Charges dropped against SFC Walter Taylor
Pat sends us a link to the LA Times which reports that that the charges have been dropped against SFC Walter Taylor for negligent homicide in the death of an Afghan doctor who drove her car into a firefight.
“It’s not just a victory for me, it’s a victory for all the soldiers,” Taylor said in an interview Thursday. “For all the soldiers that did great things down range [in Afghanistan]. They don’t have to think in their mind that one of their comrades was being done wrong.”
Well, I think that’s incorrect. Because of the fact that Taylor was charged in the first place will cost seconds everyday when soldiers decide whether they should pull the trigger or not. It will cost lives. While I applaud the Army for ending their case against SFC Taylor, they should have used a modicum of common sense and not charged him in the first place.
“I got nothing but respect for him,” Spc. Wayne Wedgeworth, who was one of those injured in the explosion on the day of the firefight, said in an earlier interview. “He fought when he had to fight. He did not back down. He fought the enemy off.”
Enough evidence that SFC Taylor had acted properly existed before the Army made a show of the Article 32 hearing.
According to the LA Times article, SFC Taylor is continuing a series of surgeries to treat the wounds he received a few days after the incident.
Category: Big Army, Terror War
Thank God the man’s chain of command had the balls to do the right thing vice pander to political whim.
It’s a victory, Jonn. But, as you correctly observe, it may be only a partial victory. The fact that charges were brought at all may well cause soldiers in combat to think twice when they don’t have time to do so – and cost lives.
In any case, it’s good to see that SFC Taylor can now concentrate on his rehab and recovery.
Great news for SFC Taylor!
A f’n men gents. Thankfully this idiocy is at an end.
There’s gonna be a lot of paper-pushers high up in the chain that are gonna be mighty pissed.
W00T!
A-freakin-men
Best possible outcome, given the lunacy of having charged him in the first place.
You did good, SFC Taylor. Be well. The gratitude of your nation is with you.
Thank Goodness!
Thank god. Obambi’s people must be pissed about it.
This is good news for a Friday. Congratulations and best wishes to SFC Taylor!
This is great news. Get well soon, SFC Taylor!
Good news and I hope SFC Taylors next round of surgeries go well.
Let’s hope this incident doesn’t affect his chances for promotion.