U.S. soldier charged in killing of 2 commanders

[alonzomourning23]

U.S. soldier charged in killing of 2 commanders

Last Updated Fri, 17 Jun 2005 14:05:32 EDT CBC News


A 37-year-old U.S. staff sergeant stationed near Baghdad has been charged with the murder of his two commanders in the first suspected case of a soldier killing his superiors in Iraq. Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez, a supply specialist, has been charged with two counts of premeditated murder in the deaths of Capt. Phillip Esposito and 1st Lieut. Louis Allen. He is being held at a military detention facility in Kuwait.


Esposito and Allen were the top two commanders of Martinez's unit.

The military initially concluded that Esposito and Allen were killed by enemy fire when a mortar round struck a window on the side of the building the two were in. But forensic evidence ruled that out.

Martinez is alleged to have used an explosive device, possibly a grenade, in the attack, according to sources. He joined the New York Army National Guard in December 1990 and was deployed to Iraq in May 2004.

The alleged "fragging" – a term used to refer to soldiers killing their superiors – occurred near Tikrit at Forward Operating Base Danger, one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces that has been converted into army barracks.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/06/17/fragging050617.html

Just thought this was interesting

 

[Drocket]

The alleged "fragging" – a term used to refer to soldiers killing their superiors – occurred ...

Somebody needs to buy CBC news a dictionary, or at least a copy of Quake.

 

[alonzomourning23]

from http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLC,GGLC:1969-53,GGLC:en&oi=defmore&q=define:FRAGGING

assassination of an officer by his own troops, usually by means of a grenade
www.duprel.com/usmcgeocitiespaid/militaryterms.html

Frag is a term from the Vietnam war, most commonly meaning to assassinate an unpopular member of one's own fighting unit by dropping a fragmentation grenade into the victim's tent at night. The idea was that the attack would be blamed on the enemy, and, due to the dead man's unpopularity, no one would contradict the cover story. Fragging could also imply intentional friendly fire during combat.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fragging

 

[Drocket]

I know that 'fragging' means to kill a fellow troop member with a grenade. What I was referring to was the article saying that fragging means killing your superior, because it doesn't - the term refers to killing any member of your side, not just officers.

 

[Quackzilla]

[quote name='Drocket']Somebody needs to buy CBC news a dictionary, or at least a copy of Quake.[/QUOTE]

Uh, the term "fragging" originated during the Vietnam war, long before anybody even though of Quake.

And it's original meaning was the act of killing a superior (usually rolling a fragmentation grenade into their tent), usually to get out of fighting.

 

[Drocket]

I was being sarcastic with the Quake reference. It doesn't really matter what the term originally meant - the fact is that the term's current meaning refers to killing anyone on your own side with a grenade.