Court Martial of Navy SEALS : Lawmakers demand some slack to men accused in beating of Fallujah mastermind
December 4, 2009
The entire article is posted at: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1920506,CST-NWS-seal04.article
BY SUN-TIMES STAFF
The images of the slain, burned and mutilated Blackwater contractors hanging from a bridge in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004 — with cheering crowds around them — shocked the United States.
The man accused of masterminding the ambush and slaughter of the four Americans is now in U.S. custody, but three Navy SEALs are facing charges in connection with an alleged post-arrest assault on the man.
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U.S. Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-Calif.), an Iraq war veteran, asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to look into charges leveled against three Navy SEALs in connection with the alleged abuse of a detainee in Iraq in September 2009.
(Sun-Times Media)
Now, congressmen are lining up in defense of the SEALs — one of whom grew up in Blue Island — by offering passionate speeches and asking for a new look at the charges.
Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, a Republican from the San Diego area and an Iraq war veteran, told the Navy Times on Thursday he is asking Defense Secretary Robert Gates to look into the charges against the SEALs.
“It’s just so absurd. I mean, they split his lip. In a boxing situation, that’s legal,” Hunter said. “They punched a terrorist in the face and, boom, we’re going to launch these guys out of the Navy.”
U.S. Special Operations Command Central on Oct. 2 charged three SEALs — Special Warfare Operators 2nd Class Matthew McCabe and Jonathan Keefe, and Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Julio Huertas, originally of Blue Island — with various violations after the early September capture of Ahmed Hashim Abed, who the U.S. suspects planned the 2004 ambush.
McCabe is charged with one count each of assault, dereliction of duty and making a false official statement. Keefe is charge with one count each of dereliction of duty and false official statement. Huertas is accused of dereliction of duty, false official statement and impeding an investigation.
Rep. Ted Poe, a Texas Republican, said in a House speech this week that congratulations — not charges — should be in order.
“The nation is at war,” he said. “You know, punching occurs in war. Shooting also occurs in war. Instead of a court-martial, the SEALs should be dispatched to go and capture another terrorist. But that’s not happening. They are going to be court-martialed because some terrorist supposedly got a bruised mouth.”
“We should be celebrating this achievement, and these Navy SEALs should be getting medals for their work doing what we’ve asked them to do. But that’s not what is happening.”
Rep. Dan Burton, an Indiana Republican, said at a House committee hearing Wednesday that charging the SEALS “is crazy.”
“I think if the Germans in World War II had killed and mutilated American troops and hung them from a bridge and somebody busted them in the mouth when they captured them, they wouldn’t have been court-martialed,” he said.—————–
Michael Waddington is a court martial lawyer – court martial attorney that defends military personnel worldwide as well as deployed civilian contractors subject to the UCMJ. He defends Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, and civilian contractor court martial cases. He has successfully defended military personnel as a court martial lawyer Army Navy Marine & Air Force court martials in Germany, England, San Diego, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fort Bragg, Fort Jackson, Fort Stewart, Fort Gordon, Italy, Iraq, Kuwait, Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Yokota, and throughout the United States.
