They are, by all accounts that I’ve been reading, in a horrible situation and will probably be convicted and sentenced to death.

I have been terribly worried about this considering what happened to Jack Idema in 2004, what happened to Ilario Pantano in 2005, the accusations and conviction in the press of our military in incidents where not all the facts are presented–and now my worst fears have been realized. In the Pantano case our domestic enemies learned that the defendant could exonerate himself with forensic evidence, so in Taliban-style, reminiscent of Jack Idema’s Taliban court proceedings in Afghanistan, the American government is now going to allow these 8 marines to face DEATH without allowing the evidence that is available to clear them. We need to take more action, with more people, and stand strong in our convictions in fighting this terror war and to help our brothers at arms.

I have been calling for people to write their Congressmen and elected officials about Jack and his men and the torture they endured right after they were arrested in 2004.

Take a close look at Jack’s face in these pictures.

Try to imagine what it would be like to endure these horrible injuries knowing that the American government is going to do nothing to see that the Geneva Conventions are upheld, and that the American government will do nothing to stop this.

These men were severely injured. Caraballo’s foot was like a football, he had been the victim of Falaqua. Idema had both shoulders torn out–(torn rotator cuffs), a broken sternum, detached retinas in both eyes, 5 broken ribs, etc. So–they needed enough time to go by in order for the injuries they’d sustained to heal. Of course, the Taliban didn’t wanted their injuries to be apparent to either the Red Cross or the media that was present. I don’t know why, the American Consul Sandra Ingram had made sure that the medical reports were rewritten to soften the reports.

I’ve been asking for people to join me in writing our elected officials about their illegal incarceration of Jack Idema after the members of his crew were declared innocent in a Trial De Novo in Afghanistan, and even before Karzai signed their release orders and Caraballo was released this past April. Few people were outraged, perhaps thinking that this was going on in a foreign country.

Well now people should be sitting up and listening.

Now it’s time for our voices to grow louder and stronger and for all of us to pull together to create a very loud voice in their defense. And it’s not just Jack and Brent that I’m speaking in defense of; it’s all those who are being charged with ‘human rights violations’ against terrorist scumbags, while being fed propaganda and lies by our mainstream media, oftentimes by the terrorists themselves.

That’s right, stupes; that means all your references to Carlotta Gall’s articles and Mariah Blake’s articles and other journalists who reported that Jack is a ‘bounty hunter’ and a ‘conman’, that his long history with special forces is a farce; fall completely flat because they were not based on the truth. I’ve already deconstructed Stacy Sullivan’s piece and Mariah Blake’s Tin Soldier in two posts here and here; most of the other journalists who did their false reporting did so on the basis of those lies.

This is being played completely out of the Al Qaeda playbook; the terrorists lie with false accusations, but the Americans don’t pay attention to the lies; they assume the terrorists are telling the truth and act on those accusations, treating our boys like criminals. The Bush administration’s oversensitivity to the lies of Stalinists, Marxists and Leninists who send money to terrorists should give everyone a clue as to the direction we’re headed in and it isn’t good. Our boys are being treated worse than criminals, if you read how rough the detainees at Gitmo have it. (Halal meals more expensive per meal than the meals our own soldiers in the field get; halal meat, a sign pointing them to mecca in their cells, a call to prayer 3 x a day, an imam available 24 hours a day, a prayer rug, prayer beads, a prayer cap, a brand new quran, etc.; all courtesy of US tax dollars.)

Did You Know?
Gitmo prisoners receive luxury items such as foot baths, Halal meals and Harry Potter books.

There’s More…
The terrorists at Gitmo enjoy foods such as rice pilaf, orange glazed chicken and cotton candy.

Have you heard how the Terrorists are being tortured at Club Gitmo?
Some of the more disturbing Gitmo tortures include:

- Vegas Style Playing Cards
- Flushable Toilets w/Comfort Seat
- Arrows Pointing to Mecca
- Library with Hardcover Books
- Soft Towels (Scented & Folded)
- Dandruff Shampoo
- Chocolate Cake

Death of the Marine Corps, Chapter 1. In this brief Chapter, Kit describes what the marine corps is, and its honorable history, and then turns to what the Innocent 8 are facing right now.

You were sent to a faraway country, just like so many before you, and you did your duty the best you knew how. You sweated throughout the days and froze during the nights, sleeping in tents that were no protection against the mortars that deafened your ears and inched ever closer during the few moments of sleep you were allowed. You held the bloody hands of your friends as they died in front of you, some of them calling for their mothers, others whispering the bittersweet “Tell my wife…” Some of them didn’t say anything at all, instead gurgling through their own blood as they died. Semper fidelis.

You went without food, without sleep, without basic things like clean clothes and a shower. Through it all, you somehow managed to hang on to your sanity in a place where a lie is as commonplace as the truth, and the enemy just might be a 7-year-old child on the side of the road, smiling at you and asking for candy only so you will get close enough to him to be killed by the explosives he carries. No matter what the climate, the terror, the smells of blood and death or your buddy’s guts that spilled out in front of him, you press on, determined to complete the mission. Many of your brothers have come back again and again to this place, unwilling to sit in a recliner in their livingroom and watch TV while you try to wipe the blood from your uniform and catch a few minutes of sleep before the next mission. No matter what the cost, you are all willing to pay it. Semper fidelis.

Now imagine that you are sitting in an 8×8 cell, as are seven of your brothers, waiting to find out if your promise to remain faithful will in fact result in your death–not in a hail of enemy fire, not in the blinding explosion of a terrorist’s bomb, but by the sterile needle of a lethal injection, administered by the very country you spent your adult life defending. You have been shackled, wearing a label that says “PVD”: potentially violent and dangerous. You have been here for over a month now, in solitary confinement for almost 24 hours a day, with nothing to do but pray that someone stands up for you, just as you did for them. But hope is dwindling. Your military attorneys don’t have time to help you, and your civilian attorneys are being denied access to evidence that would prove you’re innocent–no autopsy of the man they say you murdered in cold blood, no witnesses, nothing. In fact, you’ve just been told that you may be tried without ever facing your accusers in court–accusers who already have given conflicting stories and dishonest statements. Your life hangs in the balance, but the chances here are even worse than they were in Iraq. There is a very good chance that you will die, convicted of a crime you did not commit, betrayed by the very country you defend.

But this is just a story. This never actually happened, right?

Wrong. It’s happening right now. At the moment I write this, eight men sit in solitary confinement, charged with crimes that never happened. Their case is explosive, their story heartbreaking. I don’t believe any American, after hearing the facts of this case, can call it anything but a travesty of justice that may not only kill eight innocent men, but the idea of the United States Marine Corps as an honorable institution. I hope you read this series, yes. But I challenge you to act upon it.

The Innocent 8 fulfilled their vow. Now it is our turn.

Semper fidelis.

—————————–

Note: This is the first in a series of articles on the Innocent 8–seven Marines and a Navy corpsman who are being held on charges of kidnapping and murder. They are facing the death penalty, and are being denied due process and the right to a defense.

I will be writing in detail on this case from now throughout the next few days, but these men need help now. What they need most is money for their defense, and letters of support. I’ll have more on this later.

http://innocentmarine.com - PFC John Jodka III
http://Defensefundformyhero.com - Cpl Trent Thomas
http://patriotdefensefund.com/ - HC3 Melson J. Bacos

Death of the Marine Corps, Chapter 2 In this chapter, Kit goes into more detail on precisely what our Marines are facing.

It began on 26 April, in Hamdaniya, Iraq. Seven Marines and their Navy Corpsman, from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment shot and killed an insurgent. Just another day, just another insurgent in this dirty, dusty land where almost everyone–even children–can smile at you one moment and kill you the next.

But this would not be just another insurgent, and the events of 26 April will be dissected over and over in the coming weeks. The report the Marines filed after the action said that Awad was “digging on the side of the road from our ambush site. I made the call and engaged. He was pronounced dead at the scene with only a shovel and AK-47.” Just another day.

Yet a few months later, the eight men are fighting for their lives in a whole new arena: the courtroom. With an Article 32 scheduled next month and most assuredly a trial after that, the Marines and Navy corpsman are accused of decidedly more than just engaging the enemy. The charge sheets for the eight men claim a host of infractions: Murder, larceny, assault, housebreaking, kidnapping, false official statements, and obstruction of justice. The Marine Corps says these men were looking for a certain insurgent but couldn’t find him, and so they broke into Hashim Ibrahim Awad’s house, dragged him outside, tied him up and put him on his knees, and then shot him 4 times.

There are some basic problems with the case. Dan Riehl has done some excellent research as to the conflicting statements by “witnesses.” He found that in almost every facet of the story, there are discrepancies, none of which are being mentioned by the media. In fact, in an apparent failure to communicate with each other (and fact check), “both Knight Ridder and the WaPo state the accounts cannot be independently confirmed.”

Sound familiar?

• Discrepancies, which are not being mentioned in the media.
• An ‘unconfirmed source(s)’ provide(s) information that results in the most horrible situation I can ever imagine in my wildest dreams.
• If the accounts cannot be independently confirmed, then why are they being held based on the lies of known terrorists?

Well if you’ve been following the Jack Idema story, you know the answer. It’s becoming de rigeur now, which is a horrifying reality.

The Death of the Marine Corps Chapter 3

Eight men stand charged in the death of an insurgent in Hamdaniya, Iraq. His family claims he was a harmless old, disabled man who refused to become an informant for the Americans. Considering the lack of value placed on truth in Iraqi culture, and the fact that the family stood to gain $2500 in American dollars if they claimed their relative was a noncombatant, a logical person would have a hard time believing the disjointed, conflicting statements by various members of the family. More shocking than even the accusations themselves is the way in which this case has been handled by the Marine Corps. The timeline of events points to something even more insidious than a cover-up; it shows a blatant disregard for the lives of eight men who voluntarily gave of themselves for their country, and a willingness to allow the anti-American Left to dictate how we fight the war in Iraq, even at the expense of the troops they so vehemently claim to support.

What does it mean to say that the Marine Corps has mishandled this case? Judge for yourself if this adheres to the Constitutional protections afforded a suspect in a crime.

* These proud Marines and corpsman were taken from a combat situation and questioned for hours in Iraq–in at least one case, seven hours–without food, water, or even a bathroom break.

* Marines returning home from redeployment must go through a COSC Redeployment Checklist that attempts to prepare them for “re-entry” into the life they left behind. They are given a Marine Redeployment and Reunion Guide that helps to explain some of the changes that may have occurred in their absence, and offers resources for coping with some of what can affect them emotionally when they return. These men were taken straight from combat into interrogation with no transition, no resources, nothing.

* They were told that they could ask for a lawyer, but that it “would be the biggest mistake of their lives.”

* The interrogations were not recorded in any way.

* They were shipped home and immediately incarcerated in solitary confinement, complete with connected leg and wrist shackles that a guard held when they went anywhere. They were not allowed a pen or paper, or even a toothbrush. Keep in mind that at this point, they had not been charged with any crime. Their shackles were recently removed, and they are now allowed to eat their meals with the other Marines. They also received access to a toothbrush, weeks after being initially confined.

* The Marine Corps claims that the shackles were consistent with pre-trial confinement, but there are no other cases where the accused are confined in this manner. In fact, the Marines that were involved in the Haditha incident, trumpeted by the media as the new My Lai, are not confined at all. One of them just received a promotion.

* The Corps has assigned each man two military attorneys; however, none of them have been able to do any work on the case. For three weeks the defense was completely stalled since all requests had to go through military defense counsel and the defense counsel were not available. One was moving to California from North Carolina, one was coming off reserve status, and some of them were already working 30 other cases.

Most people would be incensed by now. The above would never be accepted in a civilian court. Cases have been thrown out for much less.

But it gets worse. Much, much worse.

* The Marine Corps has denied the defense request that they be allowed to go to Iraq and interview potential witnesses and other involved parties. The prosecution claims that after the Article 32, they will decide whether a trip to Iraq is warranted, and may or may not allow the defense to go. This means that the defense will not be allowed to view the alleged crime scene; they will also not be able to talk to anyone that the NCIS may have overlooked.

* The defense has not been given access to the body to have an autopsy performed. The preliminary report showed that there was no evidence of a permanent disability or that the man was even bound by his hands and feet as the prosecution claims, but the prosecution has refused to give the defense the full autopsy report. The body was brought to Dover AFB for a full postmortem, and then shipped back to Iraq and reburied without the defense being allowed near it.

* The prosecution has denied the defense’s request for all supporting evidence: the alleged full autopsy, forensic evidence, trajectory reports, and ballistic report. They claim that the evidence is “not complete.” If the evidence isn’t complete enough to hand over to the defense, then why are they even being held? And how can the attorneys mount a defense without any of the evidence?

* Not only can the defense team not go to Iraq to talk to witnesses, there is “no assurance” that these accusers are going to be present at the Article 32–or the trial itself. Prosecutor Sean Gibson says, “There is no mechanism in place to compel them to testify.”

Make sure you keep on top of what’s going on with the Innocent 8 over at Euphoric Reality. The coverage can be found on the right hand side of the website. God bless those girls; Kit is doing an incredible job oncde again.

I’m working behind on the scenes on another story related to the Jack Idema case; but I strongly feel without reservation that all of these travesties of justice that are being played out now having to do with our military, and our taking action on the lies of known terrorists, can be traced back to Jack Idema’s arrest in Afghanistan back in July of 2004, and the State Department and Department of Justice and the DOD’s appalling inaction in their case, which is now bleeding over into other cases in the war on terror.

There is no doubt in my mind that if I were thinking about enlisting, but realized that just by engaging the enemy I could be brought up on charges and thrown in the brig in shackles by my own government for doing the job I was sent over there to do; I would not sign up.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE? It’s an outrage and something has to be done about it!

I am disgusted and ashamed of the lawyers who would rush to the defense of terrorists, and who leave the men who are fighting this war - to die.

So Jack Idema’s leftist detractors can laugh and poke fun at his continued incarceration; the sad fact is it isn’t only Idema who is paying a terrible price for having the courage and intestinal fortitude to do a job most Americans are not capable of doing. The Innocent 8, by all indications, are going to end up paying for a crime that was not committed (murdering an innocent Iraqi); all based on the lies of known terrorists; with their lives.