It's About Damn Time!

After months of congressional pressure, the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General has opened an investigation of Army General Frank Kearney.

North Carolina Representative Walter Jones said he believes Lt. Gen. Frank Kearney has overstepped his authority.

"I am troubled by the premeditated-murder charges levied against Master Sergeant Troy Anderson and Captain Dave Staffel of Special Forces. Based on his own statements, Lieutenant General Frank Kearney directed that charges be brought against these two American heroes despite the fact that the two soldiers were exonerated by the Army's Criminal Investigation Command."
(letter to Defense Scty Gates, October)

In October 2006, Kearney demanded a THIRD inquiry into two Green Berets who killed an Afghan enemy combatant as Afghan police tried to take him into custody, and who were cleared of wrongdoing after two investigations.

They were cleared again after the third investigation.

Then, following a March 4,2007 car bomb ambush of a Marine convoy in Bandikot, Afghanistan, a firefight ensued which ended with 19 Afghan civilians reported dead and an Army colonel apologizing for the incident that he called "a stain on the forces' honor." The colonel authorized payment of reparations to the victim's families before a military criminal investigation was complete. Kearney, who at the time was in charge of Special Operations in Afghanistan, ordered the unit pulled out of Afghanistan.

The Marines ordered their own investigation. In November, Marine Major General Dennis Hejlik, head of USMC Special Operations Command said the Marines took the appropriate action in the ambush against them and should not have been pulled from the region.

According to professor Jeffrey F. Addicott, a former senior legal adviser to the Green Berets and director of the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio:

"This is a very serious, serious charge in the military. If this inspector general investigation finds that command influence occurred, then General Kearney could be fired from his job by his superior or forced to resign or retire. In my opinion, there is clear evidence that he exerted command influence."

Write your congressmen and senators and let them know General Kearney needs to find a job he can handle.  

 

Perhaps Disneyland needs a Goofy.