Posted on 06/24/2006 6:05:36 AM PDT by radar101
Camp Pendleton officials are busy adding spokesmen, bringing in more military lawyers and brainstorming to find ways to accommodate the roughly 150 reporters covering the case of eight service members who are accused of killing an Iraqi man without cause.
If those logistical challenges aren't enough, base commanders also must deal with the scores of people who have gathered in front of Camp Pendleton's main gate every Saturday for the past three weeks. The visitors are protesting the detention of the defendants, who are confined in the base brig. They're expected to hold a further demonstration today.
“The military should stick to defending our country, not imprisoning heroes who are brave enough to serve in Iraq,” said Marlene Stewart of Chula Vista, who has attended two of the protests. “We will continue to give them plenty of headaches until they free those men.”
The suspects, seven Marines and a Navy corpsman, are: Lance Cpl. Tyler A. Jackson, Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III, Pfc. John J. Jodka, Cpl. Marshall L. Magincalda, Lance Cpl. Robert B. Pennington, Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr. and Cpl. Trent D. Thomas.
They're from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment based at Camp Pendleton.
The Marine Corps has accused them of kidnapping and fatally shooting Hashim Ibrahim Awad on April 26 in Hamdaniya, a town west of Baghdad, then trying to conceal the killing by making it look as if he were planting a roadside bomb.
The defendants were charged Wednesday with premeditated murder, kidnapping, assault, conspiracy, larceny, obstruction of justice, making false official statements and unlawfully breaking into Awad's home.
Base officials also anticipate charges to be filed against a different group of Camp Pendleton Marines in the deaths of some 24 civilians in Haditha, Iraq, in November.
Taken together, the coming weeks and months might not be fondly remembered among Marine Corps officials or residents living near the base, said Debbie Stevenson, military editor for the Killeen Daily Herald, a 26,000-circulation hometown newspaper serving Fort Hood and central Texas.
Stevenson had a catbird seat when Fort Hood hosted the Abu Ghraib trials, in which soldiers were accused of abusing and torturing detainees at a prison in Iraq. Ultimately, 11 defendants were convicted of charges ranging from assault to indecency to lying to investigators.
At the time – spring 2004 – President Bush described the Abu Ghraib scandal as the United States' greatest mistake of the Iraq war.
Stevenson remembered the frenzied media atmosphere.
“The national press was a pain in the butt. They acted like prima donnas,” said Stevenson, an edge in her voice. “They were very condescending toward the military.”
Fort Hood officials declined to comment on what transpired during the trials.
The legal proceedings at Camp Pendleton could dwarf those at Fort Hood in terms of media interest and public impact, Stevenson said. That's because they involve allegations of premeditated murder.
For example, more than 150 reporters were on hand to cover Wednesday's announcement of charges against the Hamdaniya suspects.
In anticipation of upcoming hearings, base officials are converting a building into a media center with plenty of room for reporters to work and view closed-circuit TV from the courtroom.
The Marine Corps has reassigned Lt. Col. Sean Gibson and Maj. Jeff Nyhart to handle public relations at Camp Pendleton. Gibson was a spokesman for the Marines at the U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla., and Nyhart worked at the Marines' film and TV liaison office in Los Angeles.
The Corps also has battened down its media hatches.
In a recent memo, Marine officials asked all military personnel and civilians living or working at Camp Pendleton to direct all questions from the media to the base's public-affairs office.
To underscore that point, base commanders recently sent media outlets a “courtesy reminder” informing them that all media visits must be coordinated with Camp Pendleton representatives. If allowed on base, reporters must remain under escort at all times.
On the legal front, at least six active-duty military lawyers from the West Coast have been reassigned to Camp Pendleton to handle the Hamdaniya cases. Each of the eight defendants has military counsel and a civilian attorney.
Senior prosecutors also have been added to the Hamdaniya roster.
Rick Rogers: (760) 476-8212; rick.rogers@uniontrib.com
To underscore that point, base commanders recently sent media outlets a “courtesy reminder” informing them that all media visits must be coordinated with Camp Pendleton representatives. If allowed on base, reporters must remain under escort at all times.
That ought to burn their butts..hee.hee.hee
Its amazing that the protesters gathering at the gate are against their confinement to begin with!! Showing s'upport' for the military isn't the norm!
"Senior prosecutors have been added........"
The higher-ups are really pouring it on to make sure the accused young guys will be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness and that in the future, our troops will think twice about engaging the enemy in the way they've been trained.
In fact, I believe the rules of engagement will be changed so that our fighters will have to ask "May I?" before shooting to kill.
Since the liberals and leftists and "hate Bush-ites" have infested every pillar of our society, does anyone think that the military brass isn't infected, also?
Name just a couple of public arenas that the left hasn't taken over, or are in the process of doing so. Media, entertainment, churches, academia, college, university and high scrool campi, legal profession, the Senate, environment circles........what am I forgetting?
Leni
You are right...this thing is turning an ugly shade of brown for the top people in the Corps.
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