Free Republic

After holding seven Marines and one sailor in maximum pretrial confinement for three weeks, Camp Pendleton officials have decided to ease up on them. The eight men are from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. They're being jailed at the Camp Pendleton brig on suspicion of killing an unarmed Iraqi man in Hamdania, Iraq, on April 26. Their attorneys and military officials have predicted that charges of murder, assault, kidnapping and conspiracy are in the offing. Yesterday, base officials said they were switching the security level for the suspects from “maximum custody” to “medium-in” custody. The change, they said, followed...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- The Marine Corps on Thursday defended the treatment of seven Marines and a Navy corpsman being held in the base brig as investigators probe the alleged killing of an Iraqi civilian on April 26. The men from the Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment's Kilo Company are being investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service for the alleged kidnapping and slaying of 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad al-Zobaie. Family members of the servicemen have told the media that they are being held in solitary confinement. A base spokesman disputed that characterization Thursday, saying none of the eight...

MEXICO CITY - (KRT) - The day after the U.S. presidential election, Jim and Joan Marker left for a scheduled vacation in San Miguel de Allende, central Mexico. Now they've decided they'd like to live there permanently. The Alabama couple are among the many United States citizens who have been going south, for adventure or a new life. The decades-long trend has gathered steam in recent years, statistics show, and Mexico is undergoing a sustained Americanization, with Americans buying more property, seeking permanent residency and congregating in enclaves that seem like home abroad. The U.S. State Department estimates that the...