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American Morning

Rules of War

Aired December 11, 2003 - 08:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, he has served in the U.S. military for nearly two decades, but now his career is in jeopardy because of some allegedly improper conduct in Iraq. Lieutenant Colonel Allen West is accused of firing a gun near the head of an Iraqi prisoner. West believed the Iraqi had information about a planned assassination attempt against him.
We're joined this morning from San Antonio, Texas, by retired Lieutenant Colonel Neal Puckett. He is Lieutenant Colonel West's attorney. Good morning, sir. Thanks for joining us. Appreciate your time. Let's get right into how your client, Lieutenant Colonel West, is doing today, and exactly what his status is right now.

LT. COL. NEAL PUCKETT (RET.), ATTY. FOR LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: He's awaiting a hearing which is going to be held tomorrow in front of a commanding general, in which the commanding general will determine his guilt or innocence based on the record before him, and a judge's punishment if he finds him guilty, and that's most likely going to be a letter of reprimand.

O'BRIEN: So how is he feeling, since it looks like he's facing that as opposed to something which could have been a lot more serious, a court-martial?

PUCKETT: A great sense of relief. That was his main concern that he did not face court-martial, because He didn't feel that he was a criminal, and these were criminal charges, and we were happy to avoid trial by court martial.

O'BRIEN: Let's back up and give a little more information on the background of this case. Lieutenant Colonel West fired a gun, he admitted, near the head of an Iraqi policeman who he believed had some information about an assassination attempt on him, and his convoy, as well. He did not shoot the prisoner, and eventually apparently the prisoner was scared enough to reveal information about an attempt.

Given this, does the lieutenant colonel think his punishment or punishment at all is fair, or does he feel that he was justified in doing what he did?

PUCKETT: A commander has many responsibilities. One of those is to follow rules and enforce rules himself. Another is to protect his men and women in combat. Those came into sharp contrast in this particular situation. Lieutenant Colonel West chose to err on the side of protecting his men, and assumed the risk that it would cause his career and has always been willing to stand up, accept responsibility for that, and whatever punishment the Army felt necessary.

O'BRIEN: So since it looks like it will be administrative action he faces, not eleven years in prison, as he could have faced, but a loss of rank, et cetera. So you're saying he knew the risks going in, and he's satisfied with how this could turn out?

PUCKETT: Oh, yes, he's very satisfied. He understands that the army has a point to make, and that's that people shouldn't do what he did. But if given the choice, I believe he might and probably would act in the same way again.

Again, his motive was to protect his men from an imminent ambush, and he was successful in doing that.

O'BRIEN: But you're saying given the chance, you think he would say he would do it again. So I guess my message is, what's his message to other people in the military, if he's saying, I did something wrong, I'll take the punishment, but I would do it again?

PUCKETT: Well, Lieutenant Colonel West's message is a commander's No. 1 responsibility is the welfare of his troops, and whatever it takes to look out for their welfare is what he would do. He said he would walk through hell carrying a gasoline can if necessary for the welfare of his troops. He would die for his troops. And that's what a combat commander is supposed to be like. And that's what Lieutenant Colonel West is.

O'BRIEN: Then is he angry about what appears to be, I would imagine from his perspective, inherent unfairness, if he was able to thwart an attack and save lives and protect his own troops?

PUCKETT: Absolutely not. Because, stepping over the line and violating the rules and regulations carries with it a consequence, and he's always been willing to accept whatever consequence the Army decided was for him.

O'BRIEN: He's obviously out of the area where he was before. What's he doing now? What's part of his daily routine?

PUCKETT: Well, that's part of the sad story here. Since he was relieved of command on October 4th, he was assigned no duties. So he's been volunteering his time to help others in the army. At the same time, he's been answering 200 to 300 e-mails a day from well- wishers in the United States. Similar to that last e-mail, that last e-mail you talked about Mr. Cafferty's tapes being played to detainees, that was just plain cruel. The Geneva Convention would never allow that.

O'BRIEN: Neal Puckett, thanks for joining us this morning. I'm going to pass that along to Jack, because you're right. You don't want to torture people. Thanks for your time. Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired December 11, 2003 - 08:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, he has served in the U.S. military for nearly two decades, but now his career is in jeopardy because of some allegedly improper conduct in Iraq. Lieutenant Colonel Allen West is accused of firing a gun near the head of an Iraqi prisoner. West believed the Iraqi had information about a planned assassination attempt against him.
We're joined this morning from San Antonio, Texas, by retired Lieutenant Colonel Neal Puckett. He is Lieutenant Colonel West's attorney. Good morning, sir. Thanks for joining us. Appreciate your time. Let's get right into how your client, Lieutenant Colonel West, is doing today, and exactly what his status is right now.

LT. COL. NEAL PUCKETT (RET.), ATTY. FOR LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: He's awaiting a hearing which is going to be held tomorrow in front of a commanding general, in which the commanding general will determine his guilt or innocence based on the record before him, and a judge's punishment if he finds him guilty, and that's most likely going to be a letter of reprimand.

O'BRIEN: So how is he feeling, since it looks like he's facing that as opposed to something which could have been a lot more serious, a court-martial?

PUCKETT: A great sense of relief. That was his main concern that he did not face court-martial, because He didn't feel that he was a criminal, and these were criminal charges, and we were happy to avoid trial by court martial.

O'BRIEN: Let's back up and give a little more information on the background of this case. Lieutenant Colonel West fired a gun, he admitted, near the head of an Iraqi policeman who he believed had some information about an assassination attempt on him, and his convoy, as well. He did not shoot the prisoner, and eventually apparently the prisoner was scared enough to reveal information about an attempt.

Given this, does the lieutenant colonel think his punishment or punishment at all is fair, or does he feel that he was justified in doing what he did?

PUCKETT: A commander has many responsibilities. One of those is to follow rules and enforce rules himself. Another is to protect his men and women in combat. Those came into sharp contrast in this particular situation. Lieutenant Colonel West chose to err on the side of protecting his men, and assumed the risk that it would cause his career and has always been willing to stand up, accept responsibility for that, and whatever punishment the Army felt necessary.

O'BRIEN: So since it looks like it will be administrative action he faces, not eleven years in prison, as he could have faced, but a loss of rank, et cetera. So you're saying he knew the risks going in, and he's satisfied with how this could turn out?

PUCKETT: Oh, yes, he's very satisfied. He understands that the army has a point to make, and that's that people shouldn't do what he did. But if given the choice, I believe he might and probably would act in the same way again.

Again, his motive was to protect his men from an imminent ambush, and he was successful in doing that.

O'BRIEN: But you're saying given the chance, you think he would say he would do it again. So I guess my message is, what's his message to other people in the military, if he's saying, I did something wrong, I'll take the punishment, but I would do it again?

PUCKETT: Well, Lieutenant Colonel West's message is a commander's No. 1 responsibility is the welfare of his troops, and whatever it takes to look out for their welfare is what he would do. He said he would walk through hell carrying a gasoline can if necessary for the welfare of his troops. He would die for his troops. And that's what a combat commander is supposed to be like. And that's what Lieutenant Colonel West is.

O'BRIEN: Then is he angry about what appears to be, I would imagine from his perspective, inherent unfairness, if he was able to thwart an attack and save lives and protect his own troops?

PUCKETT: Absolutely not. Because, stepping over the line and violating the rules and regulations carries with it a consequence, and he's always been willing to accept whatever consequence the Army decided was for him.

O'BRIEN: He's obviously out of the area where he was before. What's he doing now? What's part of his daily routine?

PUCKETT: Well, that's part of the sad story here. Since he was relieved of command on October 4th, he was assigned no duties. So he's been volunteering his time to help others in the army. At the same time, he's been answering 200 to 300 e-mails a day from well- wishers in the United States. Similar to that last e-mail, that last e-mail you talked about Mr. Cafferty's tapes being played to detainees, that was just plain cruel. The Geneva Convention would never allow that.

O'BRIEN: Neal Puckett, thanks for joining us this morning. I'm going to pass that along to Jack, because you're right. You don't want to torture people. Thanks for your time. Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com