SEAL UPDATE

SEAL Trials to be Moved to Iraq
- Navy Times Tuesday Jan 12, 2010


A military judge has decided to move the trials for two of three Navy SEALs accused in connection with the alleged assault of a suspected terrorist to Iraq.

Cmdr. Tierney Carlos, the trial judge for the courts-martial of Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class (SEAL) Jonathan Elliot Keefe and SO1 (SEAL) Julio Antonio Huertas Jr., agreed Monday with defense motions to move the trials to Camp Victory in Iraq so the sailors can face the alleged victim, Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the government sought to depose in lieu of a trial appearance. Keefe’s court-martial had been scheduled to begin April 6, while Huertas’ was supposed to begin Monday.

“If he is available for a deposition, then he is available for trial,” Carlos said during the hearing for Keefe Monday.

The U.S. thinks Abed masterminded the 2004 ambush in Fallujah, Iraq, in which four Blackwater security contractors were burned. Two of their bodies were hanged from a bridge.




Burned bodies of two Blackwater contractors hanging from Fallujah Bridge, 2004


Keefe, Huertas and SO2 (SEAL) Matthew McCabe are accused of making false statements in an alleged attempt to cover up the assault, as well as dereliction of duty. McCabe is also charged with assault. All three have pleaded not guilty to all charges.


3rd SEAL Trial to Stay in Virginia
- Navy Times, Friday Jan 15, 2010

NORFOLK, Va. — The trial for the Navy SEAL accused of punching an alleged al-Qaida terrorist while in U.S. custody in Iraq has been postponed until May 3, but the trial will remain in Norfolk.

Capt. Moira Modzelewski granted government prosecutors the continuance on the grounds that most of the evidence in the case is still undergoing a classification review and has yet to be seen by either the prosecution or the defense.

Modzelewski stopped short of moving the trial of Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew McCabe to Camp Victory near Baghdad.



Matthew McCabe


That news comes two days after a different military judge decided to move the trials for the two other SEALs accused in connection with the alleged assault to Iraq.


“We can’t send these guys into harm’s way to get the highest profile terrorists and then have them come back here and fight the system,” Marty McCabe, father of Matthew McCabe, told CNSNews.com.

“They’ve been tracking this guy [Abed] since 2004,” Marty McCabe said. “There was no collateral damage. No shots fired. It is absurd to think they would do anything to him. These guys are pros. If they wanted to do something to him, they would have done it during the capture.”


“I can’t believe the way political correctness has intertwined itself like a snake into our military. What these gentlemen did, if they did it, does not warrant court martial. That terrorist is lucky to be alive after what he did to the Blackwater guys.”

- Dawn West, a Norfolk realtor and an organizer of a rally held December 9th, 2009 outside the front gate of Norfolk Naval Base.

SCUTTLEBUTT

Yesterday LoTM asked:

Do you have any more info on the 3 SEAL petty officers facing charges in Seal Team Ten? Is there any word on the Navy 4 striper who ordered the initial Mast, that was refused, and who relieved the CO of Team Four? Is he OK or is it what we fear? Before we panic and assume the Admirals and Captains are colluding to destroy the SpecOps community it is unclear. He may be doing what is right but it sure looks bad.


. . . so I asked around, ended up speaking with a SEAL who works in a Joint billet & is in a position to know . . . (I can't get any more specific than that - in the past I alluded to my sources more specifically and got my fingers burned and a good friend in trouble - you'll just have take my word for it, this is coming from deep within the SpecOpns Community) . . . here's the deal:


Conventional sentiments regarding Spec Opns units notwithstanding, my source this one looks like its going to blow over. The prisoner showed up with a busted lip; given the microscopic filters the pro-Islamist-bleeding-heart-liberals have set up over our prisoner handling operations, right away a complaint gets filed.

The SEALs were charged under UCMJ "Captains Mast" of prisoner abuse, then covering it up. The SEALs took their prerogative to refuse the nonjudicial punishment and ask for a Court Martial - this is what you do if you know you're right and you're going to beat the rap - and were assigned JAG lawyers.

A complaint gets filed, that means an investigation MUST be initiated - the commander has no alternative - and it doesn't necessarily indicate a witchhunt. It's just like an HR complaint in the civilian world; the process is not pleasant but it's not predetermined either. Word on the street is these guys are going to be OK.

Here's the background:

Fox News reported that three Navy SEALs are facing a court martial for allegedly punching a terrorist after he was captured.

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 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.




March 31, 2004: Iraqis chant anti-American slogans as the charred and mutilated bodies of U.S. contractors hang from a bridge over the Euphrates River in Fallujah, 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.



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The way I see it, Hajii there is lucky they didn't fix bayonets. Hey, I've done muzzle thumps on guys before; "What are all these little circles on Stinky's skinny ribcage?"

In an earlier time, a prisoner shows up with a busted lip - no big deal, right? "He made a threatening gesture". I mean, the way I was taught, all they have to be is breathing when you turn them over. If they're wounded, slap a bandaid on them before you move out; there, you've just satisfied Geneva because you have to render aid, right? Nobody says it has to be the same quality & standards you give your own guys, right?


I sure hope my source is right about these guys . . .


. . . S.L.