Lt. Col. Allen B. West

[Jet Moses]

[url=http://www.nationalreview.com/babbin/babbin200312040845.asp]http://www.nationalreview.com/babbin/babbi...00312040845.asp[/url]



[b]December 04, 2003[/b], 8:45 a.m.

Failure of Command
The case of Lt. Col. Allen B. West.



Last October, one American soldier — a young trooper untrained in handling prisoners — was told to guard an Iraqi prisoner. In a small area confined only by a strand of wire, the soldier was told to watch the man, and to shoot him if he tried to get away. The soldier daydreamed, as young men tend to do, more than most; an instant later the daydream was over, the prisoner was near the wire, and the soldier did as he was ordered. He shot the man dead.

That soldier, a member of the Fourth Infantry Division, hadn't been trained in interrogation or other aspects of prisoner management. Instead of facing court martial for the killing, the soldier was thrown out of the army when the JAG lawyer made a deal.

A few months before that incident, around August 8, another member of the Fourth I.D. — an artillery officer and a veteran of the 1991 Gulf War — was assigned as a civil military-affairs officer in a hot zone in the Sunni Triangle. His job placed him in daily contact with local leaders, and his responsibility was to help them help the army, to run local elections, and stamp out the insurgents. The officer was told by the intel people that they had solid information, from three sources, about a plot to assassinate him. He wasn't very concerned, his attention focused on a scheduled local election only a few weeks away. His boss told him to stay off the streets for a few days, and he did. Readying to go back out on patrol on August 16, the lieutenant colonel was stopped at the gate by some locals who wanted to talk to him. The patrol went on without him, and was ambushed. No Americans were hurt, but the officer was convinced of the plot.

Between August 16 and 20, intelligence identified an Iraqi policeman who was allegedly involved in the assassination plot, and the man was arrested on Aug. 20. According to the officer's defense attorney, this is what happened.

Lt. Col. Allen B. West was told the policeman was uncooperative, so he took a few of his men to the interrogation area to see for himself, where he found the prisoner being questioned by two female officers. They told him the man was belligerent, and wasn't giving them any information. (Surprise, surprise. The idiocy of having women question male Arab prisoners is apparent to everyone except the army commanders.) West entered the room, sat across from the man, drew his pistol, and placed it in his lap. West told him he had come to either get information, or to kill him. The prisoner responded by smiling and saying, "I love you." The interrogation continued, and one of West's troops lost his temper and started slapping the man. West then had his men take the prisoner outside, where he again threatened the man, telling him that he would kill him on the count of five if he didn't tell what he knew. The prisoner refused, and West fired his pistol into the air.

The interrogation continued, but not the beating. After about 20 more minutes of useless questioning, West grabbed the man, held him down near a box full of sand used to discharge jammed weapons, and said something like, "This is it. I'm going to count to five again, and if you don't give me what I want, I'm going to kill you." West held the man down, counted to five, and then fired his pistol into the discharging box about a foot from the Iraqi's head. He began talking. Over the next few minutes, the prisoner gave very specific information about the plot. He named the conspirators, gave times and dates of the assassination plan, and even described how attacks would be made.

West and his men went back to their base camp. The lieutenant colonel immediately went to his boss, woke him up, and told him what he had done, and about the information he'd gotten from the Iraqi. West didn't say anything about what his troops had done. The boss — Col. Kevin Stramara — responded only by saying something like, "Alan, we need to take the high road." Leaving Stramara, West went to the medics' area, and ordered one of the doctors to examine and treat the prisoner. The doctor found the man bruised and scared, but not injured in any significant way. The next day, West briefed his own staff about the incident, and told them he took full responsibility. And that, West thought, was that. Apparently so did Stramara, who never even reported the incident.

The local election was postponed, the ambushes were avoided, and all was quiet until a disgruntled sergeant wrote a long, rambling letter to the commanding general of the Fourth I.D., Gen. Ray Odierno. The letter complains about harassment by Stramara, inconsistent uniform discipline, disrespect of officers by enlisted men, and mentions the West incident only in passing. The lawyers ended up with the letter, and that's where the PC Police took over.

According to a source close to the case, the staff judge advocate — the head lawyer of the division — at first didn't believe what the letter said about West, because she thought the incident would have been reported by Stramara, and it hadn't been. In the investigation that followed, two junior officers drafted a report. That report is tainted: It didn't go directly to the JAG or the commanding general, but went instead to Stramara, who made changes to it and then got the two junior officers to sign it.

Suddenly, on October 4, West was relieved of his command. On October 18th, two weeks to the day before he would become vested in his army retirement program, West was told he either had to resign or face court martial. Not wanting to lose his pension, West refused. His offer to resign after his benefits kicked in was rejected. An Article 32 hearing — the military equivalent of a grand jury — heard the charges against West in November. The results of that hearing are due any day, and may recommend felony charges against West.

What Allen West did was wrong. But there is nothing he did that warrants a court martial or a felony conviction: It's clear that the lawyers and the careerists in the Army have decided to make an example of him. But an example of what? After tossing out a soldier who killed a prisoner, how does it help to court martial another who intimidated a prisoner without injuring him, and actually got information that may have saved American lives?

No army can fight and win if the officers don't have the trust of their troops. Col. Kevin Stramara, West's boss — who didn't ever see sufficient import in what West told him the night of the incident to report it — testified at the Article 32 hearing. With about a dozen of his troops listening, Stramara was asked, "If you had to choose between following the rules and saving American lives, which would you choose?" His answer: "I don't know. I'd have to have some more details." While Stramara looks for those details, his men know their lives may be lost. His instinct is to cover his butt, not to save his troops. Of course the ends don't justify the means, but to crucify Allen West and leave Stramara in command will damage whatever trust the troops of the Fourth I.D. have for their commanders. Ask yourself: Would you like your 19-year-old son serving on a battlefield under this man? Or under the generals who trust his judgment more than Allen West's?

As West awaits the Article 32 results, there is a growing problem of clouded standards. It's no use to simply tell the troops that you have to follow the Geneva Conventions. They are, by necessity, in broad terms. Torture and abuse are outlawed. But does slapping a man or frightening him by discharging a pistol near him violate the Conventions? Hardly. Of the many e-mails I've received about this case — mostly from Marines — the question raised is almost always, "Why are they prosecuting this man?" Why, indeed.

It would be a great mistake to believe that the army's action on this case will be unimportant. The troops are following it closely, and the decision on whether West is court martialed will reverberate throughout the force. The community of warriors is both close and tight, and very well informed. They talk about these things, and take them to heart. I described the facts of the West case to a couple of the active-duty warriors I know, and their reaction was the same. They told me that court martialing West will damage the trust the troops place in their commanders. One went so far as to say, "They'll wonder what the hell Odierno is smoking."

We must keep faith with the troops by holding them to clear standards, and punishing those who violate them with judgment and consistency. Allen West is neither a hero nor a war criminal. Reprimand and retire him, and then rid the command of those who really made this mess: those who are more concerned with their image than with the loyalty they must show to their troops.

[i]— NRO Contributor Jed Babbin was a deputy undersecretary of defense in the first Bush administration, and is now an MSNBC military analyst.[/i]

[Jet Moses]

Only 8 hits.

That's sad.

[Bugg]

I thought he was going to be allowed to retire with full honors and a full pension. I hadn't heard any final resolution though. Heck, someone as honorable and decent as West should be promoted. Too bad.

[Jet Moses]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Bugg[/i]@May 16 2004, 08:18 PM
[b] I thought he was going to be allowed to retire with full honors and a full pension. I hadn't heard any final resolution though. Heck, someone as honorable and decent as West should be promoted. Too bad. [/b][/quote]
I'd like to get a copy of his service record and compare it to Karpinski's. What she did is a hundred times worse than what West did. All I know about West is he's 42, has been in for twenty years, and is a Lt. Colonel. Which is right about where an officer would be after twenty years (sans kissing *ss ). Karpinski? She was on active duty for ONLY TEN YEARS!!! From 1977 to 1987. I don't know what here rank was when she transferred to reserves, but THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL SHE COULD HAVE MADE BRIG. GENERAL IN THE RESERVES WITHOUT [b]SPECIAL CONSIDERATION[/b]

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FrontPage Magazine's Man of the Year: Col. Allen B. West

By Ben Johnson
FrontPageMagazine.com | January 2, 2004

This year offered any number of exemplary choices for FrontPage Magazine’s Man of the Year award. President George W. Bush, with the assistance of Tony Blair, courageously led the world to eliminate a terrorist regime, commanded a lightning-quick military victory and ended the year by taking Saddam Hussein into custody. General Tommy Franks orchestrated the most successful campaign in modern warfare while avoiding civilian “collateral damage,” even at the expense of Allied military advantage. Arnold Schwarzenegger shocked the world by toppling a failed political hack and setting the nation’s largest state on the road to fiscal responsibility once again. Representative Jack Kingston took the initiative to introduce the Academic Bill of Rights in the House of Representatives, and conservative politicians, writers and thinkers across the nation have produced vital books, columns and position papers to advance the cause of liberty. We salute them all.

However, FrontPage Magazine’s Man of the Year has shown true courage, compassion and heroism in the face of battle – and unlike the worthies named above, he has suffered for his good deeds rather than received commendation. He has been on the frontlines of the War on Terror in the heart of the Iraqi resistance. He undertook extraordinary measures to safeguard the lives of his men, to protect Americans under attack by bloodthirsty Islamist gangleaders. Yet instead of reward he has been tested by fire, having been dishonored by the very military he served so effectively for the last 20 years of his life. This irresponsible punishing of someone who should be awarded for his bravery and patriotism endangers the American people. For that reason, we seek to honor Col. Allen B. West.



Colonel West earned the disdain of leftist intellectuals and the rebuke of the United States armed forces for protecting the lives of his troops. West commanded the 4th Infantry Division, 2nd Battalion, 20th Field Artillery Regiment, near Tikrit. In the days following the toppling of Saddam’s regime and preceding the dictator’s capture in a filthy desert hole, West was responsible for the lives and safety of 700 men and women who had spent a cautious summer sweltering in the crosshairs of Sunni Triangle terrorists.



The 42-year-old was no stranger to the battlefield, having received the Bronze Star and having been decorated for valor. He knew only too well of the terrorist attacks carried out by Saddam loyalists and recently arrived jihadist fanatics, claiming an average of one U.S. soldier’s life each day. With a firm commitment to protect his soldiers’ well-being, he determined to keep his troops safe.



In late August, Colonel West received news that his men had been targeted by a group of thugs associated with an Iraqi policeman named Yahya Jhodri Hamoodi. Allied forces quickly apprehended Hamoodi in Saba al Boor, a tiny town near Tikrit. Four interrogation specialists worked late into the evening of August 20, desperately trying to pry the attack plans out of him. Growing frustrated, the interrogators resorted to physical force, punching Hamoodi – without success. (Hamoodi was not seriously injured at any point during the interrogation.) It was then that Col. Allen West intervened.



Seeing that even physical violence had proven ineffective, Colonel West took the next logical step: He took the intransigent suspect outside, shoved Hamoodi’s head into a sandbox and threatened to kill him. The Colonel then pulled out his sidearm and fired a warning shot into the sky. Then West carefully held Hamoodi’s head aside as he fired a shot over Hamoodi’s shoulder, into the warm Iraqi sand burying his visage.



That near-scrape with death did the trick. Hamoodi began singing, telling West the identities of two men planning the attacks and revealing their attack plans, including the site of the intended ambush. The two men were arrested, and Colonel West ordered his men away from the site as they continued to serve the liberated Iraqi people. Upon turning Hamoodi over, he admitted his unorthodox tactics. For protecting the 700 soldiers in his care and cracking Hamoodi where professional interrogators had failed, Colonel West was immediately stripped of his command and threatened with jail time.



In October, the armed forces offered Colonel West an ultimatum: resign the military and lose his pension and benefits, or face trial for violating standard interrogation procedure. If convicted, West could have received up to eight years in jail – for saving his men’s lives. On the other hand, West, who had just qualified to retire with 20 years service, needed his benefits to care for his wife, Angela, a cancer victim.



West chose to make his case to his military colleagues. Publicly choking back tears, West acknowledged his actions in interrogating Hamoodi; he merely denied that what he had done was criminal, knowing his troops had been targeted for extermination in the midst of a war. His great heart showed during his trial, as he said, "If it's about the lives of my men and their safety, I'd go through Hell with a gasoline can . . . There is not a person in this room I would not sacrifice my life for."



On December 11, West escaped court martial. Major General Raymond Odierno ordered West to pay a $5,000 fine and allowed him to retire as a Lieutenant Colonel. The ordeal caused by his desire to save his troops a violent death in a desert land had finally ended. He was free to return to Ft. Hood, Texas, to his wife Angela, with his reputation essentially cleared.



However, the disgraceful treatment of Colonel Allen B. West by the U.S. Armed Forces is practically unforgivable. In the midst of war, West did what was necessary to keep the troops committed to his charge from becoming the latest headline detailing the Fedayeen’s postwar sabotage. His interrogation was not nearly as vicious as the tactics of Saddam’s men in 1991, their savaging of POWs and raping of female captives. This level of dedication, this commitment to preserving life, this steadfast commitment to bear any burden to keep his troops safe, shows why West had been so highly decorated in his two decades in the service. For his actions, he should have received high honors; instead, he was deprived of his job, publicly humiliated and disowned by his own superiors.



Col. West is the model leader, precisely the kind of man any soldier would want watching his back in combat. His subordinates, and his fellow countrymen, were denied his valiant service in a misguided effort to curry favor with the international Left. Euro-socialists decried his actions, and an Administration then frantic to bring foreign troops into the fray sacrificed Col. West to show the “international community” that not all Americans are “cowboys.” It didn’t work; the anti-American Left refuses to as much as forgive the massive debts Saddam ran up building his multiple palaces, let alone put any troops into harm’s way.



The trial of Col. Allen B. West sent a message to another, unintended party: Iraqi insurgents. It told Iraqis they need not fear for their lives if captured, that the brutal Ba’athists would do them greater physical harm than the Allied forces, if they squeal. This has resulted in a series of uncooperative interviewees. Colonel West’s attorney, Neal Puckett, revealed the costs of the military’s persecution of his client. "All of the intelligence witnesses regularly expressed the fact that detainees bragged they know they don't have to talk because we can't do anything to them," Puckett said in a recent interview. Word has apparently percolated all the way to the top: Saddam Hussein is reportedly slapping down interrogators’ questions with one sarcastic jab after another. One senior official has said Saddam is behaving like a “wiseass.” Perhaps he knows that should anyone get serious about questioning him – about the terrorist insurgents, the location of his WMDs, his long history of rape and torture – the interrogator will be more likely to face consequences than the Madman from Tikrit. While the United States is launching an all-out assault on terrorism, the last thing it needs is to cultivate an image as a paper tiger, a castrated neo-European power following Ambassador Joseph Wilson’s interrogation methods.



The West case also demonstrates the major fissure between how the Left would conduct foreign policy vs. how anyone of a sensible persuasion would run our affairs. The Left, ever exalting procedure over substance, would send Col. West down the river for his “misdeeds.” Average Americans would reward West for his valor and determination; the Left would scapegoat him in an effort to curry favor with Jacques Chirac and Kofi Annan. The fact that the leading Democratic presidential candidates espouse this irresponsible policy of national emasculation is the primary reason none of them should be entrusted with a position of leadership during such a vital time.



And the Left has not been alone in its denunciation of Col. West. Former Representative Bob Barr of Georgia has publicly declared West is not “heroic.” “I do not believe we ought to, as a nation, take the step for the very first time of condoning these sorts of interrogation techniques,” he sniffed. This, along with his opposition to the Patriot Act and increasing coziness with the Left on Homeland Security issues, is a most alarming trend in the Congressman’s previously praiseworthy conduct.



FrontPage Magazine is thankful to other Congressmen who have not been poisoned by the Left’s negativism. We are grateful to Representatives Duncan Hunter, R-CA, and John McHugh, R-NY; as well as Senators Jim Imhofe, R-OK, and John Warner, R-VA, for theor actions on Colonel West’s behalf.



We are also thankful to those who have contributed to Colonel West’s legal defense fund. Those who have not yet contributed may do so by sending a donation to:



Allen West Defense Fund

c/o Angela West

6823 Coleman Drive

Ft. Hood, TX 76544.



Colonel Allen B. West was unjustly tried and, however slightly, punished for the “crime” of valuing his own troops’ lives over the mental well being and self-esteem of an Iraqi terrorist. FrontPage Magazine wishes all our troops in Iraq had commanders as dedicated and long-suffering as the Colonel. The Psalmist wrote, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” May the Lord continue to deliver Colonel West from all danger in his new life in the civilian sector, just as Colonel West, when he had the opportunity in Iraq, delivered his troops out of danger

[Warfish]

Sad. While West's actions do border on torture (of the Mental variety more than anything else), I think the ends justify the means in this particular case, and West should not be thrown out so callously.

He did what he had to to sace American Lives during wartime, without killing or really even hurting (physically) the prisoner. I say he should be allowed to continue his millitary career unheeded.

Had he simply sat down, questioned the prisoner, then blown the guys head off (or beaten him within an inch of his life), THAT would be a different story.

[Jet Moses]

[b]On December 11, West escaped court martial. Major General Raymond Odierno ordered West to pay a $5,000 fine and allowed him to retire as a Lieutenant Colonel. The ordeal caused by his desire to save his troops a violent death in a desert land had finally ended. He was free to return to Ft. Hood, Texas, to his wife Angela, with his reputation essentially cleared. [/b]

OK, at least he was able to retire honorably.


[b]However, the disgraceful treatment of Colonel Allen B. West by the U.S. Armed Forces is practically unforgivable. In the midst of war, West did what was necessary to keep the troops committed to his charge from becoming the latest headline detailing the Fedayeen’s postwar sabotage. His interrogation was not nearly as vicious as the tactics of Saddam’s men in 1991, their savaging of POWs and raping of female captives. This level of dedication, this commitment to preserving life, this steadfast commitment to bear any burden to keep his troops safe, shows why West had been so highly decorated in his two decades in the service. For his actions, he should have received high honors; instead, he was deprived of his job, publicly humiliated and disowned by his own superiors. [/b]

It's unbelievable. This guy gets dragged through the mud by a bunch of pencil pushers and hacks.

I still want to know how Karpinski made Brigadier General with only ten years active duty, and twenty years in the reserves. That's BS.

[Bugg]

In the coed army, plumbing? She must've kicked serious ass is sensitivity training and diversity quilt making. None of that soldiering stuff for her.

[The Gun Of Bavaria]

AN INTERESTING SIDE NOTE IN THIS AFFAIR


If you read the initial article posted it refers to LTC West's boss, a COL Kevin P. Stramara who gave a very 'political' reply to a question when asked during the hearing. When asked if he would have done the same thing as LTC West, Stramara replied with a uberpolitical, "Well I don't know, I'd have to look at the facts first".

Well guess what sports fans, a then LTC Kevin P. Stramara was my Battalion Commander for 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery when I was a 1LT in the Army, stationed in Bamberg, Germany.

I worked for him for 2 years, and he is one of the main reasons I got out of the Army. The man knew his stuff, made sound tactical decisions, but when it came down to it, his leadership rubbed me the wrong way. I, as well as many other LTs, always got a feeling that we were there to 'advance his career' rather than serve the Battalion.

The fact is that knowing him, he would have done the same thing as LTC West if it meant protecting his troops, but when it came time to back his BN Cdr, he took the easy route out, offiering a safe, politicaly calculated statement instead.

Instead of sticking to his guns, and standing up for his battalion commander, he hung him out to dry in an attempt to lessen the impact on his (STramara's) future and chance at a general's star.

That's why I got out. That type of attitude, that type of senior leadership. I wanted nothing to do with it.

[Jet Moses]

[quote][i]Originally posted by The Gun Of Bavaria[/i]@May 17 2004, 01:39 PM
[b] Instead of sticking to his guns, and standing up for his battalion commander, he hung him out to dry in an attempt to lessen the impact on his (STramara's) future and chance at a general's star.

That's why I got out. That type of attitude, that type of senior leadership. I wanted nothing to do with it. [/b][/quote]
I hear ya. Kiss alot of ass, don't make any waves...