Posted on 04/23/2007 12:17:30 PM PDT by RedRover
In 1971, Capt. Gary Myers was an Army JAG, assigned to Capt. Ernest Medina’s defense.
There was worldwide interest in the court martial of Lt. Calley's commander. Myers' colleague on the defense team, civilian attorney F. Lee Bailey, reveled in the attention and gave the press conferences. Meanwhile, Capt. Myers had no comment for reporters and went about the patient work of winning the case.
Today, Myers represents a Haditha Marine, LCpl. Justin Sharratt. Reporters from the New York Times and Washington Post are practically camped at Myer’s door. But, even as a civilian, Myers is an old-school Army lawyer, and has no comment for the press.
Meanwhile, this past week, we were flooded with leaks in the Haditha case.
On Saturday, a headline screamed out from the front page of the Washington Post: Report on Haditha Condemns Marines. The story purported to summarize the classified Bargewell Report on Haditha (somehow "obtained" by the Post’s, Josh White).
When asked about the leak, Lt. Col. Sean Gibson (spokesman at Marine Corps Central Command in Florida) said the report "is part of an ongoing investigation, and as such is neither releasable nor would it be appropriate for me to comment on it."
Lt. Col. Gibson's statement was an honorable one. But the leak of classified material lapped up by the Post was yet another victory for the bastards, who continue their winning streak. Let's tally up their victories over the past six months.
1. November, 2006: The NCIS investigative report on the Haditha incident was leaked to Vanity Fair.
2. November 21, 2006: Unnamed "Pentagon sources" unleashed hell on unsuspected families of servicemen by telling NPR's Morning Edition that five Marines were expected to face charges for murder. Not only that. The names, ages, and hometowns of the five Marines were given out. The names were picked up by other media outlets across the country and around the world.
Included on the list was Cpl. Hector Salinas ("age 22, of Houston, Texas"). Salinas was never charged.
3. December 5, 2006: A "Marine official and a lawyer involved in the case" told that the New York Times that at least five Marines are expected to the be charged in Haditha deaths. The names and hometowns of the five were given again (for the benefit of anyone who missed the NPR broadcast), including Cpl. Salinas. No correction, apology, or explanation was ever made.
(Charges were finally filed against eight Marines on December 21st)
4 and 5. January 6, 2007: A red letter day for bastardy. A "senior defense official" told the Associated Press that his previous leaks were correct: evidence didn't back the Marines.
But this was small potatoes compared to the bombshell in the Washington Post. That paper "obtained" the entire 10,000-page NCIS report with hundreds of pictures). The Post's article, by leak-licker Josh White, was selective with the facts to paint a picture of guilt.
Then the bastards slept until...
6. April 20, 2007: A leaker identified as "someone involved in the case who declined to be identified because the documents are not public" told the Associated Press that seven Marines had been granted immunity . Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson declined to comment. He said, "As this is an ongoing investigation, the government will not confirm the identity of potential witnesses or discuss the conditions under which they may appear."
7. April 22, 2007: The Washington Post "obtained" the confidential report by Army Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell about Haditha. With grotesque inaccuracy, the Post claimed the report condemned Marines.
And that's where we stand. At least seven leaks in the past six months in a case whose integrity has been questionable from the start.
The lull in the leaks between January 6th and April 20th may have been because Lt. Gen. James Mattis ordered an investigation. On the other hand, Capt. Jay Delarosa (a Marine spokesman) has had no comment on the investigation since it was announced so it's unclear where it stands.
I have contacted General Mattis' office and the USMC Inspector General. I have made a case for the investigation to be public. I believe it is essential for the leakers, and their motives, to be exposed. There has continued to be no comment.
When honorable men see bastards at work, sometimes "no comment" isn't enough. The Corps owes protection to Marines whose good names have been dragged through the mud, whose families have been subjected to the worst kinds of torment and harassment from the media.
As in the Medina case decades ago, men of honor such as Gary Myers are fighting the real fight, and fighting to win in court under the rule of law. JAG prosecutors are working honorably as well. The truth should prevail.
But anyone who cares about a fair fight should be as concerned as I am that the bastards are back.
David Allender can be reached at WarChronicle@AOL.Com.
Remember this? Sure you do. It seems a little more significant now, than it did at the time.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4487862.stm
US Marines spokesman Captain Jeffrey Pool told the AFP news agency the militants had simply fired a rocket propelled grenade at a joint US-Iraqi observation post at 0930 (0630 GMT).
“As of 1400 (1100 GMT), there were no signs of any significant insurgent activity anywhere in the city.”
Captain Pool accused the militants of exaggerating the scale of the attack.
http://www.dawn.com/2005/06/19/top14.htm
June 19, 2005 Sunday Jumadi-ul-Awwal 11, 1426
“Approximately 50 insurgents have been killed since the operation began yesterday morning,” said US Captain Jeffrey Pool. “There have been no additional reports of military or civilian casualties as a result of the operation.” He said troops found four Iraqi hostages.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/10/04/us_troops_insurgents_clash_as_offensive_continues/
By Mohammed Barakat, Associated Press | October 4, 2005
In Karabilah, troops searched house-to-house for militants, apparently meeting stiffer resistance than in Sadah, which most fighters fled before the US troops moved in.
Marine snipers fired from rooftops and US helicopters flew overhead as the advance was slowed for about an hour by insurgent fire, a CNN journalist embedded with the Marines said.
At one point, about 20 Iraqis fled their homes, including one family — a mother, father and their child — who were wounded and bleeding after being hit by flying pieces of concrete, CNN footage showed.
They will not be caught.
Fight back with leaks of their own, press conferences condemning whatever politicians they can, let as much evidence in their defense out as possible, if not all of it.
It worked for the Duke players, they hit back hard, and took a trial to the public, could it work here?
These other incidents give some insight into Capt. Pool's mindset. His job every day was to sort out conflicting information from battalion and insurgent-sympathizers. The report regarding Haditha was no different than the others.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/02/news/iraq.php
By Edward Wong The New York Times
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2005
The U.S. military announced the deaths of four troops, two in a Marine helicopter crash in western Iraq that may have resulted from insurgent fire. The helicopter, an AH-1W Super Cobra, went down near Ramadi, 95 kilometers, or 60 miles, west of Baghdad and the capital of hostile Anbar Province.
Colonel Dave Lapan, a Marine spokesman, said the cause of the crash was unclear. But there were strong indications that the helicopter had been brought down by insurgents: A Marine Corps F-18D fighter jet dropped two 225-kilogram, or 500-pound, bombs on “a reported insurgent command center” just 500 meters, or 1,640 feet, from the helicopter crash site, said Captain Jeffrey Pool, another Marine spokesman.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050612/news_1n12iraq.html
By Edward Wong
NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE
June 12, 2005
The assault on the Wolf Brigade came as deadly attacks were reported elsewhere. South of Baghdad, gunmen surrounded a minibus carrying construction workers and shot 11 of them to death and wounded three others, police officials said.
Late Friday, a car bomb exploded outside a health center in the Shula neighborhood of the capital, killing at least 10 people and injuring 27 others, the Interior Ministry official said.
A hospital official in Fallujah said a roadside bomb explosion killed two Iraqis believed to be working at a U.S. base in the area and injured three others.
Fallujah lies in Anbar province, the most rebellious region of Iraq. U.S. Marines killed about 40 insurgents in the province during a series of seven airstrikes that began at 11:40 a.m. yesterday and ended at 4 p.m., Capt. Jeffrey S. Pool of the 2nd Marine Division said in a written statement.
The insurgents, armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles, medium machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, had set up a checkpoint near the town of Karabilah and had been stopping civilian vehicles, the captain said.
Fighter jets and attack helicopters from the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing made the strikes, which were aimed at an insurgent compound in the area and at the groups of rebel fighters, Pool said. “There are no reports of civilian casualties or collateral damage,” the captain added. “The air strikes ended at 4 p.m. once all the targets were destroyed.”
On Friday night, police officials also discovered the bodies of two Sudanese men in western Baghdad. The identities of the victims were not reported.
The U.S. military said the two Marines who died Friday were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle. The attack took place near Saqlawiya in Anbar province.
U.S. soldiers and four Iraqi security contractors engaged in a firefight on a road in western Baghdad at dawn yesterday, the Interior Ministry official said. The shootout ended in the death of two of the Iraqis and the wounding of the other two. An American officer, Lt. Jamie Davis, said the firefight began when the Iraqis drove too close to a U.S. convoy.
He said he had no confirmation that the Iraqis were security contractors, but said the soldiers found many Kalashnikovs in the car.
Also in the morning, police found the bodies of three Iraqi civilians in Baghdad, the Interior Ministry official said. The men, who belonged to the Sunni-dominated Dulaim tribe in rebellious western Iraq, had been handcuffed and blindfolded, and there were signs of torture on their bodies, the official said. The victims were Saadi Khalaf, an Oil Ministry employee; Muhammad Khalaf, a reporter for Al-Majd, a newspaper; and Esam Fadhil, their cousin.
The three men were taken from their homes in southern Baghdad on Friday night, reportedly by men wearing police uniforms and riding in Interior Ministry vehicles, the official said. Their kidnappers told people in those houses that they were intelligence officers with the Interior Ministry, the official added.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/04/international/middleeast/04cnd-iraq.html?ex=1275537600&en=02b0b6bba04a379d&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
By EDWARD WONG
Published: June 4, 2005
An Iraqi employee of the New York Times contributed reporting from Falluja.
In recent weeks, the Marines have tried two offensives in the area, first in the city of Qaim near the Syrian border, then in the city of Haditha near a large reservoir. Captain Pool, the Marine spokesman, said the Marines who had been searching for weapons caches in the last three days had mostly been acting on tips provided by locals, and that “these tips typically come through our tip line because locals are afraid that if they are seen cooperating with Marines or the Iraqi security forces, they might be killed.”
http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=10052
12/1/2005 5:55:00 PM GMT
* Rebels offensive in Ramadi
Iraqi fighters launched a major assault against U.S. forces early Thursday in the western city of Ramadi, residents said, according to Reuters.
The offensive began with a sustained mortar and rocket attack on a U.S. base in the city center and on a nearby provincial governor’s building.
More than 400 heavily armed men dispersed throughout the city after the attacks, and set up checkpoints at major entrances and exit points, witnesses said.
“They’ve taken control of all the main streets and other sections of Ramadi,” one correspondent said. “I’ve seen about 400 armed men controlling streets, some of which were controlled by Americans before,” he said.
The fighters also distributed leaflets declaring that AL-QAEDA in Iraq, the group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was now in control of the city.
“Al Qaeda in Iraq is taking control of Ramadi,” one of the leaflets read, according to Reuters. “Its followers will burn the Americans and will drive them back to their homes by force. Iraq will be a graveyard for the Americans and its allies.”
The U.S. army has a heavily fortified garrison in Ramadi, and the Iraqi army also has bases there.
Residents said there were no U.S. or Iraqi forces in the city after the attacks.
But reports say that the situation is calmer now and that U.S. forces were starting to patrol again.
* Denial
The U.S. army played down the scale of the assault, saying that there were no damages or casualties.
U.S. Marines spokesman Captain Jeffrey Pool told the AFP that the rebels fired rocket propelled grenade at a joint U.S.-Iraqi observation post at 0930 (0630 GMT).
“As of 1400 (1100 GMT), there were no signs of any significant insurgent activity anywhere in the city.”
Captain Pool also claimed that the fighters are exaggerating the scale of the attack.
“This is clearly a sign of how desperate insurgents have become,” he said.
Ramadi is the capital of the al-Anbar province, which has been a rebel stronghold since the start of the U.S. 2003 INVASION.
After U.S. occupation forces launched a deadly offensive in Fallujah last November, many fighters apparently escaped to Ramadi, which is about 60 km beyond Falluja.
Thursday’s assault came as about 2000 American soldiers and 500 Iraqi troops launched an offensive in the town of Hit, east of the River Euphrates, not far from Ramadi.
The U.S. army say the town was “suspected to be an al-Qaeda in Iraq safe area and base of operations for the manufacture of vehicle car bombs.”
Yes, they also give insight into what these Marines were, and are, fighting.
This is all just so disgusting. And I don’t feel good today, so when I say it makes me want to vomit, I’m not kidding.
At least things are moving to a point where the prosecution has no case. One will always have the intra-military envy.
Good post, Red. Every item that comes out like this just points to the weak case against these Marines. While much of the public may have already convicted them because of fat jack murtha and the enemedia, all of these points will be given much consideration at the Art. 32 or a courts-martial panel should it get that far.
Jaz, I think our friend pink may be on the case, blog-wise.
Yes very soon as soon as my TWO year old figures out its past her bedtime...
tap, tap, tap..
There is that other article as well.... Which to do first.... hmm.
Just to keep things clear:
The USMC has fought for decades to stay out of SOCOM. The general attitude is that it is a bad thing. It sucks away needed assets that can not be replaced. It is a strain on already stressed systems and will cost the Corps training dollars that they cant afford to give up.
There was much deep resentment from what I have heard so far on being forced into doing this “Special Ops” stuff.
Good point.
I will further expound on this point- that on the base (elementary) level if Jody, the Captain of the Cheerleading Squad, wants Marie to join the Cheerleading Squad because she’s tired of Marie thinking she’s all that, and Marie thinks she doesn’t need or want to be a part of it...Jody, the Captain, CAN get her panties in a major wad and WILL bite, kick, scratch AND pull hair AND tell everyone Marie’s a whore to make Marie look bad, and then, will dump her.
Some girls never grow up.
Again, for the sake of clarity, because this is often misunderstood...
The USMC’s resistance to playing the SOC games wasn’t because of ego or because of schong swinging contests or any such.
The USMC has always been kept on most very tight fiscal restraints. Too often, it would come down to such choices as replace shot out artillery tubes or keep up scheduled elint recon flights on the NorKor DMZ? Cut back the number of prequal shooting days on the rifle range? or cut back on field training schedules?
Organizations like the Army and the Navy built things like SEAL teams and Spec Force because they could afford to do so. More power to them. Those are outstanding operations, but the USMC is a much smaller service with much less depth to draw from and usually not enough budget to cover already existing needs.
Now, I’m no longer active duty and haven’t been for a couple decades, nor am I from the recon community, so if anyone with more relevant info chimes in contrary to what I say here then... there it is.
But, here’s what I’m hearing. Recon has been gutted and selection for training into recon has been greatly reduced in degree of stress and demands put on prospective trainees. This is because the SOC group sucked up nearly all the resources and now recon must make compromises in order to refill ranks needful for the missions required on the battlefield in support of deployed USMC units.
And so far, to what purpose? So that our enemy, after some learning and experience, knows that all they have to do is manufacture an incident and squeel like stuck pigs to get the unit kicked out of country for being too mean to the enemy.
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