Air Force Community - Air Force Times

Stand by this colonel

Air Force Col. Joseph Romano is being tried in an Italian court for doing his job — and the Air Force and U.S. Justice Department are mum.

In early 2003, Romano was commander of the 31st Security Forces Squadron at Aviano Air Base, Italy, when American and Italian intelligence agents brought in an Egyptian cleric suspected of terrorism.

Romano helped return the cleric to Egyptian authorities, who, the cleric claims, tortured him.

Now Italy is charging Romano and the American and Italian intelligence agents with kidnapping. If convicted, the Americans — who are being tried in absentia — won’t be able to return to Italy, or possibly any European Union nation, effectively barring Romano from some assignments and deployments.

For the Italians, the heart of the issue is the American practice of “extraordinary rendition,” in which terrorism suspects are moved from one country to another for interrogations — in many cases to countries that authorize torture.

But for U.S. troops serving all over the globe, the issue is something very different: whether the U.S. government will come to their aid if they are charged with a crime for simply carrying out U.S. military policy.

The U.S. has a status of forces agreement with Italy that is supposed to protect Romano and others like him in cases like this, when a host nation wants to impose charges on a military member stationed overseas. But for reasons the Air Force has not disclosed, the service has yet to invoke that agreement or to do anything to come to Romano’s defense.

That’s unfair to Romano and his family, and raises questions that should worry all military personnel who could find themselves in a similar bind.

Romano has served his country. Now, in his time of need, his country should be serving him.