Obama’s Military Contempt And Outrageous Treatment Of Clint Lorance.
Army First Lieutenant Clint Lorance, a
28-year-old combat leader in the 82d Airborne Division from Celeste,
Texas was recently found guilty of two counts of murder in Afghanistan
and sentenced to 20 years in Ft. Leavenworth. The story of First
Lieutenant Lorance has not been covered by a single major media source.
In July 2012, Lorance was ordered to take command of a
platoon in the southern Afghanistan province of Kandahar, a region
where I also spent two and a half years training and advising the Afghan
National Army. The platoon Lorance now commanded had lost its previous
leader to enemy attack.
During a patrol in enemy territory, Lorance ordered a
marksman to engage two unarmed Taliban fighters on a motorcycle
operating as scout spotters.
In Afghanistan and Iraq, a common enemy tactic is for
unarmed fighters on motorcycles with cell phones to track unit
movements. In fact, enemy combatants had previously used the tactics
against this same platoon.
Lorance, who was operating in a combat zone, saw the
scout spotters and assessed them as a threat to his platoon. Aerial
surveillance later backed up Lorance’s on-the-ground assessment.
It seems obvious that enemy scouts reporting a unit
position and movements in order to facilitate an ambush would define
“hostile intent.” But not according to the watered-down Rules of
Engagement with which our warriors must contend.
In little more than a year, First Lieutenant Lorance
was tried and sentenced to prison. Swift justice to be sure, but why
then did it take four years to try and convict Nidal Malik Hasan, who
fatally shot 13 and wounded more than 30 during his 2009 rampage at Ft
Hood Texas?
The irony of the dilemma currently facing our troops,
those who have volunteered to protect and defend our freedoms, is
appalling. Shall they fight and kill the enemy but then risk
imprisonment because of insidious rules by lawyers?
Or shall they be killed and denied their rightful
benefits for their families, because of insidious declarations by
lawyers and politicians?
We are sending the wrong message to our enemies, and
we are clearly sending the wrong message to those who would sacrifice
their lives for our nation.
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