Posted on 08/21/2007 8:16:58 AM PDT by RedRover
20 August 2007 -- When former Marine Corps Sergeant Jose Luis Nazario was charged with manslaughter in federal court last Thursday for allegedly killing suspected insurgent prisoners of war in Fallujah, Iraq almost three years ago, it ignited another battle over the ancient city.
The former infantryman, husband and father is a veteran of the infamous “Hell House” in Fallujah on November 13, 2004. He was ignominiously fired from his new job as a Riverside, California police officer and arrested on suspicion of killing the unidentified Iraqi on or about November 9, 2004 at an unknown time and place, the government says.
He was charged on the verbal evidence of several unidentified eye witnesses, according to the complaint filed in Federal Court in Riverside, California. The charges were brought by Naval Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent Mark Fox. There is no crime scene, physical or forensic evidence, and no complainant other than the government, according to the information released.
On Monday afternoon the North County Times reported that Sgt. Jermaine A. Nelson is the second person charged in the case in which four detainees were killed. He has been charged with unpremeditated murder. Nelson was a corporal and rocket team leader in 3rd Platoon, Kilo at Fallujah. Nazario was his squad leader.
The NCIS charged Nazario in civilian court after he was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps following eight years of service. There is no convening authority in the matter within the Marine Corps despite NCIS knowing of the allegations since November 2006. Because the prosecution is not talking, it is unclear whose interests the government is representing. So far the only clear benefactor of this freelancing NCIS effort is the Iraqi insurgency.
Fallujah II, 2004
Nazario’s unfortunate fate was not a consideration when the first battle – called “Operation Vigilant Resolve” - happened in April 2004. It followed the murderous attack, and grisly display, of four dead American “Blackwater” security guards on a bridge in Fallujah. The Marines were smashing the insurgent bases in Fallujah when the Coalition Provisional Authority stopped the offensive and ordered the Marines to give up ground they shed blood on and withdraw without a fight. The CPA called it a “unilateral ceasefire.” The Marines used a more scatological term involving a familiar farm animal.
The Marines were replaced by the “new” Iraqi police and National Guard trained by Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, now a General and the current overall commander in Iraq. The ING he trained unilaterally started shooting at Marines with their brand new weapons.
Six months later the second battle of Fallujah - Al Fajr – was fought in November and December 2004. Nazario fought there. He was a squad leader in 3rd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines – the mighty “The Thundering Third.”
Nazario’s former battalion is one of the most decorated infantry battalions in the Marine Corps. It is also one of the most prosecuted. Currently, in addition to Nazario, five 3/1 Marines are in various stages of legal maneuvering over allegation of murder and dereliction of duty at Haditha, Iraq that allegedly occurred one year later.
At one time the Marine Corps was investigating the nine unwounded survivors of an entire 12-man squad from Kilo, 3/1 for massacring 24 Iraqi civilians. Eventually six enlisted Marines who fought there received immunity to testify against the remaining three who were charged with murder. Four battalion officers were also charged with dereliction of duty for not adequately investigating the incident. Two Marines, one officer and one enlisted man, have already been exonerated.
The Fallujah investigation was grudgingly revealed by NCIS two months ago, although NCIS agents have been interrogating current and former Marines for almost a year. Nazario is the first of two Marines who fought at Fallujah now charged with a crime, although the NCIS apparently hopes that pressuring Nazario into a deal will result in several more Marines being arrested. So far Nazario has resisted attempts to “compel” him to cooperate, one of his lawyers said.
During the second fight at Fallujah at least 133 Marines were killed and more than 1,100 wounded during the 53-day fight. Because more Marines died as a result of wounds after the battle ended it is difficult to determine an exact count. When Al Fajr was officially over December 23, 2004 thirty-three Marines from 3/1 were counted among the American dead and more than 600 3/1 Marines were wounded – a 50 percent casualty rate.
The battalion came home covered in glory. Two 3/1 Marines earned Navy Crosses and a platoon’s worth of lesser heroes were made as well when Thundering Third Marines were showered with a virtual galaxy of Silver and Bronze Stars for heroism. It was a proud battalion full of brave Marines.
The Thundering Third’s experiences were incorporated in Marine Corps “Lessons Learned” that was subsequently disseminated Marine Corps wide. A big favorite among the expressions taught after Fallujah was “never go into a room without throwing in something that goes boom.” That particular lesson would resonate with unanticipated consequences after Fallujah. The biggest lesson taught was that the Marine Corps is remorseless in combat.
“We kill people. That is why we are called Devil Dogs and not doggies,” one grizzled Marine grunted Sunday, using the disparaging name for Soldiers that insensitive Marines sometimes explicate. “What the hell else are we good for?”
The Marine Corps literally crushed the insurgents at Fallujah with every weapon at their disposal. The insurgents had been warned by no less than the Iraqi government and its CPA masters that anybody left in Fallujah after November 1 was considered hostile. No quarter was offered and none was given.
Every weapon in the Marine Corps arsenal was brought into play before November 9, the day Nazario is charged with unlawfully killing detainees. Beginning November 8 and lasting for 24 hours the Marine Corps and Army dropped and fired everything from 155mm howitzers to 2,000-pound guided munitions into Fallujah. One Marine described the relentless pounding as “red rain.”
During the fight the Marine infantrymen fired hundreds of shoulder fired rockets, including 1,000 Shoulder-Launched Multi Purpose Assault Weapon--Novel Explosive (SMAW-NE) thermobaric rockets – the Corps’ entire inventory - to incinerate the enemy. The Marines didn’t win too many hearts and minds with that one. They killed so many insurgents that intelligence officers estimated enemy deaths by using a UAV to measure the ever-lengthening burial trench where the enemy laid their newly minted martyrs each day.
Knowing how many insurgents were being killed was so important an officer in RCT-1 was tasked with figuring out how much space each corpse required when laid side-by-side for burial. At the end of the fight he divided the number by the length of the trench and calculated at least 1,300 insurgents were moldering in the ditch. Brutal! The Coalition Provisional Authority that ordered the fight later estimated that about 80 percent of the city’s 160,000 structures were damaged or destroyed. So far nobody has been charged in those incidents.
Curtain up in Fallujah III
The third battle Fallujah got underway almost two years ago when a fine young man who fought at Fallujah had his dreams shattered for telling the truth during a polygraph interview during a job interview for a federal law enforcement position. Like most young Marines the young fellow was a stand-up kid who joined to serve with the best and did his duty splendidly.
Now he is badly hurt not once - but twice - for doing his duty. The first time he fought an arm’s length duel with a drugged up foreign fighter so close he watched his enemy die in the flames of his burning beard. Before it ended the young Marine was shot three times in the leg by another foreign fighter at the other end of the same dark room. After four year he left the Corps, started college, and married a pretty young lady from Kentucky. He did it all right, he thought, now it was time for some of those good ol’ G.I. benefits the government is always bragging about. He said he was really looking forward to a bright future.
The truth he told the Secret Service polygraph examiner was a simple question with a simple answer woven into a tapestry of ugliness. The question was whether he had ever witnessed an “unlawful death” while serving in Iraq. The former Marine wanted a uniformed Secret Service job guarding the White House so he had to answer truthfully. But the answer is far longer than the question.
November 9, 2004 – the day the NCIS complaint filed in Federal court says Nazario allegedly killed the Iraqi – was also known as “D+2”- is the day Kilo Company moved into Fallujah. It was tough going. It was the day Lance Corporal Juan E. Segura was killed. A sniper shot him between to SAPI plates on his body armor. The young Marine who wanted to guard the White House was holding Segura’s hand when he died. Nazario was there as well. The fight had just started and already a Marine – a particularly beloved young man - was dead.
One former sergeant, a squad leader in 3rd Platoon like Nazario, later described the impression Segura’s death engendered among the Marines of Kilo.
“As soon as it happened we all started killing people. I know at least four fighting age [Iraqi} males died when 3rd Squad put a large shaped charge on a wall in front of them. There were four or five in a house. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he remembered later on.
It seems like those Iraqis weren’t the only ones. Later that day – or perhaps during the same incident – the Iraqis the government claim Nazario helped kill allegedly died after being captured. They were reportedly running between two fighting positions when they were caught – unarmed – fleeing from a fight. They didn’t make it to their next hidey hole, the Marine who was shot three times remembered. He felt bad for them, still does. War is like that.
So is Nazario’s case murder or war – only time will tell.
What happens next to Nazario is still up in the air. He has until Aug. 22 to make a $50,000 bond. Then he has to live on $450 a week unemployment until he finds a job. Jobs are sometimes tough to get after being accused of murder – especially rookie cops.
The NCIS has referred all inquires to the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney isn’t commenting. The U.S. Attorney did release a redacted affidavit written by Fox to explain the government’s decision.
It doesn’t say much. All the names are redacted so the witnesses are still secret. Fortunately, that usually means the government’s case is weak, learned lawyers say. So does the fact it was filed on an “information” instead of a Grand Jury indictment. That usually suggests there isn’t yet enough evidence to take the case to a Grand Jury. The Feds love Grand Juries because it spreads the responsibility for errors around.
One attorney who knows that system said of the case against Nazario:
“The US Attorney can usually indict a ham sandwich,” she explained, “This case must be pickle loaf.”
What is going on?
Who the f#ck believes muzzies who'd show women holding up cartridges and claiming they were shot at her house? Who kill babies and then blame it on us. Who hide behind civilians then blame us. Who hide in mosques but claim that they are holy sites that can't be used, but use them anyway and blame us for blowing them up.
This world has gone mad.
Their first error was charging this Marine hero with a supposed crime from three years ago while he put his life on the line for our country. I believe we'll see more errors by the Feds and hopefully those errors will expose their and the NCIS's apparent agenda.
Excellent thread. Hopefully the # of views, will match the # of posts. If you are a Freeper reading this thread, don’t be shy. Tell us what you think of the treatment of the Marines and former Marines.
I work for a subsidiary of a company from one of America's success stories; I've worked with others who are from another of her success stories; and I am currently watching her latest success story in a PIP on my computer of NASA. Japan, my company's home, and Germany would not be the democracies or have the freedom they have today were it not for America spending her treasure and blood to provide and share that freedom.
Damn straight I'll bitch about this government, but I'm also damn proud that I have had a small part in keeping it on track, along with the rest of my Navy and military brethren, and especially our Marines.
Semper Fi !
Like anyone with a sense of decency and fair play, I think this bites!
Find the author of that question on the polygraph test and maybe we'd find a piece of the circle that's trying to take down the Marine Corps.
Good article, Red.
;)
In case it isn’t clear, the photo above from the UAV is a thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
Prosecutor at trial to witness: Did you see anyone killed?
Yep, a whole city of insurgents.
If you are in a city where everyone is an insurgent, because the civilians have been warned away, and you capture insurgents, what do you do with them:
1. You can't escort them to the rear because your life depends on keeping every bit of firepower you've got.
2. You can't tie them up and move on because they will probably be untied and returned to fighting against you, AND they will know your whereabouts.
3. You've got to make a decision NOW, because the threat requires your constant attention and you've got to move NOW.
4. You can't take them with you because they'll give you away to the enemy.
Does that begin to sound like your life or theirs? It sure does.
Soldiers need a knockout drug issued to them for just this kind of case. It needs to be effective for 8 to 12 hours. Even with it, though, these guys go back to fighting against you.
The NCIS needs to let their pickle loaf.
Girlene! Cover your eyes! Lily’s getting smutty!
What do you think of the knockout drug solution?
They could try, but it would be really, really stupid.
Girlene,
It wasn’t me. Red is me and I am Red. So me (Red) really posted this and the pickle smut using innocent LC’s password to post.
Well whatcha lying down for?
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