David Edwards and Adam Doster, Raw Story
A classified program used by U.S. military snipers has come under scrutiny in recent days. The Washington Post reports that, “A Pentagon group has encouraged some U.S. military snipers in Iraq to target suspected insurgents by scattering pieces of ‘bait,’ such as detonation cords, plastic explosives and ammunition, and then killing Iraqis who pick up the items, according to military court documents.”
The secrecy of the plan was ended during an murder investigation involving three snipers who allegedly used bait items to make shootings seem legitimate. While it’s unclear whether the three alleged shootings, which took place within months of the program’s implementation, were part of the classified program specifically, “defense attorneys argue that the program may have opened the door to the soldiers’ actions because it blurred the legal lines of killing in a complex war zone.”
(Original Article)