How Yiddish of those brave Kwan troops.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — A soldier testified yesterday that his sergeant gave him orders to kill three Iraqi detainees, then cut him with a knife to make it appear that there had been a struggle.

Spc. William B. Hunsaker said at the court-martial for Staff Sgt. Ray Girouard that his superior ordered him and another soldier to cut loose three detainees, then shoot them as they fled.

"They’re going to cut the ties, tell them to run, shoot them," Hunsaker quoted Girouard as saying.

Girouard, 24, of Tennessee, is the last and most senior soldier from the 101 st Airborne Division to face trial in the killings, which occurred May 9 outside of Samarra, Iraq.

Hunsaker and Pfc. Corey Clagett already have pleaded guilty. They cooperated with prosecutors and were sentenced to 18 years in military prison.

Hunsaker testified yesterday that after the squad took the three detainees into custody, Girouard told members the group’s first sergeant was angry that the detainees were still alive.

Hunsaker said he and Clagett took the three detainees outside. Hunsaker said he pulled down their blindfolds and looked them in the eyes and that Clagett told them in Arabic to run.

Hunsaker said that after the detainees were shot, Girouard cut him with a pocket knife, saying, "It’s got to look good."

When asked why he pleaded guilty, Hunsaker said, "I got tired of lying to everyone."

Girouard’s attorney, Anita Gorecki, said Girouard never ordered his soldiers to shoot three Iraqi detainees, but that he did help cover up the slayings.

http://www.dispatch.com/national-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/03/14/20070314-A6-04.htm