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-Obits-

Death of a US Army intelligence soldier.

2009-01-09

Paula Lloyd, Human Terrain Team member and Social Scientist, passed away on 7 January at approximately 1400 at Brooke Army Medical Center, as a result of the burns she received in Kandahar, AF, this past November. She received second and third burns over 60% of her body when an Afghan man threw flammable liquid on her and set her on fire. The Afghan was killed, alledgedley by her team mate..

Paula's undergraduate degree was from Wellesley College and she earned a graduate degree from Georgetown University.

She was also a Staff Sergeant in the US Army Reserve.

Posted by:Besoeker

#13 Steve White said "That's the difference (one of them) between us and the Taliban."

Um, it's not the important difference. The important difference between the Taliban and us is that they'd like to come to our houses and kill us and all of our children in horrible ways.

In contrast--in the absence of their threat to us--I would be perfectly content to wish them well and leave them to their sheep and their religion.

This is the important difference between us and the Taliban: They want to kill us because we are different; we only kill them to defend ourselves.

One legal definition of insanity is that a person is legally insane if he would have committed the same crime with a cop at his elbow.

If you burned a good woman friend of mine to death in front of me, well, ... I am a pretty peaceful guy ordinarily but I would not want to know what I'd do in those circumstances.

Bush should pardon this guy, Ayala.

Posted by: Some guy 2009-01-09 23:06

#12 That's the difference (one of them) between us and the Taliban.

And the difference of a few seconds in time. If Ayala had shot the guy moments earlier, Ayala would be the hero.

I'm guessing the outcome will be some kind of pre-trial plea bargain.

Posted by: SteveS 2009-01-09 17:13

#11 Nope, sorry, this wasn't a gun-cleaning accident.

This was murder.

Mr. Ayala was pissed that his outstanding team member, Ms. Lloyd had been killed. I understand that.

But the perp who did it was restrained and in custody. He was neither a flight risk nor a threat to anyone. Under our current military code, you can't just off him.

That's the difference (one of them) between us and the Taliban.

Posted by: Steve White 2009-01-09 16:38

#10 Can the team mate plead temporary insanity?

I feel I could not be in my proper mind under such conditions. I would become cold rage.

It is within the possible he would be as I and unable to see any moral other than the justly destruction to a vicious murderer.

God rest her soul now.

Posted by: Lagom 2009-01-09 16:02

#9 My sympathies are entirely with Paula Lloyd, and her Team Mate, Don Michael Ayala.

Don Michael Ayala is the Team Mate who dispatched that disgusting piece of shxt who burned our Heroine Staff Sergeant, Paula Lloyd.

I don't believe our Combat folks should be held to the standard of civilian laws in a War Zone.

.

Posted by: Red Dawg 2009-01-09 15:32

#8 Like Brer Rabbit says, sounds like an accidental mis-fire to me. No further investigation necessary.

Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2009-01-09 15:20

#7 From Small Wars Journal:

A social scientist in the Army's controversial Human Terrain program was en route to Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas after being set on fire in and apparent Taliban attack in Afghanistan. It's the third time in five months that a Human Terrain Team member has been killed or seriously wounded.

Paula Lloyd was interviewing locals in the southern village of Maywand on Tuesday as part of her duties in a Human Terrain Team, which embeds civilian cultural experts into U.S. combat units. She approached a man carrying a fuel jug and they began talking about the price of gas. Suddenly, the man doused Lloyd in a flammable liquid and set her on fire. She suffered second- and third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body, a Human Terrain source told Danger Room.

The injuries could have been worse. Lloyd's teammate immediately threw her into a nearby water source to douse the flames, then Lloyd was sped to a nearby medical facility. Fortunately, the first doctor to treat her was a U.S. Army burn specialist. After being stabilized, Lloyd was evacuated to the military's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and is now en route to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. Lloyd is in "stable, but guarded condition," the source said.

The Taliban took credit for the attack on their website. The Taliban has a long history of setting women on fire as a way of punishing them for perceived immodesty.

And there, folks, is the face of the enemy that needs to be wiped from the face of the earth.

Posted by: Alaska Paul 2009-01-09 14:22

#6 Sounds like a gun cleaning accident to me.

Posted by: BrerRabbit 2009-01-09 14:15

#5 It's a little more complicated than that...

ARLINGTON, Va. An Army Human Terrain Team member has been charged with murder in connection with the killing of an Afghan man who set another team member on fire.

Don Michael Ayala, a contractor working for the Virginia-based firm Strategic Analysis Inc., allegedly shot Abdul Salam while the man was restrained in U.S. custody, according to an affidavit filed in federal court.

On Nov. 4, Ayala was on a patrol about 50 miles west of Kandahar along with two other team members and a platoon of soldiers. During the patrol, Salam lit a container of flammable liquid and threw it at one of the team members, Paula Loyd, the affidavit said.

Salam tried to get away, but Ayala forced him to the ground, where he was handcuffed. "After about 10 minutes, a soldier approached the location where Ayala had Salam detained and informed the personnel in the area that Loyd was burned badly," the affidavit said. "Ayala pushed his pistol against Salams head and shot Salam, killing him instantly."

Posted by: tu3031 2009-01-09 13:32

#4 Is this the women whose teammate shot and killed her attacker on the spot and is currently up on charges for it?

WHAT< thats fucking outrageous

Posted by: sick of it 2009-01-09 13:21

#3 Really? I thought "fatal" was as bad as it gets.

Rather than chide you for misplaced snark, I will simply note that the article is dated 6-Nov-2008 and the obit is from 9-Jan-2009. The intervening days could not have been pleasant.

The Human Terrain project embeds anthropologists with military teams to provide knowlege of local cultures. It is strongly opposed by academia on the grounds that anything to do with the US military is evil.

Posted by: SteveS 2009-01-09 13:11

#2 Yes, cross, it is.

Posted by: Glenmore 2009-01-09 12:45

#1 From the linked article: "The injuries could have been worse."

Really? I thought "fatal" was as bad as it gets.

Is this the women whose teammate shot and killed her attacker on the spot and is currently up on charges for it?

Posted by: crosspatch 2009-01-09 12:04

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