While I realize the state of Tiger Woods’ marriage is of vital importance to the WHOLE WORLD, I’m thinking maybe we can reign it back a bit and turn our attention to something that is actually worth discussion.
Such as the fact that three of the Navy SEALs who captured known terrorist Ahmed Hashim Abed, believed to be the mastermind (if the ringleader of such an act of barbarism can be labeled as such) behind the 2004 murder of four Blackwater USA security consultants outside Fallujah.
This example of human corruption, apparently sporting a bloody fat lip, accused the three SEALs of punching him. In the gut. Oh, waah. Big baby. I hope they did punch him … I hope they kicked him, too (but not really, because they’re better than I am … I would have punched and kicked him, though, right before I shot him in both lungs and the stomach, but then that’s why no-one has ever been dumb enough to put a gun in my hands). But I digress … because right here I just want to know: what is the significance of a fat lip if he’s claiming to have been punched in the stomach? Was it a super-duper-really-hard punch that sent shockwaves throughout his body, hmm?
Yeah, didn’t think so.
In any case, because of Abu Ghraib backlash, the Navy will not ignore such an accusation (this one actually came from the Iraqi chain of command, who had taken custody of the prisoner and to whom he had made the allegation originally), so the three were set for a “captain’s mast”, which is basically a military non-trial where the accused person’s commanding officer conducts an inquiry, holds a hearing, and finally determines one of three possible dispositions: 1) dismiss the charges, not considered an acquittal; 2) assign punishment less than court martial, not considered a conviction; or 3) recommend a court martial, which is, in fact, a trial.
It is the captain’s mast that all three SEALs have refused, thus driving the Navy into one of two possible actions: 1) drop all charges; or 2) conduct an actual trial by court martial, which is what our three requested. I get it, I really do; these guys must be pissed at the entire ordeal. Not only are their ethics being called into question by a murderous gasbag of a terrorist, for crying out loud, but they’re being punished for doing their job! And well. They brought him in alive, which is just plain astonishing and kudos to them.
I imagine that last bit (the bringing in alive-ed-ness) would have to have been difficult for a good percentage of our young men over there in the Middle East, who are mired neck-deep in the atrocities of this terrible war.
So, these three young men, these heroes, now face criminal charges:
- Special Operations Petty Officer 2nd Class (SO-2) Matthew McCabe, charged with dereliction of duty, making a false statement, and assault.
- SO-2 Jonathan Keefe, charged with dereliction of duty and making a false statement.
- SO-1 Julio Huertas, charged with dereliction of duty, making a false statement, and impeding an investigation.
Their arraignments are scheduled for Monday (December 7th), with the court martial coming in January. Ridiculous.
You can show your support, too, by joining the protest.
FYI: that ambush this animal planned? Yeah, the Blackwater guys were escorting supplies to a catering company for crying out loud. They were ambushed and killed, then their bodies were mutilated, burned, dragged through Fallujah, and hung from a bridge over the Euphrates River for a photo op (advantage of which the world press gladly took, because they pander to the kind of people who eat that stuff up; Don Henley was so right about the whole Dirty Laundry thing, and that was back in 1982!).
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