Loudmouth Republican Congressman Allen West from Florida committed war crimes while he served our armed forces in Iraq.
The case stems from an incident August 20 at a military base in Taji, just north of Baghdad, when West was interrogating an Iraqi policeman, who was believed to have information about a plot to assassinate West with an ambush on a U.S. convoy.In testimony at an Article 32 hearing -- the military's version of a grand jury or preliminary hearing -- West said the policeman, Yahya Jhrodi Hamoody, was not cooperating with interrogators, so he watched four of his soldiers from the 220th Field Artillery Battalion beat the detainee on the head and body.
West said he also threatened to kill Hamoody. Military prosecutors say West followed up on that threat by taking the suspect outside, put him on the ground near a weapons clearing barrel and fired his 9 mm pistol into the barrel.
Apparently not knowing where West's gun was aimed, Hamoody cracked and gave information about the planned ambush on West's convoy, thwarting the attack.
And 7 years later he gets elected to the House of Representatives as a Republican. This would be more shocking news, but it's not the first time we've told you about war criminals that find a nice home in the Republican Party machine. In 2009 we wrote about Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers' campaign and congressional chief of staff Christopher Brinson.