[kellynla]

I expect this Marine to be exonerated.

The charges were filed by a Marine with a chip on his shoulder.
The rest of the Marines under Lt. Pantano's command support him.

This "Monday Morning Quarterbacking" by pinheads in the media who never laced up a pair of combat boots in their lives is really annoying.

Semper Fi,
Kelly

[2banana]

Web Site: http://www.defendthedefenders.org/pages/3/index.htm

[DustyMoment]

If we want Lt. Pantano to be exonerated (as he should be), start writing Don Rumsfeld and putting pressure on him. This "case" should be dropped before it ever gets to trial. It's ridiculous and stupid and the military should be embarrassed that it has gotten to this point.

The charges should never have survived beyond a preliminary, unit-level investigation.

[JarheadFromFlorida]

The charges against this outstanding Marine officer will be dropped shorty......guaranteed. The whole of this country is in no mood for prosecuting our young warriors.

[Poohbah]

My comments below are based solely on Lt. Pantano's own statements. Said statements illustrate, BTW, why there is a right to remain silent.

1. Lt. Pantano violated standing orders (Note: not "regulations," orders) for handling prisoners that were put in place to safeguard the lives of the Marines in his charge. That showed appallingly bad judgement.

2. Said violations of standing orders, in all likelihood, led directly to the deaths of prisoners in Lt. Pantano's charge. If they were innocent, then said deaths were negligent homicide at best. If they were actual terrorists, then Lt. Pantano's poor judgement ensured that there would be no opportunity for interrogating the prisoners. Dead men tell no tales, but prisoners can become downright chatty.

When I was in the Marine Corps, we were taught to handle prisoners as follows:

1. Secure the prisoners so that they would have no opportunity to escape or pose a threat to yourself and other Marines;
2. Search the prisoners and ensure they were not concealing weapons or destroying/hiding items of intelligence value;
3. Silence the prisoners to prevent them from communicating among themselves, whether said communication be to facilitate an escape attempt or an effort to deny accurate intelligence;
4. Segregate apparent leaders from their subordinates, to prevent them from exercising command and control;
5. Safeguard the prisoners from hostile fire or enemy attempts to free them;
6. Speed them to the rear so that they could be interrogated while any information they had was still of intelligence value.

None of the above is rocket science. When Pantano uncuffed the prisoners, he engaged in felony-grade stupidity.

By not adhering to standing orders for handling prisoners, Lt. Pantano recklessly endangered his Marines' lives. The Marine Corps is not known for tolerating that sort of conduct from its officers. When simple common-sense orders get ignored and somebody ends up dead when they shouldn't be, the USMC gets rather bloody-minded about it, and someone will wind up with a broken career at a minimum.