Lt. Clint Lorance...another victim of ROE

Publisher’s note:  Murder, are you kidding me?!  Yet another U.S. Soldier has fallen to the watered down, politically correct, kinder/gentler military ROE.  In case you haven’t heard, in a case very reminiscent of Lt. Michael Behenna, Lt. Clint Lorance has been found guilty of murdering two ‘suspected’ Taliban fighters in the Kandahar Region of Afghanistan back in July of 2012, and has been sentenced to 20 years in Leavenworth.  

For doing his job!

Let me paint the setting for you.  Through no fault of their own, our men and women are fighting and dying in a dreadful war zone against a vicious enemy that does not wear any uniform; an enemy that has demonstrated that it has no regard for life, ours or their own.  Lt. Lorance was on patrol with several other soldiers in an area said to be clear of all but Taliban forces; Intel said to be especially wary of anyone on or near motorcycles because they were spotting and reporting on our troop activity leading to attacks.  These men were doing exactly what he’d been warned against.    

So, in a split second, with no time to second guess or stop to consider the option of sitting down to talk over a cup of Chai Tea, he observed two men sitting on one of the aforementioned motorcycles monitoring his position.  All anyone in his position would and should think about in that moment is..”war, enemy, survival, men at risk.”  He gave the order, two men died; later investigation found no weapons, which according to ROE means they posed no threat.  Yes they did!  They would have reported his position and then he and the others would have come under immediate attack.  

This was a damned if you do, damned if you don’t encounter; because had the order not been given and had those men been armed or even lived long enough to make their report, Lt. Lorance and the others might very well be dead.  Maybe, because the Taliban is aware of our ROE, they were placed as sacrifices in an effort to demoralize our troops.

Now we have another good man and soldier in prison.  Just like the travesty of justice meted out to Lt. Michael Behenna, (released several months ago) at least no one had to tell the parents and loved ones of any soldier that day that their son/daughter died because their leader was following ROE.  

It is my hope and prayer that Lt. Lorance will be exonerated upon upcoming appeal. 

DCXposed:  Twenty eight year old First Lieutenant Clint Lorance of North Texas was recently found guilty of two counts of murder in the July 2012 killing of two suspected Taliban fighters in a remote sector of Kandahar Province Afghanistan. Lorance was sentenced to 20 years in Leavenworth, dismissed from the army and must forfeit all pay. He was found not guilty of making a false official statement.

Prosecutors insisted Lorance ordered his men to open fire on unarmed civilians which violates the U.S. military‘s official rules of engagement – a policy that requires them to hold their fire unless there’s evidence of hostile action or direct hostile intent.  Capt. William Miller, a government prosecutor, told the jury “Lt. Lorance used his rank and position to harass, intimidate, threaten and murder Afghans.”

Lorance’s defense argued that the village being patrolled was under Taliban control and had long since been vacated by all known civilian inhabitants due to constant violence and warfare. In fact, Lorance had just taken command of that particular platoon because in the days prior they had suffered several losses – 

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