What country is this?
First there was Fort Hood. Then we faced the unpleasant and nutty prospect of having to learn whether KSM was Mirandized before or after being waterboarded. And now Navy SEALS are apparently being put on trial for capturing and beating up a senior Al Qaeda operative. Fox:
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.”
A man who said he was a former SEAL with two kids in the military claimed that this action is retribution by White House officials for a violation of the ROE in the matter of those Somali pirates who were so satisfyingly dispatched to their eternal rewards. Who knows if that’s true, but it’s believable with this crew, isn’t it? (HT: Belmont Club)