Sandoval was acquitted of murder charges because a military jury concluded that his actions were within the rules of engagement. Hensley is to go on trial in a few weeks.
Regarding the Afghanistan case, Special Forces Capt. Staffel and Sgt. Anderson were leading a team of Afghan soldiers when an informant told them where a suspected insurgent leader was hiding. The U.S.-led contingent found a man believed to be Nawab Buntangyar walking outside his compound near the village of Hasan Kheyl.
While the Americans kept their distance out of fear the suspect might be wearing a suicide vest, the man was questioned about his name and the Americans checked his description against a list from the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force Afghanistan, known as "the kill-or-capture list."
Concluding that the man was insurgent leader Nawab Buntangyar, Staffel gave the order to shoot, and Anderson - from a distance of about 100 yards away - fired a bullet through the man's head, killing him instantly.
"Classified Mission"
The soldiers viewed the killing as "a textbook example of a classified mission completed in accordance with the American rules of engagement," the International Herald Tribune reported. "The men said such rules allowed them to kill Buntangyar, whom the American military had designated a terrorist cell leader, once they positively identified him."
Staffel's civilian lawyer Mark Waple said the Army's Criminal Investigation Command concluded in April that the shooting was "justifiable homicide," but a two-star general in Afghanistan instigated a murder charge against the two men. That case, however, has floundered over accusations that the charge was improperly filed. [IHT, Sept. 17, 2007]
The U.S. news media has given the Fort Bragg case only minor coverage concentrating mostly on legal sparring. The New York Times' inside-the-paper, below-the-fold headline on Sept. 19 was "Green Beret Hearing Focuses on How Charges Came About."
The Washington Post did publish a front-page story on the "bait" aspect of the Sandoval case - when family members of U.S. soldiers implicated in the killings came forward with evidence of high-level encouragement of the snipers - but the U.S. news media has treated the story mostly as a minor event and has drawn no larger implications.
The greater significance of the cases is that they confirm the long-whispered allegations that the U.S. chain of command has approved standing orders that give the U.S. military broad discretion to kill suspected militants on sight.
The "global war on terror" appears to have morphed into a global "dirty war" with George W. Bush in ultimate command.
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Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. His latest book, Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush, can be ordered at neckdeepbook.com. His two previous books, Secrecy & Privilege: The Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq and Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth' are also available there.
To join the Liberty Underground news service visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertyunderground/ where we put out a daily news/opinion piece which goes beyond the narrow range of corporate media propaganda.
