The Link

Two Army Soldiers Face Military Trials in Death of Iraqi Forced off a Bridge
The Associated Press
Published: Sep 18, 2004





 
FORT CARSON, Colo. (AP) - Two soldiers face courts-martial over the alleged drowning of an Iraqi civilian forced to jump off a bridge.
1st Lt. Jack Saville and Sgt. 1st Class Tracy Perkins will be tried in a military court on charges of manslaughter, assault, conspiracy, making false official statements and obstruction of justice.

Saville and Perkins, both based at Fort Carson, face 5 1/2 years to 26 1/2 years in prison if convicted. No dates have been set for the courts-martial, ordered Friday by commanding officer Major Gen. James D. Thurman

The Army and family members of 19-year-old Zaidoun Hassoun contend Hassoun drowned Jan. 3 near Samarra when he and his cousin were forced to jump in a river. The soldiers maintain that both Iraqis, who were stopped for breaking curfew, made it safely to shore.

Defense attorneys have disputed that Hassoun was killed. They said investigators bungled the case by not exhuming the body and doing an autopsy.

Investigators admitted they never saw the body, saying they relied on the word of relatives and a videotape made by the man's family that shows a corpse in a coffin. *

Two other soldiers facing charges in the case were given "nonjudicial" punishment, the Army's out-of-court disciplinary system. Both were reportedly demoted one rank as well.



*So investigators are willing to ruin the lives of these two soldiers with out even seeing any evidence other than a "video" of a "body" in a coffin that was "suppossedly" sent to them by the "possibly" dead mans family.

Quoted: Seems like the Army should have to produce some of these relatives as witnesses, or something.

[thefuzz]Witnesses, we don't need no stinking witnesses![/thefuzz]

Welcome to the New World Order, where "War", Really means spending American blood, for "Nation-building", in various and assorted shitholes around the world.........

I think this drowned guy is a relative of one of the big Iraqi bloggers (healingiraq.com???).  That's probably the reason there is a trial, because the blogger aggitated for an investigation.  

GunLvr