Someone alert the 101st Chairborne!
Now military tribunals are smearing the troops:
Four American soldiers accused of involvement in the slaying of prisoners in Iraq will be brought before a military tribunal in Germany next month, the Army said Thursday.
The enlisted soldiers are scheduled for an Article 32 hearing Aug. 26 to determine if there is enough evidence to court martial them on charges of conspiracy to commit premeditated murder, according to an Army statement.
The four — Staff Sgt. Jess Cunningham, Sgt. Charles Quigley, Spc. Stephen Ribordy and Spc. Belmor Ramos of the Germany-based 172nd Infantry Brigade — have not yet entered pleas.
The charges stem from allegations that they were part of a unit that killed “male detainees of apparent Middle-Eastern descent” between March 10 and April 16, 2007, in and around Baghdad, the statement said.
It is alleged that each soldier “and members of his unit took male detainees to a canal and members of his unit did shoot the male detainees,” according to the charge sheet.
I blame Scott Beauchamp. Oh, wait:
The four soldiers being charged with of conspiring to murder Iraqi prisoners in Baghdad last spring are in the same company as The New Republic’s former man in Iraq, Scott Beauchamp, Media Mob has learned.
Weird. I was told unequivocably that those guys wouldn’t even hurt a dog.