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."

[getloud1]

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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.

[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.

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.

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.

[feelfree1]

Another hand slap for a craven murderer.

Our justice system is a sick joke.

[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?

[speakinup]

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

drop dead.

[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

[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.