An Honest Investigation Would Have Cleared Lieutenant Pantano in Iraq

Defend Our Marines ^ | March 11, 2007 | David Allender

[RedRover]

It was funnier the way KeyLargo told it. But I was afraid of flying into the purple screen!

[xarmydog]

I was on the list for E-6 at 22 years of age.Having that on my record would have made it impossible to attain anything above E-7.I decided then to chose another career option.There are many good soldiers out there with a similar story.It only takes one bad boss to cause irreparable damage to ones future.

[Girlene]

Is this called "Command Influence" in your case? In your case, it sounded like it was a vindictive personal motive. Yikes! I would have hated to be in your shoes.

Now imagine if the motive is political, from much higher up, to show the US really polices its own troops to prevent any "atrocities" in Iraq. NCIS has lots of resources to present evidence the way to want, to prove their case. How can the accused, in the Haditha case, afford all the experts it would take to counteract their presentations?

It will be tough. They need some pro bono physical evidence experts!

[xarmydog]

Yes command influence was a major part in it.Everyone was scared of this Commander and did not want on his bad side.They have already been tried by the media,etc.All that is left is the formalities of punishment.They will absolutely need the best representation any one or anything can provide.I made my rank quickly for the simple fact I took care of my men.Many times I have witnessed suck up leaders throw their men under the bus for a brownie point.I despised those types of men.If anyone thinks these men will get a fair trial is off their rocker.The judges more than likely have already been hand picked and are just going to go through the motions.Recruitment will suffer greatly.

[RedRover]

Last I heard, there have been no autopsies so the battle won't be fought over physical evidence. It will be over ROE.

There's a PR lull right now because there's been no real news since Dec. 21st.

That'll change once the hearings start. Our job will be to get the truth out. And hope that gets some traction in political and media circles.

We have to hope that we can be a positive force for these Marines.

[xarmydog]

I will do what I can to help,but the cards have already been stacked against them.I never bothered with a lawyer during my episode as I knew it was a no brainer.My mistake.The thought of those Marines whose life will never be the same no matter the outcome,nauseates me.The people who are trying to railroad them need to do some time in the same situation that these men were.REMPS have no business prosecuting real soldiers.

[Girlene]

Well, if the commanders, prosecutors, and convening authorities have any pressure put on them from above, then the best we, the public, can do is to push back and exert public political pressure for the Marines' defense.

The prosecution's strengths at this point will probably be lots of analysis of physical evidence and the Iraqi witnesses. These are also their weaknesses. There will be no autopsies, the physical environment would have been contaminated and unsecured for several months. I seriously doubt the witnesses will travel to the US. The prosecution will hang their hat on the pictures taken at the scene by our own Marines (as required by the Iraq gov't) and boatloads of analysis of what they signify. I doubt these photos will be made public, beyond the hearings. The analysis of the physical evidence is where questioning NCIS's credibility comes in. How good is NCIS's analysis? - it will be interesting to see how the defense handles this.

[RedRover]

Bump that. And keep in mind that all the defense lawyers are retired Marines or have deep backgrounds in these cases.

Justin Sharratt's lawyer, Gary Myers, represented Capt. Medina (and got him off) back in the My Lai case. Capt Stone is represented by Charlie Gittins, who represented Lt Pantano. This is just to name two. There's a warship worth of experience for the defense.

[freema]

That is a distinct possibility but I don't think that's it.

[Girlene]

Awesome amount of experience. I was quite impressed with the writeup of Neal Puckett, Wuterich's lawyer, on Frank Wuterich's website. An aggressive, result-oriented lawyer.

[Marine_Uncle]

Amen to that.

[Girlene]

Well, I do think at first, Maliki's influence may have had some impact. Now that NCIS, the media, Murtha and other politicians have shown their cards, the reasons "why" may be varied. What do you think the reason(s) is/are?

[RedRover]

Here's a quote...

Camp Lejeune 26 April 2005

Toward the end of the voir dire, Captain Bolling had Major Winn state for the record that he was scheduled for promotion to lieutenant colonel and would serve on the staff of Major General Richard Huck when the 2nd Marine Division returned to Iraq. General Huck was the commander of the 2nd Marine Division. All the grunts at Camp Lejeune were his. He also had the dubious privilege of approving the charges against me.

It was the general's staff that read the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) report and started the legal process moving. It was his staff that had charged me with two counts of premeditated murder, destruction of civilian property, dereliction of duty, and conduct unbecoming an officer. It was his staff that didn't think the matter warranted more research, more interviews, or more information before they drafted charges. It was his staff that concluded sufficient cause to go after a Marine lieutenant, perhaps to make an example, in order to pressure the good order and discipline of the service. It was his legal advisor that felt confient to charge the max, and it was is legal advisor whose balls would be in a sling if this didn't go the way he wanted. If this didn't proceed at least to a court-martial, whoever had put this together would be hating life. Oh, and General Huck happened to be the guy who was going to review Winn's fitness reports, in effect, controlling his future career. Great.

WARLORD Ilario Pantano page 35

________________________________

To All:

Lookee here! WARLORD is just out in paperback!
So no more excuses, ya cheapskates! Buy it now:

[RedRover]

Lookee above, ma! Now in paperback! Just the thing for your four nephews: freefrugal, freetightwad, freemiser, and freepennypincher!

[freema]

I've not been able to finish the book. Here's where I stopped:

I was in the chow hall at Camp Fallujah eating lunch with Mulvaney, one of my fellow platoon commanders from TBS and IOC. He got buzzed on his radio to fire up the Quick Reaction Force. Off he went. I wallowed in my uselessness, dumped my tray of uneaten chow, and headed to the COC to see what was going on. Then I heard a captain yelling in the hallway, "Easy has taken casualties." I raced down to the COC, which was getting crowded as news spread of Marines in contact. The unit log looked like this:

1215 EASY MORTARED FROM SOUTH
1220 EASY MORTARED FROM NORTH

Twice. Hadn't seen that before.

1223 EASY 3 QRFS
1227 EAST 3 AMBUSHED

My heard was thudding, slow, then fast. I wanted to scream.

My boys had been ambushed ARFing the mortars. CAAT Blue swooped down from the north in their gun trucks, and initial reports of enemy KIAs had the room cheering. Then elation subsided, as all that was found were blood trails. The enemy, once again, had faded away, dragging their dead and wounded with them. By all accounts it was a platoon~plus-sized element, at least thirty.

(Later investigation revealed that the insurgents had dug fighting holes for their crew-served weapons. One was a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun that was able to punch through the titanium armor on the big truck. That was what wounded our Marines.)

A platoon of insurgents...Why? My only thought was that they hoped the BBC was still with us. If they could kill some Marines in front of a news crew, a European news crew no less, they knew they would score big points. The Marines had been notoriously tight-lipped about the where, when, and how of our casualties. Usually, the only information we released was that Marines had been killed or wounded conducting security operations in the al Anbar Province."

That was our way of hiding the blood trails.

Much later, I got a note from Sergeant Word describing the ambush. His message carried the ragged immediacy of an ambush and counter-ambush.

FOB took mortars that were very well adjusted. So the CO told Glew to get someone out and find them. So Glew told 2nd squad to load up, but after a couple of min. they were taking too slow so 1st squad loaded the trucks Victor 1: Word, McPherson, Chicas, Brown, Gocadack. Victor 2: Magdaleno, Sacchi, Perry. Victor 3 (7-ton): Doc, a driver, Smith, Johnson. Victor 4: Braun, Davis, Dunham. We went to the south found nothing & went to the north at FOB exit north on "Bristol." We held there to get a grid from the CO when all hell broke loose. They started the ambush with an RPG aimed at Victor 1 which bounced off the front of it, then it was pure hell. Chicas' bolt blew up. He switched to his 40 mm and had a direct hit on two guys, it was a great shot. Then the 7-ton hauled ass out of the fight and we moved to block the rounds while it went back to the FOB. I knew something was wrong but did not know what. But what happed was Johnson was trying to jump over the center set to get where he could fire got hit several times in the right arm and he went down. Smith then stopped firing and started to treat Johnson while his truck was under heavy .50 cal (12.7 mm) AK-47, RPG, and 7.62 machine gun rounds. A .50 cal armor piercing round went though the side of the truck and fragged and several pieces of frag hit him in the face and he fell. Johnson tried to help him out. Doc saw what happened and pulled the machine gunner down and grabbed his medic bag and crawled through gunners hole and started to apply life saving aid. He had a tourniquet on Johnson and field dressing on Smith by the 3 min drive back to the FOB, that was when I heard on the net that they were calling in a medevac, we were still in the fight when dust off came, no one knew what happened but me until we got back to the FOB. ~~~~~~~~~~

Maybe Domenico's birthday present was that his daddy was still alive. Maybe the wretched truth in sitting here on a folding chair in a Camp Fallujah tent, while my men fought for their lives, was that this April 15 shooting investigation had saved my life. Maybe killing those two insurgents at the white car beside the darkening canal had saved my life twice. That day, and this day, Father's Day.

Page 274 WARLORD Ilario Pantano

[freema]

That about sums it up, Red! The hardback is a better value... even though I haven't read all of it, our copy is getting worn.

[freema]

I agree at first Maliki's influence may have had some impact.

But jack murtha jumped on it like a necrophiliac on a dead body that needed (a) head.

Too convenient, too easy. The left will sacrifice this country, what's a few good men?

[RedRover]

The Left can have Karl Marx and Al Gore.
I'll take Saint Michael any day.

[lilycicero]

But jack murtha jumped on it like a necrophiliac on a dead body that needed (a) head.

You never let me down.

[freema]

Here is the original version of the prayer to St. Michael, written by Pope Leo XIII in 1884. The shorter version follows, which is the version said after low Masses.

Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel

Most glorious Prince of the Heavenly Armies, Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in “our battle against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places” (Ephes., VI, 12). Come to the assistance of men whom God has created to His likeness and whom He has redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil. Holy Church venerates thee as her guardian and protector; to thee, the Lord has entrusted the souls of the redeemed to be led into heaven. Pray therefore the God of Peace to crush Satan beneath our feet, that he may no longer retain men captive and do injury to the Church. Offer our prayers to the Most High, that without delay they may draw His mercy down upon us; take hold of the dragon, “the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan,” bind him and cast him into the bottomless pit “so that he may no longer seduce the nations” (Apoc. XX.2).

In the Name of Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, strengthened by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Blessed Michael the Archangel, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and all the Saints, we confidently undertake to repulse the attacks and deceits of the devil.

"Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered; let those who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so the wicked perish at the presence of God. " (Ps. 67)
V. Behold the Cross of the Lord, flee bands of enemies.
R. He has conquered, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the offspring of David.
V. May Thy mercy, Lord, descend upon us.
R. As great as our hope in Thee. (at the "+" make the sign of the Cross)

We drive you from us, whoever you may be, every unclean spirit, all satanic powers, all infernal invaders, all wicked legions, assemblies and sects; in the Name and by the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ, + may you be snatched away and driven from the Church of God and from the souls made to the image and likeness of God and redeemed by the Precious Blood of the Divine Lamb. + Most cunning serpent, you shall no more dare to deceive the human race, persecute the Church, torment God’s elect and sift them as wheat. + The Most High God commands you. + He with whom, in your great insolence, you still claim to be equal, “He who wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim., 11.4). God the Father commands you. + God the Son commands you. + God the Holy Ghost commands you. + Christ, God’s Word made flesh, commands you. + He who to save our race outdone through your envy, humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death” (Phil, 11,8); He who has built His Church on the firm rock and declared that the gates of hell shall not prevail against Her, because He will dwell with Her “all days even to the end of the world” (St. Mat., XXVIII,20). The sacred Sign of the Cross commands you, + as does also the power of the mysteries of the Christian Faith. + The glorious Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, commands you. + She who by her humility and from the first moment of her immaculate Conception, crushed your proud head. The faith of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and of the other Apostles commands you. + The blood of the Martyrs and the pious intercession of all the Saints command you. +

Thus, cursed dragon, and you, diabolical legions, we adjure you by the living God, + by the true God, + by the holy God, + by the God “who so loved the world that He gave up His only Son, that every soul believing in Him might not perish but have life everlasting” (St. John, III); stop deceiving human creatures and pouring out to them the poison of eternal damnation; stop harming the Church and hindering her liberty. Begone, Satan, inventor and master of all deceit, enemy of man’s salvation. Give place to Christ in whom you have found none of your works; give place to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church acquired by Christ at the price of His Blood. Stoop beneath the all-powerful Hand of God; tremble and flee when we invoke the Holy and terrible Name of Jesus, this Name which causes hell to tremble, this Name to which the Virtues, Powers and Dominations of Heaven are humbly submissive, this Name which the Cherubim and Seraphim praise unceasingly repeating: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, the God of Armies.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto Thee.
V. May the Lord be with thee.
R. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

God of Heaven, God of earth, God of Angels, God of Archangels, God of Patriarchs, God of Prophets, God of Apostles, God of Martyrs, God of Confessors, God of Virgins, God who has power to give life after death and rest after work, because there is no other God than Thee and there can be no other, for Thou art the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, of whose reign there shall be no end, we humbly prostrate ourselves before Thy glorious Majesty and we beseech Thee to deliver us by Thy power from all the tyranny of the infernal spirits, from their snares, their lies and their furious wickedness; deign, O Lord, to grant us Thy powerful protection and to keep us safe and sound. We beseech Thee through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
From the snares of the devil, deliver us, O Lord.
That Thy Church may serve Thee in peace and liberty, we beseech Thee to hear us.
That Thou may crush down all enemies of Thy Church, we beseech Thee to hear us.
http://www.stjosephschurch.net/leoxiii.htm

sleep tight, Red, and don't let the enemy bite.