Is this fair? Army Merc kills afghan, and gets murder charge.

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

A member of the Army's controversial Human Terrain project has been charged with second degree murder, for an alleged revenge killing in Afghanistan.
Don Ayala supposedly shot Kandahar native Abdul Salam in the head, after Salam set one of Ayala's co-workers on fire in an Afghan village. Ayala, a former bodyguard to both the Afghan president and the Iraqi prime minister, could face life in prison if convicted, according to documents filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. The already-embattled Human Terrain program, which embeds cultural specialists in combat units, could be in serious trouble, as well.

On November 4th, Ayala was on a foot patrol in the village of Chehel Gazni, about 40 miles outside of Kandahar. He was accompanying social scientist Paula Loyd, who was interviewing locals. Three local interpreters, and a platoon of U.S. soldiers from C company, 2-2 Infantry Battalion, rounded out the group.

Loyd approached Abdul Salam, who was carrying a fuel jug. They began talking about the price of gas. Suddenly, the man doused Lloyd in a flammable liquid and set her on fire. She suffered second- and third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body.

"Salam immediately fled the scene and ran about 50 meters toward Ayala," according to an affidavit filed by Jennifer Bryan, a special agent with the Army's Criminal Investigation Division. "Ayala drew his pistol but did not fire at Salam. Ayala instead extended his arm, causing Salam to run into his arm and fall to the ground. Ayala attempted to restrain Salam and was assisted by soldiers from the platoon who responded to the scene. Salam was restrained with plastic restraints (also called "flexcuffs" or "zipcuffs"), around his wrists, which were behind his back."

"Ayala further restrained Salam by kneeling over Salam and using his body weight to hold Salam to the ground. Ayala also pointed his pistol at Salam's head. Salam continued to resist detention, but there were several Soldiers around him and Ayala had Salam effectively immobilized," Bryan goes on to say. "After about ten minutes, a soldier approached the location where Ayalahad Salam detained and informed the personnel in the area that Loyd was burned badly. Ayala pushed his pistol against Salam's head and shot Salam, killing him instantly."

According to court documents, "after shooting Salam, Ayala had his pistol and

rifle confiscated by the platoon leader in charge of the patrol." A keen-eyed observer wonders: What was a Human Terrain Team member doing with a long gun, in the first place? Those weapons are usually reserved for infantrymen.

Salam's attack and Ayala's alleged retribution is the latest in a series of violent incidents surrounding the still-young, $130 million Human Terrain project. Originally, the program was conceived as a way to use cultural understanding to find non-violent means for stablizing areas: Islamic radio broadcasts, to mollify Afghan mullahs, shame tactics to nudge out corrupt Iraqi cops. "In a counterinsurgency, your level of success is inversely proportional to the amount of lethal force that you expend," lead social scientist Montgomery McFate told me earlier this year.

Cliff notes :

Army civillian embedded in platoon gets gasoline poured on her and lit on fire.

Hired Mercenary embedded in same platoon finds out, aprehends afgan who did it and puts a bullet in his brain.

Army civillian burned over 60% of her body, but lives.

Hired Mercenary is now charged with murder.

comments?

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[DBfan187 5,000+ posts]

Let him loose so he can kill all of the hajis!

 

[billjones42 10+ year member]

they had him restrained. If he was attacking him, or if he would have shot him while protecting someone, it would have been fine. But to execute him while her was cuffed and laying on the ground? He's guilty of murder.

 

[TIeclipseMOJO 10+ year member]

only thing he did wrong was not lite the ****er up before he shot him

 

[davidfre21 5,000+ posts]

it really wasnt his place to kill the guy, trial by jury and such...

in reality he should have just shot the guy from the get go, now he is goin to suffer for his dumb actions.

 

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

They were probably friends, considering they were embedded in the same platoon. So I can see why he put one behind the afghani's ear.

 

[DaGh0st 5,000+ posts]

I would have put 2 in the chest first.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[fbi90909 5,000+ posts]

pics of said army chick?

 

[Captain_Ahab 5,000+ posts]

Fk the afgani.

He did right.

 

[DBfan187 5,000+ posts]

pics of said army chick?

http://images.google.com/images?q=charred&um=1&hl=en&sa=2

 

[DaGh0st 5,000+ posts]

http://images.google.com/images?q=charred&um=1&hl=en&sa=2

before charing noob.

 

[DBfan187 5,000+ posts]

I think he just wants to see his 1 testicle.

 

[DaGh0st 5,000+ posts]

Hmm...this could be true.

 

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

being in that shithole of a country, id of probably done the same thing. Or at the very least, give the fvcker a permenant limp.

 

[HeatSeeker 10+ year member]

Why shoot them in the head? Way too quick and painless, I probably would have used a knife, its so much more satisfying when you see the look in their eyes as they know whats coming.

err wait what?