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Thread: SFC Taylor, the Fog of War and Army duplicity

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  1. #1
    Council Member Fuchs's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Polarbear1605 View Post
    Explain to me how the court martial of SFC Taylor helps the war both tactically and strategically?
    Does it need to?

    Isn't it a display of civilisation and rule of law AT HOME to prosecute one's own criminals?

  2. #2
    Council Member slapout9's Avatar
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    Second 1: A figure dressed in dark, bulky clothing emerges.

    Second 2: The figure begins walking toward the trunk.

    Second 3: Taylor, with five wounded comrades behind him, sees a thin trigger wire seeming to snake directly toward the black car. Could there be a second bomb in the trunk?
    Second 4: Taylor squeezes the trigger on his M-4 carbine. The figure crumples to the dirt.


    Copied from the original article posted in post #1. Pay attention to second #3Bold was added by me.


    Sgt. Taylor should be given a medal and the REMF's that brought charges against him in the first place should be brought up on Treason charges . This is a classic case of Demoralization Propaganda being used by the enemy as was taught years ago as part of basic Commie Propaganda doctrine.

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    Council Member AdamG's Avatar
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    After a hearing in which military lawyers debated to what extent soldiers can be held accountable for split-second decisions in the heat of combat, a ruling on whether to court-martial a soldier who killed an unarmed physician in southern Afghanistan has been postponed until July 31.

    The case of Army Sgt. 1st Class Walter Taylor, heard before a military court in Germany last month, now rests with Lt. Col. Alva Hart, investigating officer with the 16th Sustainment Brigade.

    Hart will determine whether there are reasonable grounds to hold the 31-year-old veteran of four combat deployments for trial on charges of negligent homicide in the shooting of the civilian doctor. The shooting occurred at the end of a tense gunfight; the doctor’s car had raced into the middle of the battle, adding to the confusion.
    http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/n...,5325343.story
    A scrimmage in a Border Station
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  4. #4
    Council Member slapout9's Avatar
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    Default Battle Hymn Of Lt. William Calley

    Link to

    "The Battle Hymn Of Lt. William Calley"

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXNsXIxBkqs

  5. #5
    Council Member Polarbear1605's Avatar
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    Default Update

    http://www.morrisdailyherald.com/201...oting/ak86n4b/

    Looks like a decision about to proceed with a court martial will be July 31th also a little bit of additional information.
    "If you want a new idea, look in an old book"

  6. #6
    Council Member TheCurmudgeon's Avatar
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    Default Question and an observation ...

    First, the question: Does anyone know who his BDE Commander is?

    Second, the observation: I was stuck in Kuwait in 2004 ... Day trips and week-long boondoggles into Iraq ... but mostly stuck in Arifjan. Anyway, a guard at Camp Doha, where there was no action occurring, was confronted with a person trying to enter the post through the gate he was guarding. The soldier was not guarding an entry control point, just a usually unused logistical access point. The person was drunk and was not responding since he did not understand English. He continued to approach the gate. The ROE at that time basically said that if you were threatened you should engage the threat. Instead the Soldier fired a warning shot. He received an ART 15 for not following the ROE. If he had believed the individual was a threat he should have shot the individual.

    My how things have changed.
    "I can change almost anything ... but I can't change human nature."

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  7. #7
    Council Member AdamG's Avatar
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    From ARMY TIMES Premium Content, full story for subscribers only -

    Was SFC sold out to appease Afghans?
    http://www.armytimes.com/prime/2012/...harges-071612/
    A scrimmage in a Border Station
    A canter down some dark defile
    Two thousand pounds of education
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  8. #8
    Council Member Polarbear1605's Avatar
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    Default Yes...Absolutely

    Quote Originally Posted by Fuchs View Post
    Does it need to?
    Yes! and both tactically and strategically ... Viet Nam was a war the US won tactcally but lost strategically...history, I think, is mostly likely to say the same thing about Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Quote Originally Posted by Fuchs View Post
    Isn't it a display of civilisation and rule of law AT HOME to prosecute one's own criminals?
    Absolutely, but this is war and it is insurgency war, and the rule of law does not exist on the battle field. In fact, the purpose of the bad guys being there is to demonistrate that the rule of law does not exist. My opinion is that, in general, the laws of war is the only law that exists on the battlefield and any attempt to mix them is a failure to properly set the strategic tapistry for success of the war.
    "If you want a new idea, look in an old book"

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    Again, woulda, coulda, shoulda...did he, or did he not, violate the ROE's that were in effect at the time, yes or no? Can't make it any more black and white than that...I say "yes", others say "no", so it'll be up to which side has the better lawyers in the end...
    "We're here to preserve democracy, not practice it." from the move, Crimson Tide

  10. #10
    Council Member slapout9's Avatar
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    this is what Boyd meant about the Moral level of Warfare.


    Listen to a former KGB propaganda and subversion expert explain what the enemy is doing to us.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMWVU...eature=related
    Last edited by slapout9; 06-25-2012 at 08:30 PM. Reason: stuff

  11. #11
    Council Member Ken White's Avatar
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    Default Can't say whether he violated the rules or not, wasn't there.

    Nor do I believe anyone else who was not can make that determination -- and that includes the members of the Court...

    Quote Originally Posted by socal1200r View Post
    Again, woulda, coulda, shoulda...did he, or did he not, violate the ROE's that were in effect at the time, yes or no? Can't make it any more black and white than that...I say "yes", others say "no", so it'll be up to which side has the better lawyers in the end...
    You may be correct in your final assessment, however, the real question is; Should it come to that point?

    ROE are necessary but like all rules and regulations they are merely a guide. Human judgment has to be applied and sometimes those rules must -- I use that word advisedly -- be transgressed. Slavish adherence to rules is, simply, stupid because no rules can account for every situation. In war or combat, such adherence is not only potentially stupid, it is literally a killer (not least because it sets up mind numbing predictability, a tactical no-no for thousands of years...).

    War requires a lot of judgement calls and entails taking risks -- anyone not willing to acknowledge and live with that ought to find another line of work. The 'safety' of adherence to rules is remarkably inimical to combat survival but it's great for job security in an Army at peace -- and make no mistake, the US Army as an institution is at peace and has been since 1945.

    Slapout is right, we're being played for yo-yos. Our fetish for 'rules' and the 'better lawyer' syndrome are not helping.

  12. #12
    Council Member Fuchs's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Polarbear1605 View Post
    Absolutely, but this is war and it is insurgency war, and the rule of law does not exist on the battle field. In fact, the purpose of the bad guys being there is to demonistrate that the rule of law does not exist. My opinion is that, in general, the laws of war is the only law that exists on the battlefield and any attempt to mix them is a failure to properly set the strategic tapistry for success of the war
    So you want to defeat the insurgents by proving they're right and not follow the law?

    Besides, war ends sometime, criminals are leftovers. A civilised country with a rule of law at home treats them like criminals.

  13. #13
    Council Member Polarbear1605's Avatar
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    Default No

    Quote Originally Posted by Fuchs View Post
    So you want to defeat the insurgents by proving they're right and not follow the law?

    Besides, war ends sometime, criminals are leftovers. A civilised country with a rule of law at home treats them like criminals.
    No...I want to prove the insurgents are wrong to use civilians as shields by following the laws of war and refuse the cover of the rule of law to the bad guys.
    "If you want a new idea, look in an old book"

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