USA PMC in AFG Faces Murder Charges...
...linked to the shooting of an AFG national after an American social scientist was doused with gasoline and set afire earlier this month. Moderators - couldn't find earlier reference through search, but feel free to move this if another thread is a better fit.
Contractor who shot Afghan stands trial
American shot Afghan dead when told of colleague's horrific burns
Quqnoos.com (AFG), 20 Nov 08
Article link
An American security contractor who shot an Afghan man is standing trial for murder in America. The American is understood to have shot the man after hearing that the Afghan had injured a fellow contractor, reports say.
Don M. Ayala, 46 and Paula Loyd were accompanying an American foot patrol through an Afghan village near Kandahar on November 4. Afghan Abdul Salam threw a container of flammable liquid onto Loyd during the operation and was detained.
About ten minutes later, when Ayala was told that Loyd was badly burnt, he shot Salam dead, according to American soldiers who witnessed the scene.
Since leaving the US military, Ayala had guarded top Afghan and Iraqi VIPs. He had been working for BAE Systems since September 1.
It is unclear how Ayala was brought before the US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.
The trial continues.
Then again, the deceased may have made the mistake
of figuring that nice law abiding Americans wouldn't do what was done -- and smarted off ex post pyro to the wrong guy.
Thus your hope:
Quote:
...I do hope the Jury recognizes the emotional duress the man was under and he probably wasn't thinking straight when he shot him.
is shared by me but is probably forlorn in this day and age -- unless there's a romance angle; that usually sways 'em... ;)
As for this:
Quote:
"...If the assailant was still alive he would be a valuable intelligence asset on finding the names and locations of those planning the attack and those observing and reporting on HTT team movements.
Perhaps but most likely not. He could've been acting alone on a whim or he could've been told what and where with no knowledge of names and locations.
People sometimes act illogically. That applies to bad guys and good guys and to most of us who fall in between.
That depends on how you look at it
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Featherock
Does anyone know of any other PMCs, in Iraq or AFghanistan, who has been charged with murder? Is this a first?
How do Blackwater guys kill dozens of Iraqis at a traffic circle and not get charged with anything and this Ayala guy gets charged immediately?
Regardless, he did the wrong thing, big time, no doubt about it. We can sympathize and put ourselves in his shoes all we want. It doesn't change what he did. We can't operate by two sets of rules, the 'good' one and the 'conditional' one.
While this response probably belongs in the cultural forum, I don't think he did the wrong thing. The "right" thing in this case is completely subjective and cultural, imo. Maybe it's a product of being raised in a demonstrably backwards and old-fashioned culture, but I approve of Ayala's actions on several levels.
Under most codes of honor or obligation, the right thing for Ayala to do would be to kill Lloyd's attacker. Of course, the right thing for Ayala also to do is to also present himself for punishment, and the right thing for the US government to do is to prosecute Ayala to the fullest extent of the law.
The only wrong I see here is in Ayala's failure to protect his charge, and the Afghan to throw the gas. And either of those things can be debated, as well.
While this may damage the COIN effort on the homefront, I don't see how this damages the COIN effort in Afghanistan.
The Rule of Law sounds nice; shame about the spotty application.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Featherock
There's no "thinking" about it. The facts are the facts. What he did was against the law, pure and simple...
Except we do not know all the facts, ergo some thinking is justified until such point as those fact are pretty conclusive. Thus far we have only reports that appear to be conclusive.
Quote:
... the fact is all soldiers and contractors operating in a combat zone have to operate under the law, regardless of what the enemy does.
I haven't seen anyone here arguing that point. The issue raised is that of a human reaction to a provocation in a war like environment. One can say that flawed reactions, types of provocation and the wartime environment are not excuses for a criminal act and that may be correct legally and even philosophically in the eyes of many but without greater knowledge of all the factors; all are just speculating. In such speculations, some will lean toward the rule of law; others toward the emotional quotient of the case at hand. No one is wrong.
Quote:
Does it hurt our COIN efforts? I would say yes. This specific incident? I don't know. This incident paired with other incidents like it (PMCs firing on civilians in Iraq, the Gitmo disaster) have a incredibly deleterious effect on COIN efforts and America's standing in the world.
I don't think your last sentence is correct. Change it to add "in the eyes of some." after 'world' and I think its more nearly correct. Those things may be trumpeted by anti-war types and nominal opponents or anti-US / anti-Bush types but the vast majority of the world doesn't really care.
Note that the 'PMCs in Iraq firing on civilians' factor is not one whit more deleterious than is or was such firing by US troops or by Iraqi forces other than in the eyes of many in the media and academe. Gitmo as disaster is an interesting trope. I can hardly wait to see how the new administration mitigates that 'disaster.' :D
Hard to defend IF as presented so far...
Glad to see a lot of good discussion here on this one...
Anyone charged is innocent until proven guilty, and we don't know all the facts until they come out in court (and maybe not even then), but if this is correctly paraphrased from the court documents:
Quote:
....Ayala helped subdue and arrest Salam, who was restrained and placed in plastic handcuffs, according to the affidavit. About 10 minutes later, after a soldier said Loyd had been badly burned, Ayala pointed a pistol at Salam's head and shot him dead, according to court records....
while I empathize with the rage he would have felt, it seems similar to a cop shooting a handcuffed suspect who wasn't threatening said cop.
I'm guessing if his hands were tied, it was because he was going to be handed over to some other authority. If not, I stand to be corrected. If so, this gives the prosecution a pretty strong case to start with. It'll be interesting to see what the defence's case will be....