Maybe they should never been in the brig. But tonight, be happy for the Pennington family. Be thankful that Lt. Gen. Mattis has done the right thing for HIS Marine.
Posted on 08/10/2007 5:09:21 PM PDT by RaceBannon
I did 8 years in the Corps.
I say that it is rotten and I would cripple my child before I saw him sign up to a Corp that will not take care of it's own.
Thanks for the ping. GRRRRREAT news!
No, it isn’t true, they dont even know who was killed.
What I have below is a cut and paste, it is not a rant against you:
People haven’t got a clue about this case if all you do is read the papers, and we HAVE posted all these facts before, but I guess since the NCIS falsified testimony, refused to admit evidence that would clear people, and Marines who are now released from jail testify that they were coerced to give false statements they knew were false, you still want to believe it when they hang these Marines?
They, myself, and others have pleaded with all the talk radio stations to cover the story, but as soon as we started to present the corruption to Congressmen and NCIS agents, all the radio stations shut us down.
I have tried to get on Michael Savage many times and his call screener refused to take my call
I have some access to local talk shows here in Ct, but that only goes so far.
ALL the major media outlets ignored us, including FOX news.
The families could not comment public ally during the trials, and also, much information could not be revealed during the trial because it would possibly be illegal to reveal things during the case.
So, what information that was cleared through the lawyers was released and made public when we could.
Over numerous threads, I told Sgt Hutchin’s story that was NEVER printed in any media, regardless of how many letters we sent.
For the record here, too: I SPENT OVER AN HOUR WITH FOX NEWS DAVE ASMAN 3 MONTHS AGO IN HIS OFFICE IN NYC. HE WAS VERY INTERESTED, BUT EVERYONE OVER HIS HEAD NIXED ANY IDEA ON A STORY. Even FOX news refused to help air this.
The statements they held against Hutchins were coerced under duress
2 of his fellow Marines testified to just that
Evidence that they were following orders was destroyed and Lt Phan testified to that
Aerial UAV footage was denied to the defense
They started saying they were guilty when they were told, as 19 year old LCpl’s , that they would be facing life in prison despite the fact that the Govt didn’t know who was actually killed and had zero forensic evidence to support them, including a body that didn’t match the description given by alleged family members
Nor did the body have the rod in its leg as the family insisted
Nor did the body style match, or the hair pattern on the body
Nor could they match a head because when they shipped the body back home, it had no head
nor was the defense allowed to use video from the UAV’s overhead in their defense although the prosecution was allowed to claim the UAV’s showed then hiding the man before killing him... the body did not match the description given by the family which was paid $25,000, $2,500.00 per family member
The NCIS falsified evidence, refused evidence in other trials to be used here, denied evidence from Lt Phan to be used, denied the UAV video to be used.
Why did all the Marines in their initial statements tell about the order to apprehend the known terrorist suspect?
Why did Lt Phan testify an order existed?
Where is due process when their Lt testifies that he issued the orders?
When the Corps releases the copy of the order that Lt Phan had and that several members of that squad testified to under oath aft6er they were released from the brig, then I will believe the Corps.
Where is due process when you cannot confront your accuser?
Where is due process when you are considered guilty before you are considered innocent?
Where is due process when you realize you don’t have the body you thought you did but still insist that your men killed him?
Where is due process when there is ZERO ballistic evidence of him being shot?
Where is due process when you hold Marines in CONEX boxes for 18 hours a day with no water or head calls or food until they sign confessions?
Where is due process when NCIS is forced to admit they falsified statements about Marines distributing leaflets concerning apprehending insurgents to only later realize that LCpl’s cannot have access to KINKOS in Iraq...but Battalion does, and then STILL uses it against the Marines?
The identity of the dead guy is PARAMOUNT
The NCIS case is they failed to find Gowad, broke into a house and pulled out Awad and killed him and faked the killing zone
The identity of who Awad is and his physical description is the story here
Awad was supposed to have severe injuries from several different sources, none which agree: Iran/Iraq war falling out of a tree 25 years as an Iraqi Policeman in the Baath party
The autopsy showed NONE of those injuries. That means right from the get go the story about whom he was is phony, the family lied, the NCIS lied or made a major error.
Backing up here, the entire origin of the murder charge was based on the family claiming that Awad was found in a hole, dead after being taken out in the middle of the night and killed.
If he is NOT family, and the autopsy proved family lied their ass off and he WASNT family, then the first part of the accusation is false.
Next, the Marines story is the body was returned to the Iraqi Police, yet the body reappeared in the hole for NCIS to see and make claims, next, the Iraqi was supposed to be tied up FIRST, then frog marched 1000 feet in one direction, then back to the hole ALL
WHILE TIED, then killed, and even among the Marines, that story has major discrepancies
Next, the NCIS claimed that UAV’s overhead showed the Marines hiding the man in the hole with their own bodies, lying on top of him so the UAV would not see him:
Question? How in the world did those Marines hear a UAV circling at 10,000 or even 5000 feet and how did they know where the camera was pointed to know when to hide the man when it was near? Question? Why did the NCIS present this as evidence in only statement form, NOT show any video, and NOT release the UAV video to the defense so they could use any video in their own defense? If the video was so damning to the Marines, why not show it to prove all accounts of their story are false and refuse plea bargains and go for convictions?
You do NOT go from MURDER charges and plea bargain down to assault if you have evidence of MURDER!
Each Marine and Sailor was charged with MURDER at first and all except Hutchins were allowed to plea bargain, leading any intelligent person to believe that they were looking for a political scapegoat.
Tell me, what next do you want to hear about? Using sleep deprivation, water deprivation, and food deprivation to get signed statements from these Marines?
The plea offerings to the Marines and the circumstances?
The failure of any single officer to ask the men to plead innocent if they were?
NOT ONE JAG lawyer ever went for an innocent plea because they all went for pleas, yet they tell their families they are innocent?
Magincalda’s plea agreement he almost took was going to have him in shackles touring Marine bases telling people how evil he was while wearing shackles to the ‘audience’, but he refused, and thankfully he is out of the brig now.
There is most certainly a legal order to kill an insurgent who shot at you
There is most certainly an order that releases you when your orders were to apprehend a known terrorist who was previously held on several occasions and who was suspected of exploding an IED the day before killing Marines and if he resisted the use of deadly force was authorized. This is a WAR, not a drug bust
There is most certainly legal protection when ordered to shoot back when someone tried to kill you
NO ONE planted a weapon on the dead terrorist, he had it all along.
You have never heard that from the media because the NCIS destroyed the orders to do just that, to apprehend a known terrorist who was suspected in the previous days IED explosion and when they went to the address, someone was digging a hole and held up a weapon and shot at them
You never heard the media report that families of civilians who are accidentally killed get approx $2.5K, but someone came forward and claimed to be family, gave descriptions of the man who was supposed to be murdered that never matched the body, and you only heard a short blurb on the Thomas Trial that they could no longer call the dead Iraqi AWAD because NCIS was forced to admit they NEVER had ANY forensic evidence on this person: no ballistics, no identification, no matching prints, no proven family ties, all so-called family member disappeared and refused to testify in the US...
Just wait, now that all have been processed, we are going to be releasing things to the public that will curl your hair concerning the coverup by NCIS, the falsification of evidence, James Connelly possibly committing perjury on the stand in the Hutchin’s trial, the Govt deliberately destroying Lt Phan’s thumb drive which he testified to having an original copy of the orders to do a snatch and grab with permission to kill directive order in it...
You need to remember that our military would do such things and have done so in the past. Our military has been doing such things for centuries, just ask Rear Admiral Kimmel, Capt McViegh, the sailor who was called gay on the Iowa gun turret, and Lt Pantano.
YESSSS
There is a young fiancé who is over the moon on this news!. Congrats Terry, Deanna and Krystal!
Now release Sgt. Hutchins.
They never had concrete proof against the P8, and the evidence the Prosecution had was classified and they would not produce it at Hutchins trial.
See the Union Tribune article today on Magic, where he explains what happened in his own words – “it was War” also there is a video clip of him as well.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20070810-0341-ca-marines-iraqshooting.html
YESSSS
There is a young fiancé who is over the moon on this news! Congrats Terry, Deanna and Krystal!
Now release Sgt. Hutchins.
YESSSS
There is a young fiancé who is over the moon on this news!. Congrats Terry, Deanna and Krystal!
Now release Sgt. Hutchins.
Would you please repeat that one more time?
What I was trying to draw attention to is that the statement:
“Robert Pennington was one of seven Marines and a Navy medic who set out to kidnap and kill a suspected insurgent but instead seized Hashim Ibrahim Awad, a disabled police officer known to support the American occupation, according to defendants’ testimony.”
It says that in the defendants’ own testimony, they claim that they seized “Awad, a disabled police officer known to support the American occupation.” Meaning, they knew who he was and that he supported the Americans.
If that’s not in their testimony then it’s not a debatable point. It’s a bald-faced lie demonstrable to Reuters and they should cease running that text in further articles (I don’t expect a retraction or correction from them).
It is in their testimony because NCIS wrote it for them.
In the testimony of Jodka and Jackson, at Hutchin’s trial, they openly told the court their testimony was coerced and that NCIS told them to lie.
The spelling is different in the third one... :)
During Cpl. Trent Thomas’ trial the prosecution finally admitted that they did not know who the body was so they referred to him as the unidentified victim. Thomas insists the victim was an insurgent. The P8 were originally after a known insurgent called Saleh Gowad who was responsible for many IED attacks on the 3/5 and 3/1 Marines. Once the P8 acted the attacks on the Marines in and near Hamdania reduced drastically.
OOHRAH to that!
“Be thankful, Race, that Lt. Gen. Mattis has done the right thing here”. Definitely, and don’t forget that Rob Pennington was convicted on the same charges as Cpl. Thomas. Thomas was freed (given time served) on 7/20/07 and Rob was still held in the Miramar brig facing 8 years. It was a just and compassionate decision to let Pennington out and I am sending Gen Mattis a thank you letter!
Ok, I understand now. Like I said, I hadn’t seen that before.
Here’s a link to video of Cpl. Trent Thomas talking to a reporter about the charges and what they did in Hamdania, this was broadcast on 8/05/07, Cpl Thomas was released from the Marines on 8/03/07.
http://video.knbc.com/player/?id=139374
I hadn’t seen it or any testimony, james. Thank you for spotlighting a very important point.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.