A Good Year for the Outlaw

Another U.S. soldier was convicted today of murdering an unarmed Iraqi. The most disturbing parts of the story to me were this:

Vela’s trial was the last of three snipers in the unit accused in a series of shooting deaths south of Baghdad that defense lawyers said happened under command pressure to increase kill counts and, perhaps, employ questionable tactics in doing so.

In September, Gary Myers, then an attorney for Vela, claimed that Army snipers in Iraq were under orders to “bait” their targets with suspicious materials, such as detonation cords, and then kill whoever picked up the items.

The Army has declined to confirm that any such program existed, saying it does not discuss tactics used in the field.

and this:

Sgt. Michael A. Hensley was acquitted of murder in all three deaths, but he was convicted of planting evidence by placing a rifle with al-Janabi’s body.

Hensley said the unit had been pressured by his commanders to wrack up kills. His unit had been in Iraq for only a few months and had taken up to 25 casualties without inflicting much damage on insurgents, he said.

“They were tired of people getting killed and us not getting any kills in return,” Hensley said. “There was definitely some pressure. If we came back from a mission and we didn’t get kills, we were talked to.”

But of course, the most disturbing part of the whole thing is how we shouldn’t freakin’ be there anyway.