This column was sent to me by a fellow veteran Bill from Alberta. This is a Great read and I personally agree with this columnist ! ! Canadian soldier kills Taliban???
Hopefully, investigators are working as hard at finding out who killed our 9 heroes in December
By JOE WARMINGTON, SUN MEDIA
Last Updated: 3rd January 2009, 4:37am
Here we were thinking killing the Taliban was the purpose of having our brave young soldiers in the murderous death-invested hellhole that is Afghanistan in the first place.
We've lost 104 there, most gutlessly blown up by dirty sneak attacks by Taliban bombers.
As a country, we have also had hundreds of others horribly wounded -- limbs stolen and axes to the back of the head -- done by people pretending to be benign but the whole time sneaking up on our men and women distracted while conducting such acts as handing out candy to children.
No charges seem to come from any of those heinous crimes and now one of our own is charged with murder?
What a kick in the groin. But it's true.
The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS) in a statement said it charged Saskatchewan-raised Capt. Robert Semrau with second-degree murder for shooting, with intent to kill, an unarmed male person on or around Oct. 19, 2008.
Charges were laid after analyzing the evidence and interviewing witnesses in an investigation that began Dec. 27.
Hopefully those investigators are working as hard at finding out who killed our nine guys with IEDs in December?
Easy, Joe, says one of my military contacts. This is the Canadian way.
He tells me don't rush to judgment and let the process unfold because the investigators would not lay such a charge unless they felt it appropriate.
Perhaps they are placating the critics and other countries, said the soldier. Maybe this guy is a sacrificial lamb. Or maybe he did something wrong. You have to remember with the Geneva Convention once you capture somebody, you can't kill them. You have to take care of them.
Same goes if you wounded him. Once he has surrendered, you can't kill him. You have to apply triage.
He's right. But it still sucks.
I know they wouldn't do the same for us, he acknowledges of the enemy. They would come and cut our guy's head off. But we have to have a higher standard.
Of course, a lot of people have been rushing to judgment -- on both sides.
The anti-military types are excited at the prospect of scoring some political points like they did with the Somalia kid's murder in the 1990s that ended with the dismantling of the airborne regiment and those who support the troops are on the defensive to make sure this doesn't make the troops' already tenuous reality even more dangerous thanks to those who would love nothing more than to weaken the mission.
If someone reading this knows how to get hold of this soldier or his family, or knows what really happened, please feel free to contact me. It was quiet on all fronts yesterday trying to get details but this one quote caught my eye on the torontosun.Com message board.
Capt, we NCMs support your actions, and you are covered by the rules of engagement. We are at war, We cannot even sleep here in Afghanistan because the Taliban continue to mortar and rocket our bases. For the love of God, what kind of Catch 22 is this? Signed NCM Deployed.
'Wow. Unbelievable'
That appears to be coming from a non-commissioned member and gives some sense there is some support for Semrau. On the same message board, a writer, under the name Afghan vet, pointed out condemning the government without knowing all the details is premature. Was the prisoner shot in cold blood? Was he acting in an aggressive manner? ... Our troops are over there doing a job, but at no time should we stoop to the levels of the enemy and act like terrorists ourselves. Wait for more information to be released.
But lots were not waiting yesterday.
Wow. Unbelievable, says Greg Winkler. The government sent our troops to help fight and defeat the enemy and now they have the balls to charge one of our fearless heroes with murder? ... Shame on you! I stand 100% behind Capt. Semrau's actions. Murder? What a joke!
All I know is this upcoming judicial process had better show this Taliban member was executed in cold blood or something equally as vile or clearly wrong.
If they charged him for a split-second decision in the heat of battle, where a judgment had to be made and an unarmed man on the other side was killed, then that seems like a whole different argument.
If that turns out to be the case, it could put our soldiers at great risk there -- not knowing when they can shoot and when they can't. It's not like it's a video game and it's not like it's easy to tell who is armed and who is not.
We actually had that very problem a lot in the beginning, said one contact close to the Afghanistan situation. After a few of our people were killed, there was an unofficial motto: Shoot first, deal with court martial later.
Whatever side you are on, we all have to understand they make judgments none of us over here living in peace and freedom would never have to face.
As for this captain, if he clearly abused the power then I guess we have to respect the court's decision.
However, we also have to consider the kind of stress he may have been under.
I think what this really comes down to is we need transparency. Every aspect of this trial needs to be scrutinized. Before this soldier is convicted, he deserves a fair trial where every part of this is made public.
He will and it will, Joe, says the military insider. A court martial hearing is the absolute best place for this.
He's right again but I still want people to let me know if you ever hear of a court date for one of those Taliban guys.
Nil Sine Labore
Robby
