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| Chris Hondros: Parents killed at US roadblock |
Frago 242 stands for "fragmentary order 242". It is the military directive issued in 2004 that allowed US troops to ignore instances of torture by their Iraqi allies. The order summarizing a complex application of international law told US soldiers not to investigate any breach of the laws of armed conflict unless it directly involved them. When the alleged abuse was Iraqi on Iraqi, the order said, "only an initial report will be made." The Wikileak release of hundreds of
war logs show a cornucopia of torture and abuse on a daily basis, making it indisputable that US forces knew of the ongoing war crimes in the name of state security. In some cases the US even handed over detainees to the infamous Iraqi 'Wolf Brigade' that specialized in torture*. Faced with such a detailed, self-incriminating, and flagrant violations of international laws against torture including the legal obligation to investigate credible allegation of torture, the United Nations called on Obama & Folks to investigate. The
Iraq War logs also show the possible war crimes by American troops stationed at roadblocks. In several instances
Iraqi civilians who did not obey orders of US soldiers were gunned down. The British based organization, Iraqi Body Count, has revised its estimate of the number of Iraqi civilians killed from 107,000 to 122,000 based on the leaked information.
*one of the Tea Party's collection of fronts, extremists and closet Nazis running for office is Ilario Pantano, a candidate for North Carolina's 7th C.D. He served as a second lieutenant with the Marines in Iraq. In April 2004 Pantano and his platoon stopped and detained two Iraqis near Falluja. He allegedly sprayed 60 rounds into the two men, and placed a placard inscribed with a Marine motto over the mutilated bodies. Pantano told an interviewer, "I was sending a message'. Pantano faced charges for premeditated murder, but they were later dropped for insufficient evidence. He is running close behind his Democratic opponent in a recent poll. The former Marine, who was winning hearts and minds in Iraq, has managed to raise $1 million for his campaign from a variety of right-wingers. The Seventh Congressional District is the home of Camp Lejeune, and many in the military population consider Pantano a hero. But the presiding officer of his court-martial recommended non-judicial punishment for his "extremely poor judgment" which reflected discredit on US armed forces.
