If you haven't heard of Corey Clagett, let me introduce you to a young soldier, who loves this country and was willing to lay down his life for it. Today he sits in prison for following a direct order from his Staff Sergeant while fighting in Iraq. His unit's commander ordered the troops in the field to kill all military aged men, not to take any prisoners. This command was issued then by his Squad Sergeant to the unit. Corey knew this command was illegal and he fought with it.
Corey and another soldier caught 3 Iragi men, handcuffed and detained them. The Squad leader radioed "Command" and the response was "Why aren't these terrorists dead yet?" In turn, the Squad Sergeant relayed the orders chosing Corey and the other soldier ordered them to shoot the 3 men, then cut them loose of the zip-ties that bound them. The Sergeant ordered the two young soldiers to shoot to kill the three detainees.Corey struggled with his decision and feared the consequences of disobeying a direct order as well as the danger poised if these detainees later returned to kill American personal as members of Al-Qaeda. He ordered the three men to run and as they tried to escape he shot and killed two, the other soldier shot one, badly wounding him. The squad doctor determined he was too mortally wounded and the squad sergeant then ordered the other soldier to put him out of his misery, whereby he shot him at point blank range in the head, killing him.
The squad sergeant decided to rig the scene to make it look like a real escape attempt and ordered Corey and the other soldier as to exactly how to set the scene. Two days later there was a criminal investigation and the Staff Sergeant ordered Corey and the other soldier to "stick to the story" and threatened other squad members to keep them quiet.
Cpl Corey Claggett, Spec William Hunsaker and SSgt Girouard were charged with murder. From there on Corey was abused and tortured by his jailers pre-trial and after he was convicted, despite the fact he agreed to cooperate with the prosecution and testify against SSgt Girouard. However, the gravest injustice came when through manipulation on behalf of the court and his own Military attorney Corey was convinced to plead guilty and was sentenced to 18 years. Ironically, SSgt Girouard was sentenced to 10 years, served 3 and is out on parole. Spec Hunsaker served only 9 months, returned to active duty, redeployed to Iraq and was promoted. The Unit Commander, Lt. Col Michael Steele received a reprimand in his file.Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 26 between 2p to 3:30p EST, we will interview Melanie Dianiski, his mother and Timothy Parlatore, his attorney on Corey's ordeal and his search for clemency or parole. Corey spent 4 years in solitary confinement and face treatment harsher than anything dished out to terrorist detainees in GITMO. It's time to bring Corey home. Click on the link at the top of this article and tune in to listen.
Tags: Iraq, Gitmo, Army, Operation Iron Triangle, Politics, War on Terror
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