Do you believe this federal lawsuit in behalf of USMC LCpl Greg Buckley has merit?

2015-09-23T01:15:02-04:00

[Attorney] Bowe told The Washington Times, “Jan never should have been there. We believe these abuses contributed to Greg’s death because aligning our troops with those committing these horrific acts made our troops targets and because in looking the other way commanders failed to maintain a level of control over the base necessary for safety.”

A culture of high-ranking Afghan police, politicians and warlords routinely raping boys has been the focus of war stories since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

An article in Monday’s editions of The New York Times, posted online Sunday, has placed new emphasis on the debauchery by pointing out that U.S. commanders generally ignore the practice, even if the crimes happen on American bases."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/sep/22/us-military-indifference-to-afghan-sex-abuse-led-b/

U.S. military indifference to Afghan sex abuse led boy to kill three Marines

A lawsuit charges that the U.S. military’s indifference to the crime of Afghanistan officials sexually abusing boys led to the killings of three Marines in 2012 by the youthful companion of a corrupt Afghan police chief.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 23 at 2015 2:41 AM

2015-09-23T02:41:40-04:00

From watching law TV, I think the defense is going to paint the father as someone overreacting to his lost son and looking for revenge. The kid was already punished in Afghanistan and the father has a vendetta against the military . The commanders are going to pull out risk assessments, documents, and memos showing that protocol was followed. Then, the defense will say "charging these men for doing their jobs is a waste of the courts time when we should really be addressing child abuse from happening on U.S. Bases". They will have the jury and decorate these commanders with all their awards and stuff.

I don't think it is a winnable from a control standpoint unless they press charge RICO charges taking them outside military law.

Response by Cpl Jeff N. made Sep 23 at 2015 6:20 AM

2015-09-23T06:20:06-04:00

Senior commanders will circle the wagons on this. It is a tall hill to climb but I think the concept that by condoning and allowing this conduct (which is criminal in Afghanistan) on our base we were leaving ourselves open to retaliation is fair. It would be hard to predict that one of the boys might lash out and kill Marines but this is the heart of the unintended consequence discussion.

You cannot simply allow this sort of activity right under you nose and expect nothing to occur. We are becoming lost to our moral and legal responsibilities in order to accommodate people we should be disavowing, not dealing with and possible participating in the imprisonment of working with local authorities.

Response by Sgt Tom Cunnally made Sep 23 at 2015 6:27 AM

2015-09-23T06:27:25-04:00

I saw his Dad on TV recently talking about his son's death. But I don't know enough about this case to make a call Chief.. But my old gut says this case may be tossed because it would lead to more of them which Obama would not want.. Don't know if this is what you want but best I could come up

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 23 at 2015 8:35 AM

2015-09-23T08:35:57-04:00

I concur with most assessments here that regardless of merit, the case will be stymied by political maneuvering. To my mind, this is another piece of a larger debate surrounding our involvement with LN forces, and the risks we place our personnel in when chosen to support this mission.

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 23 at 2015 10:31 AM

2015-09-23T10:31:49-04:00

I don't agree with a law suit mainly because I hate law suits in general.

But I do think the article makes a very valid point and that on the base (US territory) our laws MUST be upheld.