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American Morning
Military Career of Lt. Col. Allen West Coming to an End
Aired December 23, 2003 - 08:15 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, after two decades of Army service, the military career of Lieutenant Colonel Allen West is coming to an end. He's planning to retire after being fined by his commanding officer for threatening an Iraqi detainee and firing a pistol near his head. West was questioning the man because he believed he had information about a plot to attack U.S. troops, his own troops.
Because of West's record as an officer and other considerations, he will not face a court martial.
Lieutenant Colonel Allen West and his wife Angela are with us this morning from Davey, Florida.
Appreciate both of you being with us.
Thanks very much.
Good morning.
LT. COL. ALLEN WEST, U.S. ARMY: Good morning to you.
ANGELA WEST, WIFE OF DISCIPLINED OFFICER: Thank you.
COOPER: Colonel West, let me start off by, let's just review a little bit about the incident that brought all of this about. You had an Iraqi police officer in custody. You believed he was involved in some sort of plot against you and your troops.
What happened?
LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: Well, he was being interrogated and talking to the counterintelligence people. They weren't making any real progress in their line of questioning. I felt it was pretty important to go down there and find out if there were conspirators and also if there were probable attacks or potential attacks. We had just suffered an IED ambush one week earlier, after we were alerted to this probably happening.
And I went down there and, you know, the rest is pretty much a matter of record. And he did come forward with names of people that he was meeting with and then a possible sniper ambush that was coming up within the next 24 to 48 hours.
COOPER: And in order to get him to talk, you fired your gun once in the air and once close to his head, I guess, into some sort of a barrel or something. LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: Yes, a weapons cleaning barrel.
COOPER: A weapons -- and he did give up some information, I guess, that led to some other arrests, as you said.
The prosecutor has said that what you did was torture.
Do you agree with him?
LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: Well, you know, the prosecutor has to do the things to present the case for the government and whether or not I agree or disagree is not the issue. I made a choice and all choices that we make in life have consequences. And that's where we stand.
COOPER: Is this something you would recommend your subordinates do?
LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: No, I would not recommend subordinates to do that. But I think that as a commander, I had, as I felt, a moral obligation to the -- and responsibility to the safety and welfare of my soldiers. I made that decision. I can't say that anyone else would make that decision and I can't, you know, recommend that decision to be made. That's something that each and every person has to do within their own selves and within their own heart.
COOPER: And Colonel West, what has garnered you, I think, so much support -- and you have received a lot of support, I'm sure, in letters and e-mails from around the country -- is the fact that you -- basically after this incident, you immediately turned yourself in. '
LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: Yes, I reported it up that that night and waited for whatever disposition would come about.
COOPER: Why did you do that? I mean why go to them and say I have done this thing?
LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: Well, I think that there's honor and integrity in things that you do and also I understand that there are two parts to the Army. The Army as an institution has to have good order and discipline, and that needed to be evaluated, as to whether or not I stepped outside the lines and allowed my commanding officers to make a decision as far as what should be done with me.
COOPER: Angela, I want to bring in you.
I mean your husband has been in the military a long time, planned to make -- be in it for a long time still to come. That's no longer the case.
Are you proud of him?
ANGELA WEST: Yes, I am very proud of him. My husband stood up for what he believed was right and you can only do that in life.
COOPER: How has this process been for you? I mean it's got to be extremely difficult. ANGELA WEST: Well, yes it is. It was -- immediately afterwards there was a level of shock, disbelief and, you know, I just look towards the future. I'm a very positive person. I don't dwell in the past. And we'll just move on.
COOPER: Colonel West, would you do this again?
LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: Well, I think -- a lot of people have asked that question. And what that lends to is punishment-based decision- making. And I would not base the decision by the punishment. If I was in the same situation and I felt that the soldiers' lives were in danger and there was something that had to be done to protect them and to get them back home to their families, we'd have to take maybe a similar course of action.
COOPER: Because even at the time you did this, even at the time you decided, you know, I'm going to pull the trigger and shoot the gun near this man's head, you knew you were going to get punished.
LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: Oh, absolutely. I mean there's no way of shirking away from that and as I said, you have to be a standup kind of person and be willing to accept whatever decision is going to come from that.
COOPER: Well, Lieutenant Colonel Allen West and Angela West, we appreciate you joining us this morning.
I know you're now going to be retiring from the military and we wish you a lot of happiness in the future.
LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: Thank you.
COOPER: Thanks for being with us.
ANGELA WEST: Thank you.
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 23, 2003 - 08:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, after two decades of Army service, the military career of Lieutenant Colonel Allen West is coming to an end. He's planning to retire after being fined by his commanding officer for threatening an Iraqi detainee and firing a pistol near his head. West was questioning the man because he believed he had information about a plot to attack U.S. troops, his own troops.
Because of West's record as an officer and other considerations, he will not face a court martial.
Lieutenant Colonel Allen West and his wife Angela are with us this morning from Davey, Florida.
Appreciate both of you being with us.
Thanks very much.
Good morning.
LT. COL. ALLEN WEST, U.S. ARMY: Good morning to you.
ANGELA WEST, WIFE OF DISCIPLINED OFFICER: Thank you.
COOPER: Colonel West, let me start off by, let's just review a little bit about the incident that brought all of this about. You had an Iraqi police officer in custody. You believed he was involved in some sort of plot against you and your troops.
What happened?
LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: Well, he was being interrogated and talking to the counterintelligence people. They weren't making any real progress in their line of questioning. I felt it was pretty important to go down there and find out if there were conspirators and also if there were probable attacks or potential attacks. We had just suffered an IED ambush one week earlier, after we were alerted to this probably happening.
And I went down there and, you know, the rest is pretty much a matter of record. And he did come forward with names of people that he was meeting with and then a possible sniper ambush that was coming up within the next 24 to 48 hours.
COOPER: And in order to get him to talk, you fired your gun once in the air and once close to his head, I guess, into some sort of a barrel or something. LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: Yes, a weapons cleaning barrel.
COOPER: A weapons -- and he did give up some information, I guess, that led to some other arrests, as you said.
The prosecutor has said that what you did was torture.
Do you agree with him?
LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: Well, you know, the prosecutor has to do the things to present the case for the government and whether or not I agree or disagree is not the issue. I made a choice and all choices that we make in life have consequences. And that's where we stand.
COOPER: Is this something you would recommend your subordinates do?
LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: No, I would not recommend subordinates to do that. But I think that as a commander, I had, as I felt, a moral obligation to the -- and responsibility to the safety and welfare of my soldiers. I made that decision. I can't say that anyone else would make that decision and I can't, you know, recommend that decision to be made. That's something that each and every person has to do within their own selves and within their own heart.
COOPER: And Colonel West, what has garnered you, I think, so much support -- and you have received a lot of support, I'm sure, in letters and e-mails from around the country -- is the fact that you -- basically after this incident, you immediately turned yourself in. '
LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: Yes, I reported it up that that night and waited for whatever disposition would come about.
COOPER: Why did you do that? I mean why go to them and say I have done this thing?
LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: Well, I think that there's honor and integrity in things that you do and also I understand that there are two parts to the Army. The Army as an institution has to have good order and discipline, and that needed to be evaluated, as to whether or not I stepped outside the lines and allowed my commanding officers to make a decision as far as what should be done with me.
COOPER: Angela, I want to bring in you.
I mean your husband has been in the military a long time, planned to make -- be in it for a long time still to come. That's no longer the case.
Are you proud of him?
ANGELA WEST: Yes, I am very proud of him. My husband stood up for what he believed was right and you can only do that in life.
COOPER: How has this process been for you? I mean it's got to be extremely difficult. ANGELA WEST: Well, yes it is. It was -- immediately afterwards there was a level of shock, disbelief and, you know, I just look towards the future. I'm a very positive person. I don't dwell in the past. And we'll just move on.
COOPER: Colonel West, would you do this again?
LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: Well, I think -- a lot of people have asked that question. And what that lends to is punishment-based decision- making. And I would not base the decision by the punishment. If I was in the same situation and I felt that the soldiers' lives were in danger and there was something that had to be done to protect them and to get them back home to their families, we'd have to take maybe a similar course of action.
COOPER: Because even at the time you did this, even at the time you decided, you know, I'm going to pull the trigger and shoot the gun near this man's head, you knew you were going to get punished.
LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: Oh, absolutely. I mean there's no way of shirking away from that and as I said, you have to be a standup kind of person and be willing to accept whatever decision is going to come from that.
COOPER: Well, Lieutenant Colonel Allen West and Angela West, we appreciate you joining us this morning.
I know you're now going to be retiring from the military and we wish you a lot of happiness in the future.
LT. COL. ALLEN WEST: Thank you.
COOPER: Thanks for being with us.
ANGELA WEST: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
