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| Iraq |
| Australia clears soldiers over US death in Iraq |
| 2007-06-09 |
| CANBERRA (AFP) - Australian soldiers who shot and killed a US civilian truck driver at a checkpoint in Iraq have been cleared of any wrongdoing, the army said Thursday. An Australian Defence Force (ADF) investigation found they had acted within the law and the rules of engagement when they opened fire after the contractor failed to stop, Brigadier Gus Gilmore told reporters. The driver, Hector Patino, 58, was a decorated Vietnam war veteran working for the US company Kellogg Brown and Root. His family has rejected the Australian military's findings and called for an independent inquiry. Gilmore said that despite clear signs and repeated requests for Patino to stop at the checkpoint near the Australian embassy in Baghdad's Green Zone on January 13, he drove on. Soldiers, concerned that he could be a car bomber, opened fire, he said. "The key findings of the ADF investigation found that the soldiers involved acted lawfully, entirely in accordance with their orders ... and their rules of engagement," Gilmore said. "The approach of the truck and the actions of the driver were interpreted by the military personnel involved as an imminent threat to life. In these circumstances their actions were appropriate." An independent investigation conducted by the US Diplomatic Security Service concluded Patino's actions contributed to the shooting, Gilmore said. The contractor's family had written to Prime Minister John Howard in March, asking for information about the shooting and would be informed of the findings. "On behalf of the chief of the defence force I would again like to extend our condolences to the Patino family," he said. But Patino's brother David called for an independent inquiry, saying the family was "upset and angry." "The report really doesn't answer any questions," Patino told the Australian Associated Press from his home in Texas. "Why didn't Hector stop? That's what we'd like to know." Patino had worked inside the Green Zone for two years and had passed through the Australian checkpoint countless times before, his brother said. "It doesn't make sense he would ignore the checkpoint," David Patino said. "He knew the soldiers had guns." |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #6 Poor Hector had probably been driving that truck for the last 30 hours straight when the incident occurred. He was probably on auto-pilot when he got shot. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2007-06-09 09:30 |
| #5 Mr Besoeker - I take it you do not think DS is capable of a) being independant and b)conducting an investigation. Please provide some evidence to support your statement. Otherwise do not malign professional law enforcement and security officers who have lost friends and colleagues in numerous terrorist attacks (including Iraq and Afghanistan) while doing their jobs. I've walked the walk for ten years and before that four years as a Marine officer. |
| Posted by: Anguger B. Hayes7857 2007-06-09 08:54 |
| #4 Patino may have zoned out (nodded off) and not noticed the check point. Or maybe it was a temporary checkpoint and he mistook it for a terrorist roadblock. Or maybe, as a 'senior citizen' of my generation he mistook the brake for the gas pedal. Or did he have a 'passenger' (or hostage holder) who forced him to run the checkpoint - they do that all the time with VBIED drivers. I am saddened by this death of course, as by all the other victims on our side, but I am also surprised it does not happen more often, given the nature of our enemy. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-06-09 08:16 |
| #3 An independent investigation conducted by the US Diplomatic Security Service concluded Patino's actions contributed to the shooting, Gilmore said. From the statement above, please select two words that do not appear credible. Thank you for your service Hector. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-06-09 07:35 |
| #2 "The report really doesn't answer any questions," Patino told the Australian Associated Press from his home in Texas. "Why didn't Hector stop? That's what we'd like to know." A glitch right there... Hector is not available to answer any questions, let alone why he did not stop, which only he can answer. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-06-09 01:51 |
| #1 Now, if it had been US soldiers that did the accidental killing, that would have been a War Crime and they would need to be arrested and tried. Seriously, it's sad when this happens. We killed a lot of our own, or our allies, in WWII, but the Germans and Japanese did so many more that no one really noticed. Here, the Jihadis are unable to kill more than a handful in cowardly attacks, so everyone we hit stands out. |
| Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds 2007-06-09 00:35 |