Army Staff Sergeant Charged With Murder (of 2 Army officers)

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. Army staff sergeant was charged with murder in connection with last week's shootings of two Army officers at a base outside Baghdad, the military said Thursday.

Staff Sgt. Alberto B. Martinez, 37, a supply specialist with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 42nd Infantry Division, New York Army National Guard, was charged Wednesday in connection with the June 7 deaths of the two officers at Forward Operating Base Danger, near Tikrit — Saddam Hussein's hometown 80 miles north of Baghdad.

~snip~
more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050616/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_sergeant_charged;_

[davidinalameda]

1. bet he's brown

you know how all the brown people hate Muricans

[wakeme2008]

2. this is sound more and more like Viet Nam every day

:(

[TahitiNut]

11. Fraggings have occurred in every war

That's because there've been psychotic assholes in the officer ranks in every war -- officers whose chain of command has their collective heads up their collective butts!! AFAIK, WW1 saw the most. It's one of "life's little pleasures" in a combat zone.

[wakeme2008]

14. YES but

When you start pushing the enlisted more and more like Bush is doing, the Officers better be eating and sleeping with the troops OR ELSE...

[TahitiNut]

19. Well, it's a matter of betrayal and loss of faith.

As an enlisted guy, thrown into a combat zone, one learns quickly to reorder one's moral priorities. First of all, one must deal with surviving, and that's based on "the buddy system." Labels like protestant, liberal, and Hispanic pretty much go out the window. You either bond with your buddies or you die. Then, one must deal with the very real necessity of killing other human beings. It ain't a movie or some college bull session. It's personal. It's real. It's now ... every day and every night.

From the utter insanity of the foxhole perspective, Chimperor Disgustsus' arrogant posturing of "you're either with us or you're against us" becomes a maxim for survival. When an officer gets people killed, he ain't "with us." He becomes the enemy. He's a threat to everyone's survival, and that's "Job One."

What maximizes that schism is the validity of the war itself. At some point, when the war is based on a fraud and people get ashes in their mouth when they try to say "defending our country" or fighting for mom, the flag, and apple pie ... then people in the command structure have to make a choice. When it comes to field officers (Captains and Looeys), they have a choice: they either admit it's a bullshit fraud or try to prop up the dead horse for more beatings. If they waste enlisted lives holding up the dead horse, then they'll get fragged.

One of the "dirty little secrets" of Viet Nam in the later years was that we didn't eagerly engage the 'enemy.' Guys who went on LRRPs (Long Range Recon Patrols) typically tried to 'patrol' areas where they were least likely to stumble on some NVA battalion. If some ROTC Rambo wanted to break this rule, he'd probably be dead before long.

It's simple. Chickenshit martinets that lie to the troops, kiss Mickey Mouse's ass, and get the troops killed will be fragged.

[Eloriel]

21. I don't think I've ever seen a better description/explanation

When an officer gets people killed, he ain't "with us." He becomes the enemy. He's a threat to everyone's survival, and that's "Job One."

[Crunchy Frog]

3. So, the enlisted soldiers are starting to shoot the officers now?

Well, I was too young to know what was going on during the Vietnam war. It's nice that they decided to replay it for my benefit.:-(

[Jacobin]

4. U.S. staff sergeant accused of ‘fragging’

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8246860/

WASHINGTON - An Army National Guard staff sergeant has been charged with premeditated murder in a "fragging incident" that killed two senior officers at a U.S. base near Tikrit, Iraq, last week, the U.S. military said Thursday.

Fragging is a military term that means the intentional killing of friendly soldiers by another soldier in a wartime setting.

Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez has been charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of company commander Capt. Phillip Esposito and 1st Lt. Louis Allen of the New York Army National Guard, the military said in a statement.


But, this is not like Viet Nam, so stop saying that.

:sarcasm:

[David__77]

5. You'll see more of this is this occupation drags on.

And if they expand the aggression into Iran or Syria you can be sure the enlisted will resist. Many officers were killed in Vietnam be enlisteds resisting the war--they simply did not want to be forced to commit crimes and atrocities.

[Kraklen]

6. Are those deaths on the official list?

I suspect not.

[warrens]

10. Yes, they were reported dead of indirect combat fire last week

[UpInArms]

18. here's the DoD release on their deaths

http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20050610-3643.html

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died on June 8 in Tikrit, Iraq, of injuries sustained on June 7 in Tikrit, Iraq, when an explosion of unknown origin occurred near their location. Both soldiers were assigned to the Army National Guard's Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 42nd Infantry Division, Troy, N.Y.



Killed were:



Capt. Phillip T. Esposito, 30, of Suffern, N.Y.



1st Lt. Louis E. Allen, 34, of Milford, Pa.



The incident is under investigation.


For further information related to this release, contact Army Public Affairs at [phone].

[PartyPooper]

20. I heard on KCBS radio that the suspect allegedly tossed a grenade

into their quarters. I reckon this relates to the "explosion of unknown origin", eh?

:-(

[LynnTheDem]

16. Yes they're listed.

[Monkie]

7. fraggings is killing your officer not any soldier

i imagine there is a special place in heaven for the fraggers, but people call me weird so i wouldn't take any notice of what i imagine

[TahitiNut]

12. That's really not quite true.

While it's far less frequent, NCO's can be the target of fraggings, too. Fraggings are less "necessary" for lower ranked personnel -- since they can always be given assignments by their command with very limited survival rates. There are LOTS of ways to die in the military.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[lateo]

9. Indeed...

When I was in the service we were all drawing straws to who would kill our 1ST Sgt when we went to war. He was a complete, ex-drill asshole.

[Historic NY]

13. Those officers lived near me the local papers have been covering them..

in addition the highest ranking officer a Col. from West Point was just buried at West Point too under suspicious circumstances....they say non-combat related. But no one is talking.

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/06/16/esposito.htm

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/06/16/pointpro.htm

[IndianaGreen]

15. Fragging in Vietnam, and now fragging in Iraq

This won't be the last time this shit happens because, unlike Vietnam when troops only did a 12-month sting, our troops in Iraq are on permanent occupation deployment broken by a few months rotation back home. The endless war indeed!

[DinahMoeHum]

17. UUUU = The Unwilling, led by the Unqualified, doing the Unnecessary

for the Ungrateful.

Just like Vietnam.


:argh::argh::argh: