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trekrider · Rated XXX

OPERATION: IRAQI FREEDOM
Mag names Col. West Man of the Year
FrontPage honors officer 'for protecting the lives of his troops'

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Posted: January 2, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

Â© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

While Time honored the U.S. military as the men and women of the year for 2003, online commentary site Frontpage Magazine chose just one of those soldiers for recognition: Col. Allen B. West, the officer who used shock interrogation tactics in Iraq to thwart an impending attack on American troops and who nearly faced a court martial over the incident.

Lt. Col. Allen B. West in undated family photo (Courtesy Angela West)

"FrontPage Magazine's Man of the Year has shown true courage, compassion and heroism in the face of battle. â€¦ He has been on the frontlines of the War on Terror in the heart of the Iraqi resistance. He undertook extraordinary measures to safeguard the lives of his men, to protect Americans under attack by bloodthirsty Islamist gangleaders," Ben Johnson, associate editor, wrote of West.

As WorldNetDaily reported, under threat of an attack, West took charge of the interrogation of an Iraqi policeman, Yahya Jhodri Hamoody, determined to flush out details as he warned subordinates "it could get ugly." Threatening to kill the Iraqi if he didn't talk, West fired a pistol near the policeman's head.

The scared policeman then immediately disclosed the information, leading to the arrest of two Iraqis last August and cessation of attacks on West's 4th Infantry Division battalion.

At a hearing in November, West was asked by his defense attorney if he would do it again.

"If it's about the lives of my men and their safety, I'd go through hell with a gasoline can," he said.

"But that's what's going on out there in the streets here, and that's how I feel about my boys," he told the hearing, held in one of Saddam Hussein's lavish palaces. "There is not a person in this room I would not sacrifice my life for."

Last month, West accepted Article 15 non-judicial punishment from the commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division and was fined $5,000, sparing him court martial proceedings.

Wrote Johnson: "The disgraceful treatment of Col. Allen B. West by the U.S. Armed Forces is practically unforgivable. In the midst of war, West did what was necessary to keep the troops committed to his charge from becoming the latest headline detailing the Fedayeen's postwar sabotage. His interrogation was not nearly as vicious as the tactics of Saddam's men in 1991, their savaging of POWs and raping of female captives. This level of dedication, this commitment to preserving life, this steadfast commitment to bear any burden to keep his troops safe, shows why West had been so highly decorated in his two decades in the service. For his actions, he should have received high honors; instead, he was deprived of his job, publicly humiliated and disowned by his own superiors."
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