In a letter to acting Army Secretary Les Brownlee, Reps. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and John H. McHugh, R-N.Y., said they were "highly disturbed" the Pentagon was considering leveling criminal charges against Army Lt. Col. Allan West, Copley News Service reported.

The Army is considering charging West, an artillery unit commander, with aggravated assault, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, for his dramatic interrogation technique against an Iraqi policeman suspected of having ties to Saddam loyalist guerillas.

In an effort to produce faster results because of intelligence his unit was targeted for attack, West took charge of the interrogation of the Iraqi in the town of Saba al Boor, near Tikrit, Aug. 21. Warning subordinates the interrogation "could get ugly," he threatened to kill the Iraqi if he didn't talk, then fired his sidearm into the ground near the Iraqi's head.

The Iraqi policeman then began providing details of an impending attack upon American troops. The information also led to a series of arrests of Saddam loyalists.

West, who immediately reported the incident to his superiors, said he was the target of an assassination plot, and that soldiers in his unit had been attacked by guerillas linked to the policeman.

"I did not want to expose my soldiers to a possible attack," he told The Washington Times in an e-mail.

Hunter – chairman of the House Armed Services Committee – and McHugh, a member of the committee, said West's actions "were necessary to protect the lives and safety of his men."

Not Criminal

"To us, such actions if accurately reported do not appear to be those of a criminal," said the letter. The lawmakers asked Brownlee to " expeditiously provide us" details which led the unit's commanding general to begin a criminal investigation of West.

The lawmakers requested Brownlee "closely examine this matter and provide us with your assessment of facts and circumstances."

West has also garnered support from Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., and Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., a member of the committee.

Supporters say the tactic, while unconventional, likely saved the lives of American troops. But military officials believe West violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and are considering charging him with aggravated assault.

Article 128 of the code states: "[Any military personnel] who attempts or offers with unlawful force or violence to do...harm to another person, whether or not the attempt or offer is consummated, is guilty of assault and shall be punished as a court-martial may direct."

In his e-mail to the Times, West said he fired his 9 mm pistol twice, once "into the weapons clearing barrel outside the facility alone, and the next time I did it while having his head close to the barrel."

"I stood in between the firing and his person. I admit that what I did was not right, but it was done with the concern of the safety of my soldiers and myself," he wrote.

The Army has given West a choice, however – resign early and lose retirement benefits, or face charges which could range in penalties from no punishment to eight years in prison.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said he has the authority to intervene on West's behalf, but has so far refused. Retired Marine Lt. Col. Neal A. Puckett, West's attorney, has rejected an offer from the 4th Infantry Division's staff judge advocate for his client to resign and lose his benefits.

Puckett and West are currently at a forward base near Tikrit awaiting the results of an ongoing investigation.

At a preliminary hearing in Tikrit last week, West testified he also allowed two U.S. soldiers to beat the Iraqi policeman prior to firing his weapon because the Iraqi refused to provide information on the attack.