BF2S Forums SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist

JohnG@lt wrote:

They should've just taken the slap on the wrist. Now they're going to get a show trial and the consequences are much larger than a possible 45/45  Idiots. Never listen to barracks lawyers.

I assume they did it out of principle. Which is nice to know they have them, however they're now presumably going to get buttfucked because of it.

Wait, the title is wrong. They aren't being charged for capturing terrorists, they're being charged for beating one up whilst he was in custody. Those two are very different things, the first one would be much more of a "WTF", the second, well, it's gay, but not so gay.

Of course they're not being charged for capturing a terrorist, do you know how bullshit that would be. I don't know where people get this shit from.

Last edited by Mekstizzle (2009-11-24 14:36:00)

Ridiculous. What's next, suing executioners for giving people the death sentence?

How the fuck are we supposed to "fight terror" when our own lawyers don't even let us do so?

not sure why its not going to the page, heres the entire article :

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 an admiral'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.

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.

Why idiots

Yeah but I guess the idea is that they're admitting guilt if they just take a punishment, maybe they don't want to

That was hard to read, here's a breakdown:

Company grade Article 15: Company commander is judge and jury: Maximum punishment: 15 days restriction to post, 15 days extra duty, loss of 1 rank, loss of 1 months pay.

Field grade Article 15: Battalion commander is judge and jury: Maximum punishment: 45 days restriction, 45 days extra duty, up to 3 ranks (I believe) and loss of up to 3 months pay.

Courts Martial: Presided over by a court of (I think three) field grade officers of higher rank than the highest rank accused, panel of officers as jury: Maximum punishment: Death.

JohnGalt, have you ever known any SEALs?

Have you ever known one to "step down" from anything?

A bloody lip is not beating up suspects in custody.

I am pretty sure the "making false statements" part is from saying the guy tripped and fell on a doorknob.

I am trying to understand what kind of superior would take action against soldiers that forcefully detained the guy on the wanted poster, brought him back with a bloody lip and, oh, alive, and then when asked about the bloody lip they said "uhhh...yeah that wasn't us."

It's like lying about what you ate for dinner. It is so insanely minor I don't understand why anyone cares.

Dilbert_X wrote:

'Intel sources' seem to have a track record of getting things wildly wrong.

Depends on your intel sources.

There's a truism in the intelligence community;
"Our successes go unnoticed, our failures make the front page of the morning newspaper"

If your knowledge of the success/failure rate of 'intel sources' is limited to what you've read in the morning newspaper...