Navy SEALs Charged

[Jimd]

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


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.

[tonydahose]

WTF...i hate PC.

[ozspyder]

I think that sux ! I'm not an American but I am a human being. I think this just stinks of PC gone insanely wrong !

[VashHash]

It's a double edged sword. You do your job and you come under fire you don't do it and still you come under fire. Punch him again.

[Jimd]

One bullet would have saved all that trouble.
I'm still incredulous that this is even happening.

[psychophipps]

I will refrain from making any sort of judgement until I hear the whole story.

[Sequimite]

The military has a very tough job, and part of that job is to obey orders. Discipline is essential to an effective fighting force. It doesn't matter how BAD the bad guys are, that's not the point.

This is about military correctness, not political correctness.

[Monkeywrangler]

I'm gonna take a guess here and say that the SEALS didn't do anything wrong--otherwise if they felt they would lose at Courts-martial, they would've taken the NJP and it would have quietly gone away.

[Jimd]

While it's important to follow orders, it must be realized that SEALs aren't police. They don't run around reading terrorists miranda rights. They're trained to kill enemy combatants.

Utilizing them as cops is a major mis-management of our military.

[ozspyder]

Don't see why rules apply to only one side - when the BGs dont give a rats arse about following ethical / humanitarian 'rules' why should anyone treat them with any ounce of worth ? Just MHO. Seems a bit warped to me that this is yet again another beureaucratic waste of taxpayers time & money

[Sequimite]

I'm gonna take a guess here and say that the SEALS didn't do anything wrong--otherwise if they felt they would lose at Courts-martial, they would've taken the NJP and it would have quietly gone away.

I hope you're right. I have great respect for these guys. But I also respect the officers they report to and military justice system.

[Sequimite]

Don't see why rules apply to only one side - when the BGs dont give a rats arse about following ethical / humanitarian 'rules' why should anyone treat them with any ounce of worth ? Just MHO. Seems a bit warped to me that this is yet again another beureaucratic waste of taxpayers time & money

You may prefer anarchy to military discipline but thousands of years of military history show why this doesn't work.

[Jimd]

I hope you're right. I have great respect for these guys. But I also respect the officers they report to and military justice system.

I looked, but I had a difficult time finding where the justice was when the four Americans were killed and then their burned bodies were hung from a bridge.

This war has become one-sided. The US, once again, is adhering to some sort of set of rules, while the other side tramples happily all over our people. The rules wind up costing our service people their lives.

[Jimd]

You may prefer anarchy to military discipline but thousands of years of military history show why this doesn't work.

In Viet Nam, the NVA and Viet Cong didn't play by the rules. They won and our people lost.

In Afghanistan, the Mujihadeen didn't play by the rules. They won and the Russians lost.

Now that we're in Iraq/Afghanistan, the Taliban are not playing by the rules, but we are. Can you fill in the blank as to who's going to win? ___________

Sure, we'll be chivalrous and proper with all the pomp and circumstance, the good guys wearing the white hats and all that happy stuff. America is always the Good Guys. But we're saddling our people with impossible missions by forcing them to convert from soldiers to cops.

We might lose, but we'll do it civilly and very orderly while not breaking any of the rules. Real nice.

[Sequimite]

I looked, but I had a difficult time finding where the justice was when the four Americans were killed and then their burned bodies were hung from a bridge.

This war has become one-sided. The US, once again, is adhering to some sort of set of rules, while the other side tramples happily all over our people. The rules wind up costing our service people their lives.

The military doesn't care what's "fair" or what brings soldiers emotional satisfaction. How exactly would the military function if it didn't have a set of rules?

[Jimd]

The military doesn't care what's "fair" or what brings soldiers emotional satisfaction. How exactly would the military function if it didn't have a set of rules?

Rules are necessary, I agree with you. However, there's such a thing as crossing the line with the rules. Putting constraints on our Special Operations people that make their job more risky than it already is is asking too much.

[ozspyder]

You may prefer anarchy to military discipline but thousands of years of military history show why this doesn't work.

No, I don't think you get my meaning. There just doesn't seem to be consistency in thinking and 2 sets of rules is all I am getting at. Rules are very important but when 1 side plays to rules and the other doesn't it is a tad infair. Let the investigations begin and hopefully the truth will come out.

I looked, but I had a difficult time finding where the justice was when the four Americans were killed and then their burned bodies were hung from a bridge.

This war has become one-sided. The US, once again, is adhering to some sort of set of rules, while the other side tramples happily all over our people. The rules wind up costing our service people their lives.

This is what I was alluding to. I hate politics and when innocent lives are at stake (all sides/ parties/ people) then it is atrocious. Loss of any life be it from the US or Australia or anyone else's including those that most consider to be the evil side is just sad. Sad that it has come to this. Innocent people shouldn't suffer. zhaving said that I believe that justice should prevail and theleaders who continue to kill senselessly should have their ways pointed out to them.

I don't have a solution to the problem. I'm just as frustrated and sadened by this as the next person. What world am I bringing my kids up in ?

[Sequimite]

Rules are necessary, I agree with you. However, there's such a thing as crossing the line with the rules. Putting constraints on our Special Operations people that make their job more risky than it already is is asking too much.

According to the other three Seals, this occurred after the mission was complete, they showered and the prisoner was secured in a cell. So how did the rules make their jobs more risky?

[Sequimite]

In Viet Nam, the NVA and Viet Cong didn't play by the rules. They won and our people lost.

In Afghanistan, the Mujihadeen didn't play by the rules. They won and the Russians lost.

I'm not talking about conventional morality; I'm talking about discipline. In the cases you cite, the winning side was disciplined and had a winning strategy. The US in Vietnam and the Russians in Afghanistan had no winning strategy, plus the Russians had little discipline.

[sarguy]

I'd be very interested in hearing the FULL story. Maybe they did rough him up. Then again, it would not be the first time an inmate has injured themselves in an effort to gain sympathy, looser restrictions, or as a means of calling the staff into question.