U.S. snipers accused of 'baiting' Iraqis
By PAULINE JELINEK and ROBERT BURNS, Associated Press Writers
1 hour, 9 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Army snipers hunting insurgents in Iraq were under
orders to "bait" their targets with suspicious materials, such as
detonation cords, and then kill whoever picked up the items,
according to the defense attorney for a soldier accused of planting
evidence on an Iraqi he killed. Gary Myers, an attorney for Sgt.
Evan Vela, said Monday his client had acted "pursuant to
orders."
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"We believe that our client has done nothing more than he was
instructed to do by superiors," Myers said in a telephone
interview.
Myers and Vela's father, Curtis Carnahan of Idaho Falls, Idaho,
said in separate interviews that sworn statements and testimony in
the cases of two other accused Ranger snipers indicate that the
Army has a classified program that encourages snipers to "bait"
potential targets and then kill whoever takes the bait.
The Army on Monday declined to confirm such a program exists.
"To prevent the enemy from learning about our tactics, techniques
and training procedures, we don't discuss specific methods
targeting enemy combatants," said Paul Boyce, an Army
spokesman.
Boyce also said there are no classified programs that authorize the
murder of Iraqi civilians or the use of "drop weapons" to make
killings appeared to be legally justified, which is what Vela and
the two other snipers are accused of doing.
The transcript of a court hearing for two of the three accused
snipers makes several references to the existence of a classified
"baiting" program but provides few details of how it works. A copy
of the transcript was provided to The Associated Press by Vela's
father.
The Washington Post, which first reported the existence of the
"baiting" program, cited the sworn statement of Capt. Matthew P.
Didier, the leader of a Ranger sniper scout platoon.
"Baiting is putting an object out there that we know they will use,
with the intention of destroying the enemy," Didier said in the
statement. "Basically, we would put an item out there and watch it.
If someone found the item, picked it up and attempted to leave with
the item, we would engage the individual as I saw this as a sign
they would use the item against U.S. forces."
The Post said the program was devised by the Army's Asymmetric
Warfare Group, which advises commanders on more effective methods
in today's unconventional conflicts, including ways to combat
roadside bombs.
Within months of the "baiting" program's introduction, three
snipers in Didier's platoon were charged with murder for allegedly
using those items and others to make shootings seem legitimate,
according to the Post.
The Post said that although it doesn't appear that the three
alleged shootings were specifically part of the classified program,
defense attorneys argue that the program may have encouraged them
by blurring the legal lines in a complex war zone.
The court martial of one of the accused soldiers, Spec. Jorge
Sandoval Jr., is scheduled to begin in Baghdad on Wednesday. Also
facing premeditated murder charges are Vela and Staff Sgt. Michael
Hensley.
They are part of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st
Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th
Infantry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska.
