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.”
Unfortunately, I think at least three will be charged, and that charges against Nelson will be dropped.
Unless, that is, the Corps can withstand pressure from the NCIS and drop this case altogether.
It’s significant that NCIS brought charges in a civilian court first. I think this was meant to pressure the Corps into pursuing this prosecution.
We’ll see who wins in the weeks to come.
Thank you for the ping, brityank.
Sounds like the ol’ commandant ain’t commandantin’ much.
NCIS appears to be in charge of the USMC.
That exact argument is one theory re: Malmedy
Before we win this war we need to Declare war on the NCIS, the Lawyers and the Jihadi supporting courts in this country grrrrrrrrrr.
Actually they had a better one, Their orders gave them the authority to dispose of those prisoners for the purposes of striking fear in American troops.
It was a bad strategy.
I concur; NCIS is corrupt.
Semper Fidelis,
fontman
To be honest, I have little hope that anything I have to say will have an impact but I feel like I owe a bigger debt than I could ever pay to the brave men and women serving in the military. And as the mother of a Marine whose MOS pretty much guarantees he'll be going to Iraq I'm very, very concerned about this trend of persecuting Marines.
My son wanted to be a Marine so bad he could taste it. His grandfather served during WWII. He was in the Army and part of the 4th ID who marched from Utah Beach to Barvaria. His was the first division to enter Paris and they were at Hurtgen Forest, a virtual bloodbath. His grandmother was one of the 20,000 pioneering women to become a lady Marine during WWII. She often tells him about how she would watch the Marines march in parades when she was a girl and the awe and pride she felt. She vowed if women were ever allowed in the Corps, she would join. She was at his graduation. He keeps a picture of her in her uniform with him. She is a reminder of what an honor it is to serve in the Corps. His grandparents are his inspiration.
The day he left for boot camp I think I cried until I had no tears left. There's a saying that goes, "to be a mother is to forever have your heart walking around outside your body". I understood what it meant that day. But his graduation was euphoric. The maturity and pride I saw in my son was indescribable. At that time the Haditha nonsense hadn't ramped up. I followed the story but I guess I was still in denial because couldn't believe the Marine Corps would allow this kind of thing to happen to some of its most experienced and decorated warriors. Common sense should tell you that when you're fighting an enemy that hides behind and attempts to blend into the population, civilians WILL die.
Tim McGirk spent Thanksgiving with the Taliban while his own countrymen were engaged in a battle with them (and came to the conclusion they were just a swell bunch of fellas just like the guys he'd invite over to watch a ball game), that he would have an agenda was pretty obvious. Considering how negative the press has been throughout the entire Iraq war, I'm surprised this article got such a rise out of the Marine Corps. Not to be outdone, Jack Murtha got into the act. I find it incredibly difficult to believe this man was ever a Marine. And so, charges were leveled. Then the negative stories started trickling out, selected to make these brave and careful men look like crazed murderers on a rampage of vengence. The press knows that most people don't read past the first or second paragraph and that an opinion, once it's been pounded into the public over and over and over again will most likely never change. People I thought should know better were accepting the prosecution's version of events on the basis of a carefully crafted story the NCIS was creating. It was a smart, albeit very dishonest, strategy on their part because even though the truth is now out and the Marines are being exonerated, they'll never get their reputations back completely.
It would've been easier to simply meet them at the airport and spit on them and swear at them when they got off the plane. I suppose if Tim McGirk and Jack Murtha couldn't engineer that, this was the next best thing. If it were my child going through this, I know I would never feel the same about my country or the Corps again. Heck, I've only been an observer and I have mixed feelings. The left is what it is and will never change, but I expect more out of the Marines. Every Marine may be a rifleman but I guess you tend to forget what that's like when you get far enough up the food chain.
My nervousness and doubt comes from the fact that I now know what everyone in the NCIS has known from the beginning...what JAG has known, what everyone up the chain of command has known. This was a battle, one which the powers that be could watch in real time. Intelligence about the impending battle was known ahead of time, a very thorough report with pictures was submitted afterwards, there's no reason for anyone to pretend these Marines MIGHT have done something wrong. Yet, on the words of a reporter who has no love for America's fighting men, a couple of KNOWN insurgents, and a congressman who accused these men of murdering "in cold blood", a fishing expedition ensued. They weren't looking for unbiased evidence, they were looking for "proof" a crime had been committed, following a script already written. Physical evidence (AK-47's, fake ID's, etc.) was all but ignored, coerced statements, outright lies the NCIS expected Marines to sign off on...many of these things had to be known by those in charge, those with the power to stop this, and yet they let this travesty continue.
Hamdania, Haditha and now Fallujah. When is it going to end? Sgt. Nazario has served his country and fought in one of the most harrowing battle zones in this war. Now, all he wants to do is live his life...be a cop and raise his family. Just another warrior being thrown under a bus. For what? To appease a hostile press? For the NCIS? Because Jack Murtha wants blood and is too big of a coward to apologize? Do we just continue letting the NCIS and JAG run rough-shod through the Marine Corps ruining lives? Is there no one with the authority or courage to reign them in? To investigate them and their handling of these cases? It's not like they have the most sterling history of investigative integrity. Or is it just easier to turn your head away while they continue these bizarre and unwarranted persecutions?
I thought HONOR, COURAGE and COMMITMENT meant something to the Marine Corps. What kind of honor is there to send your men into a battle and then expect them to fight another battle at home? How much honor is there in watching these families struggle to pay for legal representation, to lose their life savings while the government spends whatever they need to build a case that never should have been brought? You know who has honor? Lt. Col. Chessani! He thought it was more important to take care of his men than deal with the Tim McGirks of this world. In fact, every one of these warriors that are now or have been, under fire have more honor than I've seen exhibited by anyone up the chain of command. In spite of how they've been treated I've never heard one of them say anything negative about the Marine Corps. Those of you ready to put another Marine on the chopping block might think about that.
And where is the courage that's supposed to be a Corps value? Does it end at the battlefield's edge? Is it forgotten with the comforts of rank? How much courage is there in sending men to fight for OUR freedom and then expect them to fight for their own? Someone up the chain has the power to say enough is enough and yet no one seems willing. Someone up the chain of command has the power to come out and acknowledge what travesties these cases have been. Someone up the chain of command has the power to call for a thorough investigation of the NCIS and their tactics because they are clearly out of control. Sure, it takes courage to step out of your comfort zone. But grunts do it every single day. I've been told since my son was a poolie that the Marine Corps was a family. If it is, it's certainly a disfunctional one.
What about committment? I've heard retired Marines who still take pride in being one of "the few" no longer encouraging young people to join the Corps because of these completely unnecessary persecutions. Why should they recommend anyone make a committment to the Corps when it's evident that the Corps won't make the same committment to them? My son's grandfather, the one who bravely stormed the beaches on D-Day didn't want his beloved grandson to join the Corps because he was afraid. Not just of him being sent into battle, although that was certainly foremost in his mind, but also because of what was happening with the Hamdania and Haditha Marines (he lives near Camp Pendleton and so hears about this more than the rest of the country). He said to my husband, "If you ask him not to join, he wouldn't." That might be true, because my son honors his parents, but we would never ask him to give up his dreams.
Honestly, however, I don't want my son part of an organization that doesn't have his back. He is my heart. He is the best part of me. And he is a good Marine, proud of his Corps. Honor, courage, committment have defined his life so I really wasn't surprised to see him join. I won't be surprised if he makes it a career. Provided of course he doesn't end up being persecuted for fighting for his country.
Cindie
Has anyone told you that you are a great person? Thank you for the passionate response.
Stay proud and thank your son for me.
You also always have great support for justice. Can’t you invite any of your friends to our party?
BUMP!
The muj had specific training and preparation for possible capture. Many attacked with loosened tourniquets on their arms and legs, they got as close to our positions as they could and used the tourniquets to stay alive for the purpose of shouting out our positions, strength, and weapons. Many of them were high on hashish and opium to avoid the debilitating effect of pain. They fought or contributed to the fight until they were dead.
The Marines often had to kill "prisoners" to shut them up, no comparison to Malmedy where our captured troops were out of the fight.
Additionally, the dying muj often had charged grenades under their armpits so that removal or movement or medical assistance to the muj would kill or injure more Marines.
Bottom line, these so called "prisoners" remained committed unarmed combatants because they wouldn't shut up and they chose to boobytrap themselves.
BTW, after both fights many muj bodies were buried under rubble and consumed mainly by ants that descended on Fallujah in waves.
Additionally, the muj had gone underground in many parts of the Jolan neighborhood, so the Marines breached some river dikes and flooded them, drowning many muj.
The world can say what it likes after the fight, but from now on, if the Marines show up, the enemy knows it is going to die and die ugly.
To hell with the lawyers.
Semper fi, carry on.
The majority in Congress don’t even comprehend the War on Terror.
However, a knock-out drug could be put in the ROEs, and then the soldier is covered if this kind of crap comes up.
If those prisoners were shouting out their position, then they were not yet prisoners and were still in the fight. That makes them targets.
Nazario, the sergeant in question, is saying that the event never even happened, that it’s entirely made up, misconstrued, or something.
Good point. Bunch of lazy goons.
Yours was a wonderful post.
What if the "prisoner" was still alert because of stimulants in his system and a second KO drug killed him? Or what if multiple KO's were given by accident? And if the "prisoner" awoke? And started shouting again?
Battle application would be very complicated, medics would be better off to dose them up with the morphine they already carry.
These muj won't quit until they are dead....
Lazy, and stupid, and selfish.
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