Posted on 12/01/2003 5:27:13 PM PST by 11th_VA
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) -- An American soldier has been reprimanded and will be discharged for taking a break from a foot patrol in Baghdad to marry an Iraqi woman, his lawyer said Monday.
Sgt. Sean Blackwell, 27, is being punished for divulging the time and location of the patrol to his bride and the Iraqi judge who married them, his attorney said. The Florida National Guardsman avoided a possible court-martial for dereliction of duty and disobeying orders.
Blackwell received a written reprimand in advance of the discharge, attorney Richard Alvoid said.
"The more they punish him, the more negative publicity the military likely will receive,'' he said. "He is guilty of falling in love.''
Florida Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Ron Tittle said he had no word on disciplinary action against Blackwell or a second Florida guardsman, Cpl. Brett Dagen, 37, who married another Iraqi woman in a double ceremony during a break on the same patrol Aug. 17. Both women are physicians.
The soldiers, attached to the 1st Armored Division, have been in Iraq since April. Both were Christians who converted to Islam before they married.
A division spokesman in Baghdad, Capt. Jason Beck, had no immediate comment on the soldiers' status. Blackwell's mother, Vickie McKee, said her son has told her he could be discharged and sent home by Christmas.
The Army has not permitted Blackwell to see his bride since the wedding but recently allowed them to resume contact by telephone, McKee said.
"He's a little ticked off at the government right now,'' she said. "I'd hate for him to get a dishonorable discharge because he fell in love.''
McKee said her son told her Dagen and his bride are divorcing under pressure from the wife's parents. Gwen Tutton, Dagen's cousin, said he has told family members to stop speaking to the media.
Alvoid said Blackwell's bride, Ehdaa, has received anti-American threats and may leave the country by Christmas to go to western Europe, where the couple could be reunited. It would take much longer to get her into the United States, he said.
The couple met while Blackwell was on guard duty at the Iraqi Health Ministry.
Alvoid said he soon expects to complete a book deal for Blackwell and his wife, and that a movie may follow.
AP-ES-12-01-03 1839EST
Yep...you're right.....but some of them are too old to do the job. They should take a
good look at themselves and get the hell out of the way so others that CAN do the job
can do the deed.
No disrespect....I've been there and done that...but what I've been training these guys
going into the box since 9-11 and a lot of them should be back in their home towns,
sitting on the general store porch talkin' about "the way things were...."
One thing that's not clear is- did the other guys on the patrol know about this? If they were all aware of it before it happened, they would be "in on it" in a way. I haven't seen that info in the other threads.
I don't think that is a necessarily true statement.
This would be the same Israel where people blow themselves up in crowded places on a regular basis? ;-)
One can't help but have a certain amount of sympathy for him, but after all, he was in direct violation of orders not to collaberate with civilians while on duty.
There's a little different twist on this one too. .
Our soldiers married hundreds of thousands of foreign brides during past wars, were able to take them home after fighting subsided, and were not given disciplinary actions.
And another big difference is the brides in those past wars generally did not face stoning and public humiliation for "sleeping with an infidel."
Actually, he didn't do the girl a favor by marrying her, and most definitely messed up a good portion of his young life.
And then there is the negative precedent this sets for other soldiers in theatre.
I was in Saudi during Desert Storm and the only faces of Muslim women we saw were from other parts of the middle east other than Saudi.
We used to go down to the beach at Dharan (east cost) and the women would be walking in the surf fully dressed from head to toe, head covered and all. The few faces we saw were mostly Egyptian women visiting. Most had very nice features.
But I can tell you, nobody I knew had even one inkling of a desire to even go within fifty feet of any of them.
In fact, if you were an "infidel" male walking on the street or sidewalk of any Saudi town, the men would literally push their women (they have multiple wives) up to and facing the wall of the closest building until you were a safe distance away from them, usually thirty feet or so.
It's an insane circus world over there where women are considered property and not people - they literally have no rights.
Iraq though is largely a secular Muslim society where women live with their faces, arms, and at least ankles uncovred in public.
I guess that was enough to make this soldier go for broke.
Oh well - war is hell.
Also here.
Historically, lots of people have. Whether you believe they were "real" Christians or not is beside the point. Nobody gets to make that determination except the individual.
Correction: both called themselves Christians - just as so many Americans do.
Amplification: both were washed sows who returned to wallowing in the dung (2 Peter 2:22).
No you don't.
Actually, nobody gets to make that final determination except the Lord (1 Corinthians 4:3) — and it is He who said "the one who endures to the end will be saved" (Matthew 24:13).
You can call yourself a pickle; but that won't turn you green.
Dan
For the record, a Dishonorable Discharge is a 'punitive' discharge that only can result from a conviction by a General Courts Martial.
What he most likely will receive is an Undesirable Discharge [Under Other Than Honorable Conditions] which is an 'administrative' discharge that carries a stigma unless you reside in Hollywood.
:>)
(Christians are called to observe these things by the verse that I gave you. )
18Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. 20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.[4] 21I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son. 23No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. 24See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is what he promised us--even eternal life. 26I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit--just as it has taught you, remain in him.
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