Army Lieutenant Convicted for Killing an Al Qaeda Terrorist (UPDATED)

UPDATE:
This travesty has been reduced from 20 to 15 years. He should have never been tried in the first fucking place.

Hat Tip to Big Government.

On Thursday, the Army Clemency and Parole Board reduced the sentence of Army Ranger 1st Lt. Michael Behenna from 20 to 15 years, according to a news release from Rep. Mary Fallin (R-Okla.).

……Lieutenant Behenna, who is currently serving his sentence at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., was convicted of unpremeditated murder in the shooting death of Ali Mansur, a known Al-Qaeda operative, while serving in Iraq.
http://biggovernment.com/2010/01/22/army-reduces-soldiers-sentence-to-15-years/

Lt. Behenna has been betrayed by the Army and the country he faithfully served. This whole episode is obscene.

This happened earlier this year, but there’s a growing effort to exonerate him.

Lt. Behenna shot the wrong asshole; he should have spent a bullet on the feckless moron who gave the orders to release Mansur.

Perhaps you’ve heard about this story. If so, please read on for information important to this case you have not read anywhere. If you have read about this incident, definitely read on as it will most likely change your mind about the “guilt” of a Soldier convicted of murdering an al Qaeda terrorist in Iraq.

Yes, you’ve read that correctly – a US Soldier has been convicted of murder for killing an al Qaeda terrorist in Iraq. Since the wholesale murder of nearly 3,000 people on American soil on 9/11, it’s been my understanding that killing terrorists is something that we’ve asked our Soldiers to do on our behalf so that we may sleep more safely and soundly in our beds at night. Unlike our enemy, however, we must kill them by the rules, of course.

Here are the basic facts of this case. On March 20th, 2009, Army Ranger 1st Lieutenant Michael Behenna, Company D, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, based in Fort Campbell, KY was sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing Ali Mansur, a known al Qaeda terrorist suspected of planning and executing an attack on Lieutenant Behenna’s platoon in April 2008 that killed two US Soldiers and injured two others. For reasons unknown, US Army intelligence ordered the terrorist’s release, and ordered Lieutenant Behenna to give Ali a ride back to his home. Following orders, Behenna transported the al Qaeda suspect and then attempted one final interrogation of Mansur prior to his release. What happened next is the reason that Lieutenant Behenna found himself facing murder charges.

According to Army Lieutenant Behenna, the al Qaeda terrorist lunged at him during this questioning. With his arms extended forward in a classic attack posture, Mansur attacked the Lieutenant when he turned to look at an interpreter who was reporting what Mansur said. At that point, Lieutenant Behenna fired twice at Ali Mansur in self defense, hitting him once in the chest and once in the head. According to prosecutors, Lieutenant Behenna “executed” the terrorist while he was “in a non-threatening position.”

After an investigation, US Army Lieutenant was put on trial for premeditated murder, found guilty and subsequently sentenced to 25 years in prison. But there’s a problem. The specialized forensic evidence did not support the prosecution’s case. And there’s an even bigger problem. That exculpatory evidence, the very evidence that could exonerate the Lieutenant of the charge of murdering a terrorist was not made available to the defense in accordance with the rules of criminal procedure.

The exculpatory evidence was uncovered by world renowned forensic expert Herbet Leon MacDonell, director of the Laboratory of Forensic Science, who was actually retained by the prosecution to prove the facts of their case. Professor MacDonell conducted a thorough and careful examination of the ballistic and blood spatter evidence pertaining to this shooting incident. After an exhaustive examination and recreation of events, Mr. MacDonell reached the conclusion that supported Lieutenant Behenna’s account (and this is important) that the terrorist was in an attack posture and not positioned in the manner the prosecution asserted.
http://homelandsecurityus.com/?p=3200

More at this site:  http://defendmichael.wordpress.com/

I was an Intelligence Analyst for the better part of my Army career. I served in Desert Storm and the initial phase of major combat in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
I grew increasingly frustrated with the PC influence on decision-making, especially at the Defense Intelligence Agency, where I was stationed for two years before I retired.  A touchy-feely approach to the enemy has no place on the battlefield.
This whole idea of prosecuting Soldiers for killing the enemy is just plain batshit crazy. What kind of war are we supposed to fight when our own troops are restricted by ROE that benefits the enemy and gets us killed?
I’d love to know what possessed the Intel personnel to free a  muslim terrorist thug so he could pick up where he left off; killing U.S. Soldiers.  Maybe they can explain that to the next of kin.

We need to stop taking prisoners.

In 1989, Terry Gilliam of Monty Python fame, released a satirical film remake of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.

The film opens in a generic war-torn European town in the 18th Century during “The Age of Reason”.  A city official, “The Right Ordinary Horatio Jackson”, (Jonathan Pryce) personifies the concept of “reason” by ordering the execution of a Soldier who had demonstrated amazing courage under fire.  The charge: his bravery was demoralizing to other Soldiers.

Fast forward to the 21st Century and we find that actions like those of Lt. Behenna’s are demoralizing to the pusillanimous military leadership and White House liberal hierarchy.