Major Mike Steele, was Ranger commander, during the 'Black Hawk Down' Battle of Mogadishu massacre. 1500 Somalis died while repulsing a US attempt to kidnap the Somalian foriegn minister, compared to a handful of US deaths incurred. He received the Bronze Star with Valor Device for his actions as commander of the Rangers during that slaughter, was promoted to Major but with only a desk job, an implicit acknowledgement of his part in that massacre. "The only credit [Maj.] Steele deserves is for mucking up his Ranger Company. This is why he is pushing a desk in the 82nd and not the Ranger Regiment. The Special Operations Officer Corps did not want to send up a flag indicating one of their own had screwed up and quietly shipped him off. Talk to some of the men who had served under him in Somalia and their view will differ from yours. Rangers are probably safer with him in a Staff Position"

He was since promoted to Colonel and given a combat role in Iraq, with predictable consequences. He is being investigated for ordering his men to kill all military-age males whether or not they were armed or in uniform. A lot of right-winger war-mongers and cruise-missile leftists seem to own the movie Black Hawk Down and see it as a gritty and realistic portrayal of modern battle, where as it actually the Hollywood glorification of a massacre. Not condemning this movie for what it is is has allowed Mad Mike to escape his deskjob and slaughter again.



TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) - The U.S. army opened a hearing Tuesday to determine whether four soldiers must stand trial for allegedly murdering three Iraqis during a raid where they claimed they were under orders to "kill all military-age males."


Aug. 1, 2006 — Col. Michael Steele, whose heroics were portrayed in the movie "Black Hawk Down," is under investigation for allegedly encouraging his men to go on a killing spree. The investigation begins just as the Army has started to make its case against four soldiers who are charged with murdering three Iraqi civilians while under Steele's command, ABC News has learned.

The soldiers' defense is that they were under orders to kill all military-age males.

ABC News has learned that Steele has already been reprimanded for the incident.

The hearing for the four soldiers that began today will determine if they should stand trial on murder charges. The killings took place as part of Operation Iron Triangle, which targeted a suspected al Qaeda training facility northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, in the city of Samarra.

Army prosecutors said the four American soldiers detained three Iraqi men and then killed them, unarmed, in cold blood.

The defendants claim that they acted in self-defense, claiming they were under orders to kill all military-age Iraqi men, whether or not they were armed.