US Contractor Charged in Shooting of AFG Accused of Torching Scientist

[The Bread Guy]

....the scientist has died.  Condolences to the family, colleagues and friends of the fallen 

Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act.

Third 'Human Terrain' Researcher Dead
By Noah Shachtman, Danger Room blog, Wired.com, 8 Jan 08, 3:26:21 PM
Article link

For the third time in eight months, a social scientist with the Army's Human Terrain cultural research program has died.

In early November, while on patrol in an Afghan village, Paula Loyd was doused with a flammable liquid, and set on fire. She suffered second- and third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body. Loyd was rushed to a nearby medical center, where she was treated by a burn specialist. Shortly thereafter, Loyd was evacuated to the military's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and then to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. But after a two month struggle, she was overcome by her injuries.

(....)

The small staff of the Human Terrain program is "reeling" from this latest death, one employee tells Danger Room. "Paula dearly loved Afghanistan -- it showed in the way her face lit up whenever she spoke of it. In the field, her work was stellar, and more than that, she was deeply kind, too. We'll miss her terribly."....

More on link

 

[tomahawk6]

She was a Staff Sgt in the Army Reserve.

 

[sm1lodon]

What has really been driven home to me lately is how real war is different than the fantasies on the Silver Screen.

You can't just swagger around, shooting people outside the specific rules of engagement and expect to get away with it.

I admit, the self-control necessary to refrain from doing so must be larger than the self-control needed for most other parts of life, but it is, indeed necessary.

My respect for those in theater grows.

 

[brihard]

I6, please let me know when your book comes out. I'd be very interested to read it.

- - - - - - - - -

In general I've got a lot of respect for the PMCs. We see the COMPASS guys, both locals and foreigners, through here all the time doing escort for civilian trucks. The convoys that I do in an RG-31, they do in an uparmoured Ford truck, if that. I've seen them on a few occasions coming back into KAF shot up after they got TICed simply for escorting food. When we were down as the gate some of us found ourselves becoming the first medical response some of these guys after they were hit.

Perhaps their motivations are 'mercenary'in the strictly literal sense; they're doing it for money, no doubt, but at the same time they do a damned good job that someone needs to do, and certainly they earn the cash they make.

I won't wader into oversight on PMCs because I'd be out of my lanes, but we do have to acknowledge that the greater general public will, unfortunately, draw a link between PMCs and the military if that contractor ends up on the news as a result of a bad shoot, or a run'n'gun after an IED. A good point was made earlier - I think by CogDiss, but I could be wrong - that while governments cannot in all cases properly supervise those contracted, they must remain accountable and responsible for what's done while working on their dime. I'm not suggesting the individual contractors aren't also liable and potentially criminally responsible for offenses committed in the line of duty. I think that legal immunity for contractors is BS. Our government does however need to be very careful when it wades into the murky waters of privatizing anything to do with our military expeditions. So far I think they've generally done a pretty good job. I hope that continues to be the case.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Link to DOJ news release also attached - shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act.

'Human Terrain' Contractor Guilty of Manslaughter
Noah Shachtman, Danger Room, Wired.com, 3 Feb 09
Article link

Don Ayala, a contractor with the Army's controversial Human Terrain social science project, pleaded guilty today to manslaughter.

Ayala was facing a possible life sentence in prison, after being charged with second degree murder for an alleged revenge killing in southern Afghanistan. Under the terms of his plea agreement, announced today by the U.S. Attorney's office in Alexandria, Virginia, Ayala could still spend up to 15 years behind bars....

More on link

 

[The Bread Guy]

From Wired.com's Danger Room web log.....

"Family Wants Leniency for ‘Human Terrain’ Avenger"

Earlier this month, Don Ayala, a member of the Army's Human Terrain social science project, pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He admitted to shooting a man in Afghanistan, after that man lit on fire Ayala's teammate, Paula Loyd. Now, Loyd's family is asking a federal judge to go easy on Ayala....

 

[tomahawk6]

I think the contractor is a sympathetic figure. I would vote for not guilty.

 

[The Bread Guy]

...according to Wired.com's Danger Room:

Don Ayala — the U.S. Army contractor who pleaded guilty to a revenge killing in Afghanistan — won’t be going to prison. Instead, U.S. District Court Judge Claude Hilton sentenced Ayala, a member of the Army’s Human Terrain social science project, to five years probation and a $12,500 fine ....

More from the New Orleans Times Picayune and the Associated Press.