Commanders Admit Cover-Up In Iraqis' Bridge Fall

FORT CARSON, Colo. -- Testifying under immunity, three U.S. Army commanders admitted Friday that soldiers were told to cover up an incident in which two Iraqi civilians were forced off a bridge into the Tigris River, where family members say one of them drowned. The commanders, however, said they don't believe anyone died, despite what the family and prosecutors say.

The testimony came in a hearing at Colorado's Fort Carson to determine whether three soldiers will be court-martialed.

Capt. Matthew Cunningham said soldiers under his command admitted they forced the Iraqis to jump into the river. He said the soldiers told him they just wanted the Iraqis to get "wet" and "miserable."

Cunningham said it was a bad decision but that soldiers needed to have ways to make their presence felt.

Cunningham also testified that he and other commanders told the soldiers to clam up because they feared higher-ups in the chain of command would use the incident against them.

"We were not covering up anything that injured anybody," he said.

Local 10

Sorry to quote the whole article, but it seemed short. Has anyone else heard of this? It sounds insane! What ever happened to the
Soldier's Code or Army Values Is it just a bunch of words now? What about the NCO Creed? Why can't American soldiers act professional? It seems like a hell of a lot of bad apples.

Curme, I think that the soldiers may be feed up tired and just wanting to take revenge on everything that is going on in Iraq against US troops.

It most be hard for the soldiers going on everyday in the middle of battles and discontent by the Iraqis civilians. This is very sad when you have to be nice to the people that will turn around and shoot you in your back.

We need to bring our troops home that�s were they belong.

The fish rots from the head. It always has and always will. What that means is that you can't expect the soldiers to act better than their leaders. The Commander-in-Chief ordered the unprovoked invasion of a foreign country on the other side of the world, signed off on torture methods, and we're prosecuting the soldiers. So join the military, kids, our President will send you out to do illegal business, and then prosecute you for being the 'bad apple.' lol.