and kidnapped June 16 in Iraq.

And U.S. Congressman Solomon P. Ortiz wants answers.

“We want to know exactly how it happened,” said Rep. Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi,
questioning the operating procedures that might have made the troops vulnerable
to an ambush.

The Multi-National Coalition Forces’ public affairs office in Baghdad, Iraq said
Monday in a prepared statement that, “a formal investigation has been directed by
Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman, the commanding general of MND-B (Multi-National Division-Baghdad)
to determine the facts surrounding the attack on the soldiers.”

In a June 22 press briefing, Gen. George Casey, commander of the Multi-National Force, said,
“I know commanders at every level have already gone back and revisited their procedures and
reemphasized the operating procedures that they have in place to ensure that this doesn’t happen.”

“And I’m sure we’ll be informed further when the investigation is completed,” Casey said
in a transcript of the briefing.

Ortiz wants to know what the standard operating procedures are.

“We’re not trying to pick a fight (with the Army), but we need to know what happened,”
Ortiz said Monday, just minutes after Menchaca’s remains arrived at the Brownsville-South
Padre Island International Airport.....

More at Link.......

[IndianaGreen]

7. Congressman Ortiz, the Menchaca family, and the American people

deserve an answer, not another Pentagon whitewash!

Great find, Breeze54!

[Breeze54]

8. Happy to help. Are you going to Terre Haute for the 4th ?

Peace! ;)
B54

We need to get our troops out of there...asap! :grr:

This 4th of July people across the country will be standing up to declare
a solemn and critical demand: "Bring the Troops Home Now."

We encourage you to join your neighbors in standing up for peace.

You can start or join a peace vigil this holiday weekend,
or join the peace contingent in your community's July 4th parade.

Many elected officials and people running for office will be making public appearances at July 4th activities:
Don't be shy about asking them what they are going to do to end the war and bring our troops home now.

Go out to places where people will be gathering to collect signatures of the Voters for Peace pledge.
You can join more than 2,000 others -- including:
Cindy Sheehan, Susan Sarandon, Willie Nelson, Sean Penn, Dolores Huerta, Danny Glover,
Fernando Suarez del Solar, Michael Berg, and war resister Lt. Ehren Watada
and his mother Carolyn Ho -- in the "Troops Home Fast" campaign,
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=146438158&url_num=6&url=http://www.troopshomefast.org/article.php?list=type&type=144
organized by UFPJ member group CODEPINK,
which kicks off in Washington DC on July 4th and continues through August 14th,
before moving to Camp Case in Crawford, Texas.

If you can't make it to DC, you can pledge to fast in your own town,
and you can even organize a local "Troops Home Fast" vigil.
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=146438158&url_num=8&url=http://www.unitedforpeace.org/july4thevents

Visit CODEPINK's website to sign the pledge and to find out more information
about this historic fast.

You can call your local radio talk shows during the holiday weekend to explain
why you think the war must end and all of the troops need to be brought home now.

Visit UFPJ's online calendar to find July 4th peace events in your area.
If you are organizing or participating in a 4th of July peace event,
please make sure to list it on our online calendar
(and choose "July 4th" as the event type!) so that others can join you as well.

Terre Haute, Indiana
RSVP • Picnic and Leafletting at the Fireworks Display
Monday, July 3rd 2006 6 p.m.
Terre Haute Stop War on Iraq will meet at the Gazebo on the YWCA side of Fairbanks Park
before the fireworks display for a picnic. Afterwards we will leaflet the crowd and inform
people about our participation in the Troops Home Fast on the 4th.


RSVP • Terre Haute Troops Home Now Fast
Tuesday, July 4th 2006 10 a.m.
Four members of Terre Haute Stop War on Iraq will fast at the Vigo Co. Courthouse on July 4th
from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. Non-fasting supporters are needed all day.
Come for an hour or longer. Anyone who wishes to fast with us is welcome to join us.

[IndianaGreen]

11. No, I am going to be registering voters at the July 4 Fest

at our community park.

[Breeze54]

12. Even better!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

;)

[Kipling]

9. Possibly. But never underestimate the inconsiderate and incompetent.

[Joey Liberal]

10. Me and my co-workers are wondering how it happened

I work with a lot of retired Army officers and NCO's. We are at a loss as to how this happened. Of course, one of them (most are republicans) blamed it all on the ACLU.

[IndianaGreen]

13. We won't know until the full story is out

right now there are two possibilities:

1. Spc. Babineau and Pfc. Menchaca and Tucker were by themselves at the checkpoint because their unit is over stretched and doesn't have enough troops to do the mission, or

2. Someone in the platoon wanted them dead in order to prevent one of them from snitching.

[blondeatlast]

14. More likely, both. Point 1 makes a convenient story to placate

those on both sides of the political fence and can obscure Point 2 very nicely.

[IndianaGreen]

15. UPDATE (July 1): Army: Policy violated in GIs' abductions, deaths

The question still remains, why did these 3 members of the platoon involved in the March rape and killings were left alone at a checkpoint? Someone in that platoon is stonewalling!

Army: Policy violated in GIs' abductions, deaths

Military says soldiers who were kidnapped and slain had been left alone

Updated: 8:45 a.m. ET July 1, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Three U.S. soldiers killed by insurgents south of Baghdad last month had been left alone at a checkpoint in violation of military procedure, a U.S. military spokeswoman said on Saturday.

An investigation is already under way into how the soldiers came to be on their own in an armored Humvee vehicle in an al-Qaida hotspot known as the “Triangle of Death” as night fell.

Militants abducted and killed two of them in an attack in which the third soldier also died.

“A lone vehicle does not fit standard operating procedures and does not match published guidance,” Lieutenant Colonel Michelle Martin-Hing told Reuters.

“The investigation will look at the circumstances surrounding this event and how it was that this vehicle was there by itself.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13651780/

[IndianaGreen]

16. In view of Steven Green's arrest in NC, a kick

Ex-soldier arrested in Iraq rape, killing (Mahmudiyah)

Edited on Mon Jul-03-06 10:50 AM by brooklynite

WASHINGTON - A veteran of the fighting in Iraq is facing federal criminal charges in connection with the killing of an Iraqi woman and members of her family.

Steven Green, who has been discharged from the Army, was arrested in recent days in North Carolina, two federal law enforcement officials said Monday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the case against Green have not been made public.

The U.S. military is investigating up to five soldiers in the March rape and killing of a woman in Mahmoudiya and three of her relatives.

It is unclear why Green has been discharged.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2368652