Posted on 06/14/2006 5:29:19 AM PDT by 13Sisters76
American troops in shackles By Michelle Malkin
Jun 14, 2006
Did you know there are seven young Marines and a Navy corpsman sitting in a military brig right now in leg and wrist shackles -- despite the fact that they've not been charged with any crime?
The men are in solitary confinement, locked in 8'x8' cells at San Diego's Camp Pendleton, as investigators probe an April 26 incident involving the 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Division. They are behind bars 23 hours a day; family members can only see them through inch-thick Plexiglas. Military blabbermouths have told the press that the service members are suspected of kidnapping and shooting a man in the Iraqi town of Hamdaniya. The Iraqi man's family reportedly came forward seeking payment for his death as media hysteria set in over the separate alleged atrocity in Haditha.
These men -- our men -- may be innocent. They may be guilty. Charges may or may not be filed this week. But this much is certain: The media leaks and the Murtha-fication of the case are already taking a heavy toll on the troops and their families. The headlines have already convicted them: "Iraqi's Slaying Planned By Marines, Official Says." "Marines Planned to Kill Iraqi Civilian, Then Planted Evidence."
The national media ignored a protest by supporters outside Camp Pendleton over the weekend. "I want the Marines to know that they are not forgotten, that people are out here thinking of them," said one attendee. The father of one of the men in custody, Pfc. John J. Jodka, worried: "It appears to me that this is the reaction of some senior people to show 'We're in charge; we're cleaning up our act.'"
Not a peep heard yet from the American Civil Liberties Union. The website of the self-anointed crusaders for individual rights contains hundreds of articles on the rights of al Qaeda suspects and an indignant press release on the suicides of Guantanamo Bay detainees. But no mention of the Camp Pendleton Eight. For their part, human rights groups were too busy shedding tears for the Gitmo terrorist suicide squad and lionizing them as "heroes" in the words of William Goodman of the Center for Constitutional Rights. Editorial cartoonists have been preoccupied desecrating the Marine Corps logo and tarring troops as baby-killers.
A clarion voice stepped into the fray this week to push back against the global rush to judgment against our troops. Ilario Pantano, a Desert Storm vet-turned-Wall Street banker and new media entrepreneur-turned-reenlisted Marine from Hell's Kitchen, launched his gripping book "Warlord: No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy" this week, which recounts his harrowing ordeal as a Marine smeared and cleared. Last spring, he faced the death penalty for defending himself and his men in the heat of battle and killing two Iraqi insurgents. He was accused then, as Marines are being accused now, of wantonly executing Iraqis to send a message. His family and friends' defense of Pantano was met, as those of Marines are being met now, with incredulity or apathy.
There were no pleas to withhold judgment against Pantano from the New York Times then. No Oprah sit-downs now with the wives and children of accused troops.
As an agitated, condescending Ann Curry of NBC's "Today Show" tried to paint Pantano Monday as a callous thug, he replied with quiet dignity: "I don't think it's helpful to national security to have this kind of self-flagellation before the facts are actually disclosed."
Innocent until proven guilty? Justice for all? Benefit of the doubt? These are apparently foreign concepts when it comes to Americans in uniform being held on American soil. Perhaps if our troops proclaimed themselves "conscientious objectors" and converted to Islam, they might start getting some sympathy.
Michelle Malkin is a syndicated columnist and maintains her weblog at michellemalkin.com. She has also authored books such as Unhinged and In Defense of Internment.
Copyright © 2006 Townhall.com
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Find this story at: http://townhall.com/opinion/columns/michellemalkin/2006/06/14/201116.html
Yet people like Kennedy can murder a young woman in his car, call it an accident, not report the "accident" for god knows how long, and still get elected to the US Senate.
This country needs a serious enema. Starting in Washington DC.
Where else would you insert the tube?
Where else would you insert the tube?
Save some for the State Legislature in Nashville, TN!
"not report the "accident" for god knows how long, and still get elected to the US Senate"
I think it was 9 hours. Just long enough to get sober and legal advice.
"I thought locking people up without charging them was perfectly acceptable during wartime. No? "
If they are enemy combatants. Are these guys enemies?
I just think this is a rather hypocritical piece considering Malkin has no problem justifying the internment of Japanese American citizens during WWII. Were they enemies?
"I thought locking people up without charging them was perfectly acceptable during wartime. No? "
Not when they're our own troops under orders, risking their lives, when they've been tried and found guity ONLY by the Drive-by Media, al Qaeda's operatives on these shores. Who's side are we on, anyway? - the Marines we sent over there to defend us or the terrorists who slaughter us whenever they have the opportunity?
This is a shameless frame-up. Set those Marines FREE!
bump
Ted Kennedy waited long enough to let Mary Jo Kopechne die of oxygen deprivation.
The coroner said she did not die of drowning. There was little water in her lungs.
She was found in rigor mortis position in the upside down car with her arms outstretched and locked to brace herself
and her neck craned back to keep her head in the air pocket at the top inside the upside down car
while Teddy waited until the next morning to report the "accident."
First off you are no conservative. Not sure how you have been allowed to stay on FR. Secondly, our men in arms are not terrorists and should be treated as such. While they may be held in detention while charged with a crime, they should not be held in chains and shackles inside a cell.
When I asked for help suing a city on 4th and 14th amendment case, they were completley consumed working for the rights of homosexuals to adopt and couldn't be bothered with garden variety Bill of Rights.
It's fairly common in the military to lock someone up who is accused of a capital crime. The investigating board made the recommendation that these guys be confined prior to trial. It prevents them from going AWOL, threatening potential witnesses, or committing acts of sabotage. It's the same as a civilian being denied bail prior to a felony trial.
Pretty soon we won't be able to get wonderful men like these fellows to join the serevices, since the system is set up to screw them for political gain.
"Malkin has no problem justifying the internment of Japanese American citizens during WWII. Were they enemies"
Japanese internments were not shackled and chained.
These marines are innocent untill proven guilty.
We are treating gitmo's better
Liberalism is a bigger threat to the US than Islam.
I understand, but they're going too far with the leg and wrist shackles. That's ridiculous. I'm glad Michelle is shining a light on this situation and hopefully the military will rethink these measures of containment overkill.
"I think it was 9 hours. Just long enough to get sober and legal advice."
It also gave him time to get that neck brace.
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