GI Acquitted On Charges He Murdered Iraqis

Staff Sergeant Convicted, However, Of Planting Evidence To Make Victims Appear As Insurgents

(AP)  A military panel on Friday acquitted Spc. Jorge G. Sandoval of charges he killed two unarmed Iraqis, but it convicted him of planting evidence on one of the men in attempt to cover up the shooting.

Sandoval, 22, of Laredo, Texas, had faced five charges in the April and May deaths of two unidentified men. He was found not guilty of the two murder charges, but the panel decided he had placed a detonation wire on one of the bodies to make it look as if the man was an insurgent.

Lawyers for Sandoval, who will be sentenced early Saturday, said he should face no more than six months in prison for misplacement of public property, while prosecutors argued he should receive a five-year sentence for obstructing justice.

In tearful testimony during the two-day court-martial, Sandoval's colleagues testified they were following orders when they shot the men during two separate incidents on April 27 and May 11.

Spc. Alexander Flores, who was in the same squad as Sandoval on the day of the April killing, testified they were acting on the orders of their platoon leader who said the suspect was "our guy" and ordered them to "move in," which they interpreted as "take the target out."

After the killing, Flores said Staff Sgt. Michael Hensley told him to place a spool of detonation wire on the body and in the man's pocket.

Prosecutor's cited an interview with Sandoval immediately after his arrest in which he said he planted the wire.

In the May shooting, Sgt. Evan Vela said Hensley told him to shoot the man, who had stumbled upon their snipers' hideout, although he was not armed and had his hands in the air when he approached the soldiers.

"He (Hensley) asked me if I was ready. I had the pistol out. I heard the word shoot. I don't remember pulling the trigger. It took me a second to realize that the shot came from the pistol in my hand," Vela testified, crying.

Vela of Rigby, Idaho, said that as the Iraqi man was convulsing on the ground, "Hensley kind of laughed about it and hit the guy on the throat and said shoot again."

"After he (the Iraqi man) was shot, Hensley pulled an AK-47 out of his rucksack and said, 'this is what we are going to say happened,"' said Vela, who testified under a deal that bars his account of events from being used against him when he goes to trial. Sandoval also was acquitted Friday of charges he planted the weapon on the second man's body.

Vela and Hensley of Candler, North Carolina, are both charged in the case and will be tried separately.

The 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.

Vela's lawyer Gary Myers 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."

[Ed0719]

To you war supporters: if you had armed invaders walking through your neighborhood doing things like this, killing your neighbors with no provocation, would you just sit idly by and do nothing or would you form some sort of insurgency to fight back?

[mcvet]

It''s so sad to see our Nation have to go through this thing AGAIN. American''s Fighting Men are NOT good at being Police People... we should already know this. Ask any Vietnam Veteran what it feels like to walk around not being able to know who is or isn''t the enemy? When you are in the middle of a Civil War, the people who kill you are no different in looks and actions than those your Command says you''re supposed to protect. Then you get the wacked out leader who just wants to kill, that''s why he''s in the Military. In that kind of enviroment those people are worse than anything you will ever see in our lifetime. Combat Vet, USMC, RVN, 1968

No wonder Iraqis are turning against us - to them, we''re just murderers in uniform.

If the Iraqis were over here doing the same thing to us, I''d be picking up a gun and defending my country and my people as well.

[nexgen99]

fuziwuzi... You act like every soldier is doing this. Their are bad apples in all walks of life. Stop disparaging our troops and grow up.

[usn1989]

Hey McVet...respect your service, have 20 years in myself. Just wondering though, did we accomplish our objective in Vietnam? Countries go to war for military and political objectives and many like to focus on bodycount, for instance, as a measure of success...did we win Vietnam? Many would argue we did...would like to know your thoughts.

Still Active

[prinzowhales]

Let''s let the Mafia start trying their members who break US law...

...Isn''t ''sovereign'' Iraq wonderful? Rape, murder, genocide, the poisoning of all Iraq with depleted uranium...all legal...all part of the fight against terrorism...''growing democracy''...yessirree...

[tcoleman12]

The Iraqis are not turning against us because of this. I would think that if they are actually turning against us it is due more to people like Murtha, Durbin, Kerry, Reid, and other "leaders" in the Democrat Party that say our soldiers are massacring civilians, terrorizing families in the dead of night, committing torture and other war crimes...
The Dems are providing propaganda for the enemy.

[usn1989]

nexgen99...spoken like a true combat vet. Next time a vehicle pulls up with a kid wired, I''ll make sure he has a uniform on before he detonates. There is a political objective to be gained by occupying Iraq and the Middle East...I recognize the fact that the CINC has not communicated this well to the American people...for crying out loud, who could argue to Joe Smoe on the streets of America and make him understand the repurcussions of having a nuclear device or nuclear war erupt in the Middle east is bad for the world as a whole. It ain''t gonna happen...focus on the military objective, like we did in Vietnam, and forget about the long term political objective, and this will end in an event that you will regret for years to come.

Still Active

[myidoncbs]

usn1989 asks, "did we win Vietnam?" and opines, "Many would argue we did."

What planet do those "many" occupy?

By what kind of twisted definition of "win" can anybody say we "won" anything in Vietnam?

Here''s the facts:

"The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, the American War in Vietnam and the Vietnam Conflict, occurred from 1959 to April 30, 1975, in Vietnam, concluding with the North Vietnamese victory after more than 15 years and over 1.5 million people dead on both sides. The war was fought between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and the United States-supported Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). The result of the war was defeat of the Southern and American forces, and unification of Vietnam under the communist government of the North."

I don''t think there''s any way to call that a "win" for the US! (Unless you realize that WAR itself is the enemy, and we all "win" when war ends.)

[nexgen99]

tuckerndfw... So I guess what ever Michael Vick did should reflect on all Football players, right? I guess in your view if you commit a criminal act at work, then it should reflect on all the other employees because after all you as an employee respresent the company to the public and the world don''t you.

[lars008-2009]

it is fascist nazi terrorislam stupid,,,

non muslims of the world unite,,, fight against the tyranny of the fascist nazi terrorslam imperialist empire of the darkside,,,

I was a fanatic...I know their thinking, says former radical Islamist
By blaming the Government for our actions, those who pushed this "Blair''s bombs" line did our propaganda work for us.
More important, they also helped to draw away any critical examination from the real engine of our violence: Islamic theology.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=465570&in_page_id=1770

Bless the Beasts and Children
Fascist nazi terrorslam kills every man woman and child in the village again%u2026 typical mo for terrorslam%u2026
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/bless-the-beasts-and-children.htm

Our Prophet commanded us to fight the kaafirs when we are able and to attack them in their homelands and to give them three choices before we enter their lands: either they become Muslim and be like us, sharing our rights and duties; or they pay the jizyah (poll tax) and feel themselves subdued; or they fight, in which case their wealth, women, children and homes become permissible as booty for the Muslims.
http://islamqa.com/index.php?ref=13759&ln=eng&txt=before%20islam%20arabia%20pagan

the truth about fascist nazi terrorislam...
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/what-really-happened/

[lars008-2009]

LOOK WHO IS TARGETING CIVILIANS!!!

Qaeda warns of attacks ''worse than 9/11''
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070530102648.wuwa6k96&show_article=1

Hizbullah Deputy Sec-Gen Sheikh Naim Qassem: We Have Jurisprudent Permission to Carry Out ''Martyrdom'' Operations, Fire Missiles on Israeli Civilians From Ayatollah Khomeini
http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD154907

Switching Sides: Inside The Enemy Camp

But then in 2000, well before his arrest, something happened which would make Abas question everything he believed in: a fatwa, a religious edict, was issued by Osama bin Laden.

"It should be understood that killing Americans and Jews anywhere found are the highest act of worship and the highest form of good deeds in the eyes of Allah," Simon quotes bin Laden.

Abas and his fellow commanders were ordered to read the fatwa to their men and make sure they carried it out. The others obeyed, but Abas refused. It was his moment of truth. He firmly believed that jihad was to be fought only on the battlefield in defense of Islam; he had always been taught that the killing of civilians had nothing to do with holy war and that it was forbidden.

The fatwa justified killing non-Muslim civilians everywhere.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/04/60minutes/main2761108.shtml?source=RSSattr=60Minutes_2761108
American Al Qaeda Member Threatens Attack
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/29/terror/main2865282.shtml

[lars008-2009]

VOTE FOR JEFFERSON,,, VOTE AGAINST FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAM,,, VOTE GOP,,,

dnc are like john adams and want to give the jihadist their lunch money hoping they will leave us alone,,,

gop are like thomas jefferson and want to spend their lunch money on weapons and go kick the jihadists in their arses,,,

What Thomas Jefferson learned from the Muslim book of jihad,,,

Thomas Jefferson knew about fascist nazi islam,,, he killed plenty of them,,,

In 1786 Jefferson and John Adams went to negotiate with Tripoli''s envoy to London, Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdrahaman or (Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja). They asked him by what right he extorted money and took slaves. Jefferson reported to Secretary of State John Jay, and to the Congress:

The ambassador answered us that [the right] was founded on the Laws of the Prophet (Mohammed), that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have answered their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every Mussulman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to heaven.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Barbary_War
http://www.usvetdsp.com/jan07/jeff_quran.htm
muslim justifies slavery and piracy%u2026
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?6bdec278-6a71-4436-bc4d-29d1c54b0ad7

[nexgen99]

Sorry tuckerndf, I was in fact in the military 1967 - 1969 101st Airborne Hue Vietnam and the actions of one soldier do not reflect the actions of all.

[myidoncbs]

I see lars008 is still waging jihad against Islam, which he thinks is a somehow uniquely violent religion.

Lars, have you ever read the Christian Bible? It says you must kill everyone who works on the Sabbath, everyone that God made gay, everyone who curses his/her parents, every woman who isn''t a virgin on her wedding night, every woman who cuts her hair too short, everyone who doesn''t listen to the priests, every "witch", all fortune tellers, anyone who strikes their father or mother, everyone who committs adultury or fornication, all "false prophets", the whole town of a person who worships another god, etc., etc.

My personal favorite example of the Christian hypocrisy is contained in the beloved Psalms: "Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones." Effing Baby Killers!!!

So, if you want to make jihad against an evil religion, Lars008, why not start a bit closer to home?

[myidoncbs]

nexgen99, when you say, "the actions of one soldier do not reflect the actions of all," you fail to understand the real issue. It doesn''t matter whether or not the actions of "a few bad apples" affect YOUR perception of the whole. What matters is that the actions of even one bad soldier reflect badly on the whole IN THE MINDS OF others! Haven''t you heard the expression, "One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel"? That expression explains the effect.

If a few US soldiers murder, rape, steal, insult, denigrate (etc.) the Iraqis, then the Iraqis (and much of the entire world!) get the idea that that is what ALL OF THE US is like. Your own personal ability to separate the "bad" from the "good" is irrelevant.

[nexgen99]

MyIDonCBS.. So I guess we should consider that Iraqi''s who behead Americans represent all Iraqi''s and we should treat them all as the enemy. If the Iraq people are as narrow minded as you seem to believe then their is no hope for them.

[starleo146]

Posted by davidjones11 at 01:10 PM : Sep 28, 2007

Man you are so backward, I can not believe you. When you join the military and go to training you are trained to kill, or you will be killed. What kind of Military do you want? Excuse me sir,, are you an insurgent because I can''t shoot you if you are not? No I no insurgent. Oh Ohkay and walk away and then you are shot in the back. The person who gave him the order now that is another thing.

[davegf]

Another american terrorist gets away with murder, thanks to the terrorist u.s. military and it''s fraud trials.

To the Iraqi people, 60% of whom approve of attacking u.s. soldiers...........do your best to rid your country of these TERRORISTS.

[glossypan]

Every section of the Uniform Code Of Military Justice having to do with obeying orders prefaces the need to obey with the word LAWFUL, for example 809 Art 90 (20)..."must obey the lawful command of a superior officer." He admitted shooting a civilian with his arms in the air. I do not think the defense argued that SPC Sandoval was incapable of understanding right from wrong. What was the legal theory behind the not guilty verdict?

[nexgen99]

Wow DaveGF... You really are an a.s.s wipe aren%u2019t you.

[lars008-2009]

HITLERY KLINTOON IS GOING TO STICK HER THERMOMETER UP AMERICA"S ARSE,,,, LOL

[starleo146]

Another american terrorist gets away with murder, thanks to the terrorist u.s. military and it''''s fraud trials.

To the Iraqi people, 60% of whom approve of attacking u.s. soldiers...........do your best to rid your country of these TERRORISTS.

Posted by DaveGF at 01:33 PM : Sep 28, 2007

You can not say general betrayus but an enlisted man you can call anything you want. There are 11 enlisted men in prison and the people who gave the order was found not guilty on all charges but one he talked to the press. None of us was there and military court have there laws so do not judge these men. Yes there are bad apples but I would put my money on these guys anyday

[yo_marc]

Posted by MyIDonCBS at 12:44 PM : Sep 28, 2007

"Lars, have you ever read the Christian Bible? It says you must kill everyone who works on the Sabbath, everyone that God made gay, everyone who curses his/her parents, every woman who isn''''t a virgin on her wedding night, every woman who cuts her hair too short, everyone who doesn''''t listen to the priests, every "witch", all fortune tellers, anyone who strikes their father or mother, everyone who committs adultury or fornication, all "false prophets", the whole town of a person who worships another god, etc., etc."

Have you read much of the New Testament?

I haven''t read much of what you''ve listed with my own eyes - but some of what you have listed isn''t entirely accurate.

I am sure though that the point you''re trying to make should be worded in past-tense ... with past-tense coming into play approximately 2000 years ago. It''s a good age we''re living in!


"My personal favorite example of the Christian hypocrisy is contained in the beloved Psalms: "Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones." Effing Baby Killers!!!"

Can you give us the exact Psalm? I''ve been trying to look it up, but can''t find it anywhere.

[boehlow1754]

Let us not complain about the wheel that turns the trade!

[retired_nco]

The theory behind the "Not Guilty Finding" is that if we start finding U.S. soldiers guilty of war crimes in Irag where would it end. How high do you go.

In reality no America Officer of NCO wants to find another soldier guilty for any actions taken in Iraq because they may find themselves in the same situation and be the next one accused of a crime.

It has been mentioned that a soldier has the duty to disobey an unlawful order. You could argue that, since there were no "legal" grounds for the invasion of Irag, every order from the President on down has been illegal and every member of the military who has obeyed could be gulity of a war crime.

One mans war hero is another mans war criminal!

[boehlow1754]

If I have to stop this car one more time!!! little Mao!

[truamerican2]

It disgusts me that so many have sympathy for Iraqi insurgents (they do differ from TERRORISTS) vs the Americans we have serving there. They%u2019re mentally taxed, sleep deprived and some have mental scars that will never heal. If you understood the scope of PTSD affecting so many over there, you may have a clue. These 3 were caught. We%u2019ll never know the whole story, just what the media reports.

I compel you anti-USA naysayers to imagine living with the image of your brother in arms, who was alive seconds before you witnessed his head being blown off by one of those "possible" insurgents. The murderer is the man who walked by you before blowing himself up.

Posters of such garbage are the reason why trials are held in Iraq (out of the home spotlight), the reason why such baiting programs exist. Heaven forbid you kill a guy who appears in every way to be an insurgent, then learn after the fact that he definitely is. You end up getting put away for murder when this very guy would%u2019ve killed you, or others in your unit in a second. Better to just cover it up because America will vilify you. I hope you are proud that these soldiers are pushed to this because of YOU.

If you have not served this country, or better yet, served in this war, you%u2019ve no clue what really happened there. You must be one of the three on trial to really understand who, what, where, when or why.

If you talk trash, remove that yellow ribbon magnet from your car - you are not worthy of it.

[jn122736]

Can you give us the exact Psalm? I''''ve been trying to look it up, but can''''t find it anywhere.
Posted by yo_marc at 02:41 PM : Sep 28, 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Psalms 137:8

[jn122736]

Sorry, psalms 137:9

[Krazcarl]

I don''t know about anyonr else but after WWII every nazi and *** favorite line was "I was just following orders" I find it troubling that were hiding behind it now because when you hide behind something it means you have something to hide. I support the troops never served and can only imagine the pressure but never the less there has been an unpresidented number of killing of mon combatants rapes and idecrimenate shellings to me there seams to be lack of leadership over there and a walk over killing an unarmed man does''t send out a very good message to the troops that are on the edge. To me the leadership seams unprepared and/or illequiped I find that troubling.

[lars008-2009]

VOTE FOR JEFFERSON,,, VOTE AGAINST FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAM,,, VOTE GOP,,,

dnc are like john adams and want to give the jihadist their lunch money hoping they will leave us alone,,,

gop are like thomas jefferson and want to spend their lunch money on weapons and go kick the jihadists in their arses,,,

What Thomas Jefferson learned from the Muslim book of jihad,,,

Thomas Jefferson knew about fascist nazi islam,,, he killed plenty of them,,,

In 1786 Jefferson and John Adams went to negotiate with Tripoli''''''''s envoy to London, Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdrahaman or (Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja). They asked him by what right he extorted money and took slaves. Jefferson reported to Secretary of State John Jay, and to the Congress:

The ambassador answered us that [the right] was founded on the Laws of the Prophet (Mohammed), that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have answered their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every Mussulman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to heaven.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Barbary_War
http://www.usvetdsp.com/jan07/jeff_quran.htm
muslim justifies slavery and piracy%u2026
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?6bdec278-6a71-4436-bc4d-29d1c54b0ad7

[speakinup]

tuckerndfw - you are ignorant - you lie - yo have no concept of the truth - you are shameless.

drop dead.

[socrates392]

Posted by lars008 at 04:30 PM : Sep 28, 2007

Hey, hey! My favorite spammer is back! Do you have a conservative music cd too?

[feelfree1]

Another hand slap for a craven murderer.

Our justice system is a sick joke.

truamerican2 wrote:

"It disgusts me that so many have sympathy for Iraqi insurgents (they do differ from TERRORISTS) vs the Americans we have serving there. They%u2019re mentally taxed, sleep deprived and some have mental scars that will never heal...imagine living with the image of your brother in arms, who was alive seconds before you witnessed his head being blown off by one of those "possible" insurgents. The murderer is the man who walked by you before blowing himself up."

Not every Iraqi is an insurgent nor a terrorist.

Killing unarmed Iraqi civilians is not only immoral, it''s a crime and needs to be treated as such.

When an accident happens, it should be treated as such, but when we start shooting people for picking up an item, or plant false evidence after the fact, we''re talking murder - plain and simple murder.

Fact is, many of our soldiers do the right thing - but then, those who don''t ruin it for them and for us at home.

They need to be held accountable for their actions.

You talk about soldiers seeing their buddies heads blown off, but the same applies to innocent civilians as well.

What would you do if you saw an occupying force killing your friends and family - none of which have anything to do with an insurgency or terrorism?

I would take up arms and I would fight them until I was either victorious or dead.

There are two sides to every story - whether you care to believe it or not.

speakinup wrote:

"tuckerndfw - you are ignorant - you lie - yo have no concept of the truth - you are shameless.

drop dead."

Why don''t you tell us what your "version" of the truth is?

Like it or not, some Iraqis are fighting us because we have invaded their country, occupied their country, destroyed their homes, killed their friends, family, sons and daughters - and they are entitled to fight back.

I don''t like seeing my fellow countrymen killed - that is why I support the withdrawal of our troops from what is a civil war.

We began the war based on lies and deception - and the war is continuing because of lies and deception by the Bush Administration.

And Bush is responsible for every single death - Iraqi and American.

And his supporters are just as responsible.

[feelfree1]

mcdazz,

Re: "Like it or not, some Iraqis are fighting us because we have invaded their country, occupied their country, destroyed their homes, killed their friends, family, sons and daughters - and they are entitled to fight back."

It seems that shockingly few people are willing to confront this issue.

I would estimate that this situation describes nearly all Iraqis, rather than only some, but well done.

FeelFree1 wrote:

"It seems that shockingly few people are willing to confront this issue.

I would estimate that this situation describes nearly all Iraqis, rather than only some, but well done."

I''m inclined to agree.

Unfortunately, there are quite a few blind and ignorant people here who are incapable of understanding the situation for what it is.

At one point in time, we were the Iraqi peoples saviors.

Now, we are the occupiers, the murderers, the torturers, the rapists and the destroyers of their homes.

I have read many books written by returned soldiers, and it is disturbing to read that "normal" American soldiers frequently act with little regard to the lives of Iraqi civilians - not insurgents or terrorists - but civilians - men, women and children.

It horrifies me to think that many Americans don''t care that our soldiers are killing - murdering - children of all ages.

And they not only support it - but feel that it is right.

If this was another countries soldiers doing this to Americans, we would be fighting back.

Which would make us the "insurgents".

Instead, our actions in Iraq make us their terrorists.

[getloud1]

If Americans don%u2019t wake up their will be nothing left, our Nation is broke and Wall Street is the only people making a profit. While the Hidden inflation tax continues to rise and the value of the dollar declines. Ron Paul is the only one who truely understands this, and honestly if he is not elected America should be prepared for a real economic depression like it has never seen before.

Unless you want a North American Union and a new currency the "Amero" split with Canada and Mexico. And lose all your rights and freedom. Vote For Ron Paul 2008!

So my advice is to bypass the media and spread the word to your family and friends about him. The power of the People is far greater than a campaign spending 10''s of million to buy an image. Because this man is a real American Hero. He has dedicated his life to this country and everyone in it, and now he is trying to save it from disaster.

Spread The Word! Go Ron Paul 2008!

Ron Paul Has Raised 838,000 in 5 Days from people who really love this country and their freedom!

http://www.ronpaul2008.com

Join The ReVoLuTiOn:
http://ronpaul.meetup.com/cities