Ridgeback
12-06-2009, 01:59 PM
Have you Yanks lost the plot entirely???
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Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist
Monday, November 30, 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 three of the SEALs
who captured him are now facing criminal charges, sources told FoxNews.com.
The three, all members of the Navy's elite commando unit, have refused
non-judicial punishment — called a captain's mast — and have 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.
Neal Puckett, an attorney representing McCabe, told Fox News the SEALs are
being charged for allegedly giving the detainee a “punch in the gut.”
“I don’t know how they’re going to bring this detainee to the United States
and give us our constitutional right to confrontation in the courtroom,”
Puckett said. “But again, we have terrorists getting their constitutional
rights in New York City, but I suspect that they’re going to deny these
SEALs their right to confrontation in a military courtroom in Virginia.”
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.
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Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist
Monday, November 30, 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 three of the SEALs
who captured him are now facing criminal charges, sources told FoxNews.com.
The three, all members of the Navy's elite commando unit, have refused
non-judicial punishment — called a captain's mast — and have 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.
Neal Puckett, an attorney representing McCabe, told Fox News the SEALs are
being charged for allegedly giving the detainee a “punch in the gut.”
“I don’t know how they’re going to bring this detainee to the United States
and give us our constitutional right to confrontation in the courtroom,”
Puckett said. “But again, we have terrorists getting their constitutional
rights in New York City, but I suspect that they’re going to deny these
SEALs their right to confrontation in a military courtroom in Virginia.”
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.