A military panel acquitted US Army Specialist Jorge G. Sandoval of two counts of murder yesterday, apparently swayed by testimony from fellow Army snipers that two Iraqi men were killed on orders from a higher-ranking soldier.Sandoval was convicted of a less serious charge of planting detonation wire on one of the bodies to make it look like the victim was an insurgent. As a result, he still could face five years in prison.
[...]
The [victim], who wore dark clothing and used a sickle to cut grass in a field, matched the general description Iraqi soldiers had given the Americans of one of two insurgents they had faced earlier in the day, according to testimony.
Gee, how many Iraqi men do you think might fit that general description?
"He was just doing his job, as he was told. It's not his fault," said [squad mate Alexander] Flores, who, along with the rest of Sandoval's sniper platoon, greeted him with hugs and well wishes.
The German soldiers at Auschwitz were just doing their jobs, too.
Struggling to explain why a highly trained Army sniper unit, renowned for its lethal economy of patience and discipline, would bog down under a cloud of murder investigations, some soldiers in interviews faulted commanders for pushing units to keep their kill counts high.
Not that any comanning officer will pay for the crimes.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
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