Saturday, July 22, 2006
No Court Martial Probable for Nathan B. Lynn
One of the twenty or so American soldiers accused of crimes in Iraq, Pennsylvanian Guardsman Nathan B. Lynn, should be coming home soon a free man. Military officials had alleged that Lynn improperly fired on Gani Ahmad Zaben and then conspired with other members of his unit to plant a weapon in a pool of blood near the body to cover up the crime. While the shooting and planting of the AK-47 all apparently happened, at the Article 32 hearing in Baghdad last week, the military equivalent of a preliminary hearing in the criminal side of our judicial system, the hearing's presiding officer, Lt. Col. John W. McClory, found that Specialist Lynn both thought the man was armed and followed the rules of engagement, when he shot Zaben in an area that had been the scene of frequent insurgent attacks. McClory also concluded that Lynn did not play a role in placing an AK-47 near the man's body.
Lynn said he shot the man as he and another suspected insurgent moved stealthily toward his position. Another soldier in Lynn's unit, Sgt. Milton Ortiz Jr., allegedly conspired to place an AK-47 found near the scene next to the body. The investigating officer recommended that charges against Ortiz -- including the conspiracy count and unrelated charges of assault and uttering a threat -- go forward
OK.
Let's get on with holding the Article 32 hearings on the soldiers accused of murder in Haditha and rape/murder in Mahmoudiya, the investigations of which have been seriously hampered by the refusal of many Iraqis to exhume the alleged victims for forensic analysis.
Lynn said he shot the man as he and another suspected insurgent moved stealthily toward his position. Another soldier in Lynn's unit, Sgt. Milton Ortiz Jr., allegedly conspired to place an AK-47 found near the scene next to the body. The investigating officer recommended that charges against Ortiz -- including the conspiracy count and unrelated charges of assault and uttering a threat -- go forward
OK.
Let's get on with holding the Article 32 hearings on the soldiers accused of murder in Haditha and rape/murder in Mahmoudiya, the investigations of which have been seriously hampered by the refusal of many Iraqis to exhume the alleged victims for forensic analysis.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 12:52 PM 
