Ex-Army Chief to Face Sri Lanka Court Martial

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s former army chief and defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka will face a court martial for ‘military offences’, an official said on Tuesday.

Fonseka, who was arrested by military police at his campaign office on Monday night, has been moved to an undisclosed military establishment ahead of court martial proceedings, the military official said.

“He will face a court martial even though he is not a serving officer,” said the official, who declined to be named. “The military law applies up to six months from the date of retirement of any officer.”

Fonseka, who lost to President Mahinda Rajapakse in the January 26 election, was arrested hours after he vowed to give evidence at any international probe into alleged war crimes committed by troops in the final stages of fighting against Tamil Tiger rebels last year.

---

Ex-Army Chief to Face Sri Lanka Court Martial was first posted on February 9, 2010 at 3:50 pm.

Another British Soldier killed in Friendly Firing

Helmand: Another British soldier killed in friendly firing, Another British soldier was killed in Afghanistan after being wounded during a fire fight in Helmand province, the Ministry of Defence said. “Initial reports suggest that this death may have resulted from a friendly fire incident,” the ministry said in a statement. The serviceman, from 3rd Battalion the Rifles, died from wounds sustained in a firefight near Sangin in Helmand Province. It followed the death of Lance Corporal Michael David Pritchard, 22, of the 4th Regiment Royal Military Police, in a separate incident in Sangin on Sunday. Both deaths may have resulted from friendly fire and they are under investigation by the Royal Military Police. The soldiers’ families have been informed. Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield, spokesman for Task Force Helmand, paid tribute to the latest member of UK forces to die in Afghanistan. Britain has lost 242 soldiers since it joined the U.S.-led invasion to topple the Taliban in 2001.

---

Another British Soldier killed in Friendly Firing was first posted on December 23, 2009 at 12:16 pm.

Kimberly Munley Fort Hood,Kimberly Munley

Kimberly Munley Fort Hood,Kimberly Munley: Accounts are starting to emerge from Thursday’s shooting at Fort Hood, from first responders to health care providers at Carl R.

Kimberly Munley Fort Hood,Kimberly Munley:Accounts are starting to emerge from Thursday’s shooting at Fort Hood, from first responders to health care providers at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center.

Sgt. Andrew Hagerman, a Fort Hood military policeman, escorted in a police car the first ambulance on scene. That ambulance would transport Kimberly Munley, the first officer to respond who shot the suspect, Maj. Malik Hasan.

Munley was shot, too, and Hagerman said it was in the upper leg and thigh region. He didn’t know how many times Munley was shot, he said today.

Hagerman was also on scene as medics treated Hasan. He said the suspect was unconscious and in handcuffs, and they were then removed so care could be administered. Hasan’s two handguns were laying on the ground beside him, Hagerman said.

He pointed out that regardless of whether Hasan was a suspect, the medics did what they had to do to save a life.

The sergeant is a soldier in the 89th Military Police Brigade who has deployed to combat in 2005 and 2007, and described the scene as controlled chaos.

When Hagerman first heard shots, he said his ears perked up and he started moving toward the fire. A soldier’s training comes into play, he said.
“That’s what you do. That’s what you’re trained for.”

There were a lot of moving pieces at the scene, with soldiers helping other soldiers, he said. Though he wouldn’t identify what unit patches soldiers at the site wore, he said they were from across Fort Hood.

Hagerman described the scene in relation to what he’s seen in combat and said one wouldn’t usually see that many dead and wounded, adding it is expected “more in combat than you do here.

Lynndie England

Lynndie England, Public Face of the Abu Ghraib scandal, Lynndie England’s lecture cancelled at Library of Congress on Friday as staff’s safety was on the stake, after threats. Lynndie England was to discuss her biography as part of Veteran’s Forum on Capitol Hill.

It was David Moor, also a War Veteran (Vietnam) who had organized the event and invited the former Army Reservist Lynndie England. The German Acquisitions Specialist at the Library of Congress David Moor informed the library’s Inspector General as well as police that he received countless threat, violence and protest e-mails against the lecture. It is reported that members of the Library of Congress Professional Association, the employee group was informed by an e-mail from President Angela Kinney that said the lecture was cancelled on account of staff safety concerns. Overall, the decision of cancellation of the lecture was a good decision, most of the members said.

The book under review was by an author namely Gary S. Winkler and it is called “Tortured: Lynndie England, Abu Ghraib and the Photographs That Shocked the World.” There have been various articles and mails all over the web and media, criticizing Lynndie, who served in Iraq under the rank of ‘Specialist’ and was found guilty of inflicting Sexual, Physical and Psychological abuse on helpless Iraqi prisoners.

The abuse included Torture, Rape, Sodomy, Homicide of Prisoners etc. This abuse and horrifying activities just rocked the world when leaked and worst of all the issues was the involvement of 372nd Military Police Company of the US Army. As reinforcement, they had the services of additional US Government Agencies as well at Abu Ghraib (Baghdad Correctional Facility).

Finally she was convicted in 2005 by the Army courts-martial along with 11 other military personnel. Now she is raising a young son in West Virginia.