SEALs' Courtmartial
 

I just saw this. Just wanted to see what you all thought.

Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist
Tuesday , November 24, 2009

By Rowan Scarborough


Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq — the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004. And for their trouble, three of the SEALs, members of the Navy's elite commando unit, are now facing criminal charges, sources told FoxNews.com.

The three have refused non-judicial punishment — called an admiral's mast — and requested a trial by court-martial.

Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the military code-named "Objective Amber," told investigators he was punched by his captors — and he had the bloody lip to prove it.

Now, instead of being lauded for bringing to justice a high-value target, three of the SEAL commandos, all enlisted, face assault charges and have retained lawyers.

Matthew McCabe, a Special Operations Petty Officer Second Class (SO-2), is facing three charges: dereliction of performance of duty for willfully failing to safeguard a detainee, making a false official statement, and assault.

Petty Officer Jonathan Keefe, SO-2, is facing charges of dereliction of performance of duty and making a false official statement.

Petty Officer Julio Huertas, SO-1, faces those same charges and an additional charge of impediment of an investigation.

The three SEALs will be arraigned separately on Dec. 7. Another three SEALs — two officers and an enlisted sailor — have been identified by investigators as witnesses but have not been charged.

FoxNews.com obtained the official handwritten statement from one of the three witnesses given on Sept. 3, hours after Abed was captured and still being held at the SEAL base at Camp Baharia. He was later taken to a cell in the U.S.-operated Green Zone in Baghdad.

The SEAL told investigators he had showered after the mission, gone to the kitchen and then decided to look in on the detainee.

"I gave the detainee a glance over and then left," the SEAL wrote. "I did not notice anything wrong with the detainee and he appeared in good health."

Lt. Col. Holly Silkman, spokeswoman for the special operations component of U.S. Central Command, confirmed Tuesday to FoxNews.com that three SEALs have been charged in connection with the capture of a detainee. She said their court martial is scheduled for January.

United States Central Command declined to discuss the detainee, but a legal source told FoxNews.com that the detainee was turned over to Iraqi authorities, to whom he made the abuse complaints. He was then returned to American custody. The SEAL leader reported the charge up the chain of command, and an investigation ensued.

The source said intelligence briefings provided to the SEALs stated that "Objective Amber" planned the 2004 Fallujah ambush, and "they had been tracking this guy for some time."

The Fallujah atrocity came to symbolize the brutality of the enemy in Iraq and the degree to which a homegrown insurgency was extending its grip over Iraq.

The four Blackwater agents were transporting supplies for a catering company when they were ambushed and killed by gunfire and grenades. Insurgents burned the bodies and dragged them through the city. They hanged two of the bodies on a bridge over the Euphrates River for the world press to photograph.

Intelligence sources identified Abed as the ringleader, but he had evaded capture until September.

The military is sensitive to charges of detainee abuse highlighted in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. The Navy charged four SEALs with abuse in 2004 in connection with detainee treatment.

This is really going too far, IMHO. We are at war.....or are we?

Probably smacked him in the mouth to shut him up so they could read him his rights.

My $.02.

RF 1

Unbelievable. Just plain unbelievable.

Unfreakinbelievable.

The AG may actually decide to look into this one.

Put me on his jury.

TR

Considering some of the stories I've heard from friends who have gone down to Gitmo this piece of scum is just as likely to have split his own lip to complain about being mishandled as he was to have been slapped across the mouth during a scuffle.

In the end, regardless of the cause, such a minor injury should be ignored IMO.

Only the three SEALs and Objective Amber know the truth.

This was not a junior player for the other team.

And they are trained to allege abuse and torture.

See the Manchester Documents, which is an Al Qaeda Training Manual.

Specifically, see Lesson 17, Chapter 3, Paragraph 3.b. which states:

"He should when questioning begins, ask that evidence of his torture be entered into the report proceedings."

READ IT HERE: (Click on View the Full Document)
http://www.investigativeproject.org/document/id/10

This command action, I suspect, is already damaging morale in the unit.

Finding the right balance is tough.

I'd want to give the benefit of the doubt to our guys.

How many terrorists is Al Qaeda prosecuting for abusing our guys, oh, that's right...none.

Lets Hope there lawyers have this document and use it to it's fullest in their defense... Just unfricken REAL... Can't quit shaking my head in discuss. Sure hope smarter see throough this and the SEALS are returned to duty with their honor intact.

So instead of prosecuting terrorists, we are prosecuting our own warrior's? I for one am not for abusing terrorists (not that they don't deserve it) like in Abu-Ghraib but all this guy had was a bloody lip? The man was responsible for helping in the brutal killing 4 U.S. Contractors who were Ex-SOF if I'm not mistaken. I'm just so baffled by all of these cases... Almost makes me want to re-class into a non-combat MOS if I'm just going to get thrown in the brig for capturing a terrorist who alleges I gave him a "bloody lip."

Could the officers involved in an "admiral's mast" have made this all go away?

They should be getting medals not a court martial. :mad:

A terrorist got a bloody lip. Boo-hoo. :rolleyes:

Welcome to CHANGE. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

:mad:

Al Qaeda is at war. As for us, I get the impression that we are not at war. Rather, we are busy at something else - although what, exactly, that "something else" is, I do not know.

:(

Here's the link for the original story:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,576646,00.html

This is a TTP for these savages. Unfortunately, the Navy is "amateur hour" when it comes to handling issues as these. Routinely the issue arises from some idiot about scratches or bruises on a detainee after capture. These idiots can't discern the difference between 'capture' and killing. Sometimes the cat gets hurt during capture; a hell of a lot better than just getting killed. I always used to ask "Would you rather the guys just killed him"??

There is either more to this story; or, a bunch of folks are going to get embarrassed. NO ONE will convict these guys (if it ever gets to trial) unless there is something more.

No. When not embarked on a Naval ship the accused can refuse Captain's Mast (non-judicial punishment), at any time from the beginning of the proceedings until right before the punishment is determined and announced, and request a trial by court-martial. When embarked on a U.S. Naval ship the Captain of that ship has the final say and the Captain's Mast (NJP) cannot be refused. I was not there and do not have all the evidence but I would find it disgusting that they would be charged over a bloody lip, especially with the fact that they do falsely proclaim that they were tortured. I doubt that it happened the way the media is being told; if it did happen at all it was probably because he was screwing off and tried to bite someone. At that point it could be considered attempted murder, since the SEALs probably did not know if he was infected with anything that could have been passed through the bite.