<h3><a href="http://articles.cnn.com/2003-12-12/us/sprj.nirq.west.ruling_1_allen-west-iraqi-detainee-military-justice?_s=PM:US">Introduction: CNN U.S. December 13, 2003, excerpted</a></h3>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in;">The commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division on Friday accepted a U.S. military investigator's recommendation and ordered administrative action against Lt. Col. Allen West, who was accused of using improper methods to force information out of an Iraqi detainee.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in;">The case stems from an incident August 20 at a military base in Taji, just north of Baghdad, when West was interrogating an Iraqi policeman, who was believed to have information about a plot to assassinate West with an ambush on a U.S. convoy.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in;">In testimony at an Article 32 hearing -- the military's version of a grand jury or preliminary hearing -- West said the policeman, Yahya Jhrodi Hamoody, was not cooperating with interrogators, so he watched four of his soldiers from the 220th Field Artillery Battalion beat the detainee on the head and body.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in;">West said he also threatened to kill Hamoody. Military prosecutors say West followed up on that threat by taking the suspect outside, put him on the ground near a weapons clearing barrel and fired his 9 mm pistol into the barrel.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in;">Apparently not knowing where West's gun was aimed, Hamoody cracked and gave information about the planned ambush on West's convoy, thwarting the attack.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in;">West said there were no further ambushes on U.S. forces in Taji until he was relieved of his leadership post on October 4.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in;">"I know the method I used was not right, but I wanted to take care of my soldiers," West testified to a military courtroom of observers and some teary-eyed troops formerly under his command.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in;">Asked if he would have act differently if under similar circumstances again, West testified, "If it's about the lives of my soldiers at stake, I'd go through hell with a gasoline can."</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in;"><em><strong>Qur'an Surah 9.5</strong></em></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in;"><span style="color: #13273c; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><em><strong>YUSUFALI: "</strong> But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful."</em></span></p>
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<p><strong> AFA Action Alert-For Veteran's Day: A vet who understands the enemy we face</strong></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica;">President Obama this week once again called Islam "a great religion" which has been "distorted" by a small number of "extremists" to justify committing acts of violence against the West.<br /><br />But the Qur'an (or Koran) itself, the holy book of Islam, contains over 100 verses calling for violence against Christians and Jews. To give just one example, Sura 9:5 says, "Slay the idolaters wherever you find them."<br /><br />During a panel discussion sponsored by the Hudson Institute last January, retired Army Lt. Colonel Allen West, who did combat duty in Iraq, responded to a Marine who asked the question, how do you answer people who say that terrorists are following a "warped" version of Islam?<br /><br />The panel consisted of a number of former military personnel, who fumbled around trying to answer the question. Col. West finally stepped forward answered the question directly and truthfully. Listen to the words of a former military man who understands the nature of the enemy we face:<br /></span></p>
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