AMMAN // The fathers of two US soldiers who were fatally shot at a military airbase in Jordan last year are still searching for answers.
James Moriarty and Brian McEnroe have this week been attending the trial of Jordanian soldier Maarek Abu Tayeh, who is accused of opening fire on an American military convoy as it entered the King Faisal airbase, in Jafer, in November, 2016.
Their sons, Staff Sgt James Moriarty, 27, and Staff Sgt Kevin McEnroe, 30, were killed along with a third serviceman Staff Sgt Matthew Lewellen, 27.
Last week, Abu Tayeh – who was charged with the premeditated murder of the three servicemen – pleaded not guilty at a military court in Amman.
US special forces have been training vetted Syrian rebel groups at the base, which included training on fighting ISIL in southern Syria, as part of a CIA programme that has been ongoing in the past few years.
The three men were all from the 5th Special Forces group, based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
“I have got less answers than I had when I came over,” Mr Moriarty, a lawyer from Houston said on Tuesday.
“I watched the seven minute [video] from the beginning of the shooting until my son is shot and I see incredibly aggressive behaviour,” he said of the video surveillance that documented the killing.
“I cannot fathom what he [Abu Tayeh] was thinking. If he thought he heard a gunshot, why would he open fire on someone who was five feet away from him, who was clearly not a threat? Why did he shoot to kill?” he asked.
The incident is embarrassing for Jordan, a key US ally, especially after a Jordanian captain shot dead five people, including two American contractors, in a separate shooting spree at a police training centre near Amman in November 2015.
Jordan initially said the soldiers failed to heed orders by Jordanian troops to stop at the gate of the airbase, triggering the shootout.
Angered by Jordan’s statement, which sought to blame the three special forces, the US embassy said investigators were considering all potential motives and had not ruled out terrorism as a potential motive.
The Jordanian government retracted the first statement shortly after and issued another saying there was an exchange of fire at the military base.
It was Moriarty’s third mission abroad, and McEnore’s fifth overseas mission.
In the past few days, the court listened to the testimonies of nearly a dozen witnesses. The last witness will appear before court on Wednesday.
“My first glimmer of hope was when the chief judge brought up the point: where do the rules of engagement allow you to open fire indiscriminately, when you are fired upon? Or are you required to identify the source of fire? I cannot express the range of negative emotions I have about losing my son,” Mr Moriarty said.
Mr McEnroe said his son and his two comrades had been entering and leaving the airbase for months and it was not conceivable that they would shoot with their pistols.
“Does it make any sense at all that a special forces soldier – even a group of them – would attempt to attack a gate at a base that they have access to anyway in the first place?” he asked. “Why would they attack with pistols when they are going up against two M16s, a machine-gun, up in the air and another on the truck and another guard that was carrying a machine gun as well. What possible motivation did they have?” he said in reaction to Jordan’s initial statement that the soldiers triggered the shootout.
“The FBI forensics found no evidence of any exit holes in any of the vehicles,” Mr McEnroe said.
“My son and Matthew Lewellen’s weapons were both examined and neither one had been fired … it is hard to fathom not what happened but why it happened. That’s the biggest question we have. Why did he do this?”
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
