Free Republic

<p>Military Justice: The first of three Navy SEALs charged with abusing a captured jihadist has been cleared. Why has this administration taken the word of terrorists and let American heroes twist in the wind?</p> <p>The acquittal of Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas, 29, of Blue Island, Ill., by a six-member U.S. military jury in Baghdad on Thursday is good news and the correct verdict.</p>

CHICAGO - Julio Huertas, a Navy Seal from Blue Island Illinois, has been cleared by a military jury of failing to prevent the beating of an Iraq prisoner suspected of masterminding a 2004 attack that killed four American security contractors. The burning death of the contractors became a major turning point in the Iraq war. There bodies were dragged through the streeets of Fallujah and two were hanged from a bridge over the Euphrates River.

Military: Two U.S. congressmen take the lead in proclaiming the obvious — that those who attack this country should be punished and not those who risk their lives to defend it. The Navy SEALs are a special breed of patriot and warrior. This highly trained and select group — the best of the best — is a daily participant in the long twilight struggle against the enemies of freedom that President Kennedy warned us about. Kennedy formally created the SEAL (sea, air, land) outfit as an elite force capable of combat operations in any environment. It was a team of...

RICHMOND, Va. - Two Navy SEALs accused in the mistreatment of an Iraqi detainee will be tried in a U.S. military court in Iraq. A military judge at Naval Station Norfolk on Monday moved the courts-martial of Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Keefe and Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas to Camp Victory, site of the alleged abuse. The trials are set for April. Keefe and Huertas are accused of trying to cover up after a third SEAL allegedly punched an Iraqi suspected in a 2004 ambush that killed four U.S. security contractors. Prosecutors said they would not bring the...

Cease and Desist any and all charges brought against the United States Navy Seals Listed Below. We the people feel as a collective that known terrorist Ahmed Hashim Abed injured himself after resisting arrest. Matthew McCabe, a Special Operations Petty Officer Second Class (SO-2), is facing three charges: dereliction of performance of duty for wilfully 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...

A Navy court-martial will convene next month to determine whether Petty Officer Matthew McCabe, a Navy SEAL on tour in Iraq, gave terror mastermind Ahmed Hashim Abed a noogie. Or maybe it was a fat lip. Joining McCabe in the dock will be fellow SEAL Julio Huertas -- accused, essentially, of refusing to rat out a buddy. And we thought show trials in Iraq went out of fashion when Saddam fell. McCabe and Huertas were arraigned this week for assault and impeding an investigation, among other charges, after Abed complained about his "mistreatment" in US custody. Whatever they gave him...

Secretary of Defense The Pentagon Washington, DC Dear Secretary Gates: We, the editors and staff of HUMAN EVENTS, and the many Americans who have attached their signatures to this petition, hereby request your personal intervention to dismiss the charges against Navy SEAL operators SO2 Jonathan Keefe, SO1 Julio Huertas and SO2 Matthew McCabe. These three men are charged with abusing a terrorist they captured in a daring nighttime raid on or about 1 September 2009. On that night, they -- as part of a platoon from SEAL Team 10 -- captured and detained Ahmed Hashim Abed, one of the most...

Law: American heroes are arraigned for allegedly punching a terrorist in wartime. What happens to Tiger Woods isn't vital to our country's future. What happens to Matthew McCabe, Julio Huertas and Jonathan Keefe is. People are more likely to recognize the names of Tiger's alleged bimbo eruptions than the names of these three Navy SEALs we sent into battle. They are not household names in a nation consumed with Climate Gate, the public option and the antics of billionaire athletes. An administration consumed with apologies has said the architect of 9/11's massacre, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, must be given all the...

War On Terror: As Khalid Sheikh Mohammed receives the benefits of U.S. justice, three Navy SEALs face court-martial for allegedly punching a captured terrorist who hanged Americans from a bridge in Fallujah. Apparently our efforts to impress the world about the marvels of our criminal justice system require us to give foreign terrorists such as Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the man who invented the manned cruise missiles that flew into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and plowed into a Pennsylvania field on its way to the Capitol Building, the full rights and protections of the American citizens he conspired...

Two Navy SEALs arraigned Monday on charges of mistreating a suspected Iraqi terrorist were buoyed by a public display of support outside Norfolk Naval Station, where they are scheduled to be court-martialed next month. About 100 supporters, some from as far away as Texas, gathered outside one of the base’s main gates to protest charges against three men. They carried flags and held signs reading “Save our SEALs” and “Is this America?” There was no controversy inside the courtroom where Capt. Moira Modzelewski, a military judge, took less than an hour to formally arraign two of three accused commandos: Petty...