THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published November 22, 2003
As we went to press, testimony was continuing in
the military hearing for Lt.Col. Allen B. West, charged with aggravated
assault and communicating a threat to an Iraqi detainee in order to
force him to provide information about a planned attack on American
troops.
On Wednesday, Col. West, testifying at the
second day of the hearing in Tikrit to determine whether he will be
court-martialed, gave his own account of the events of Aug. 20 at a
detention center in Taji, Iraq, near Baghdad, which ended his military
career and could send him to prison for taking action to save the lives
of his troops.
Col. West testified that informants had provided
U.S. forces with information about a plot to kill him and an unspecified
number of the 700 soldiers he commanded. Col. West and interrogators
under his command had been told that an Iraqi policeman was involved in
the plot. But, after being arrested and interrogated, the suspect
asserted that he knew nothing about a planned attack.
Believing his men to be in mortal danger, Col.
West testified that he took the suspect to a sandbox, held his head down
and fired one shot in the air and another in the sandbox. At that point,
the suspect gave in and provided the information. The planned attack
never took place.
Two things can be said Col. West's interrogation
methods: First, he has already been punished in this case. As a result
of this incident, Col. West has been relieved of his command, and his
military career is over. Second (and much more importantly), it is no
stretch at all to say that Col. West's action may well have saved the
lives of hundreds of American troops under his command. "I felt
there was a threat to my soldiers," he said on the stand."If
it's about the life of my men, I'd go through hell with a gasoline
can."
We submit that, at this stage in the
proceedings, the military needs to take a hard look at itself and what
it hopes to achieve by going forward with this case. Last month, a
military prosecutor tried to force Col.West to choose between resigning
immediately and forfeiting retirement benefits, or facing criminal
proceedings that could lead to imprisonment. Were he to have buckled to
this ultimatum and resigned early,he would have lost more than $1
million in pay and retirement benefits.Given the fact that his wife is a
cancer survivor, Col. West would have found it prohibitive to obtain
medical insurance for his family.
We understand the need to have rules of
engagement in times of warfare; no less important, however, is the need
for commonsense use of prosecutorial discretion in dealing with actions
that take place in the heat of combat.It is immoral to send good men
like Col. West into harm's way and then persecute them for going the
extra mile to ensure the safety of the men and women under their
command.
Fortunately, there is something that the public
can do to make it clear to our national leaders that its time to end the
West prosecution: They can contact their Senators and members of the
House of Representatives, and write or e-mail Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld and Acting Secretary of the Army Les Brownlee urging
that proceedings be halted at once.
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