Marines Charged for Murder of Iraqi - Political Prosecution to Appease the Left & Islamic World

By: Steve Yuhas

When the announcement was made on Tuesday that seven Marines and a navy corpsman were being charged for an incident that allegedly occurred in Hamdaniya, Iraq the left and people like Cindy Sheehan, John Kerry and John Murtha must have applauded.  After all, so many of them were animated that our servicemen were cold blooded killers (Murtha), terrorizing innocent Iraqis in the night (Kerry) and doing everything against the laws of war (Sheehan) that they must now be thankful that charges are being filed against the military warriors.

If someone were to turn on the news and just watch five minutes of the talking points of any left wing organization – organizations that decide elections and nominees for the Democratic Party – the eight people who were willing to give their lives for their nation are already guilty.

Why bother with a trial at all – this is a political prosecution not a military one and a prosecution that comes just after the mutilated and decapitated bodies of two other servicemen who went missing last week were found by Iraqi officials: Army PFC Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, TX and PFC Thomas Tucker, 25, of Madras, OR.

Now military officials in the United States will turn their attention, not to avenging the desecration of men who served their country, but to the prosecution of eight for an incident for which witnesses are sparse and during which time a war was going on.

Those sitting in the brig at Camp Pendleton are all from 3/5 Marine Regiment and have a presumption of innocence, but the standard of proof and rules of evidence in the trial of these eight will make the Moussaoui trial look like a judicial hit parade.

Sitting in the brig awaiting trial for murder and other charges are: Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III, navy corpsman Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, Corporals Marshall L. Magincalda and Trent D. Thomas, Lance Corporals Tyler A. Jackson, Robert B. Pennington, Jerry E. Shumate Jr and Private First Class John J. Jodka.

Colonel Stewart Navarre, Chief of Staff for Marine Corps Installations West said in a statement announcing the charges, “The Marine Corps takes allegations of wrongdoing by Marines very seriously and is committed to thoroughly investigating such allegations. The Marine Corps also prides itself on holding its members accountable for their actions.”

That would be great if the defendants in the case were not presumed guilty by some Democratic members of Congress (the place from which the funds for not only war, but peace come from) and if the rules governing the trials of these eight people were equal to those that are given to a convicted and admitted member of al-Qaeda in federal court.  They’re not.

Military justice is not like the justice system that would be applied to any civilian in a civilian court charged with the most heinous of crimes, but the swiftness in which this case was put together boggles the mind; especially for someone like me who worked in the Marine Corps justice system and watched as it took months to put together cases regarding simple infractions like unauthorized absence or desertion.

Being held in the brig at Camp Pendleton is no luxury and the men there are probably sitting in the dark bowels of the prison (the brig will not say and neither will the public information desk at Camp Pendleton), but I know that prison well and no matter where they are it is tragic that the eight of them sit rotting in pre-trial confinement because of a report by NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) and the whim of the general in charge of IMEF: Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler (who will receive his 4th star from the very Congress that includes some members who have already sullied the reputation of not just these Marines, but servicemen and women the world over).

Lawyers for the defendants and their families are looking forward to the Article 32 hearing because they will finally be able to look at the evidence against their clients. 

Joseph Casas and Jane Siegal are attorneys representing servicemen caught up in this political war: their defense may take them to Iraq to interview the alleged victims and certainly other servicemen.  Parents of servicemen are adamant about the innocence of their children as well.

John Jodka’s father told reporters that the Article 32 hearing is a relief, “It's sorta like taking a breath after holding your breath for a long time. (My son) wants to get on with this so he can be vindicated.”

Another defense attorney, David Brahms who represents Lance Corporal Robert Pennington also talked to reporters, “We will see all the evidence. The government will tell its story and we will tell ours. . . . I'm ready for war.”  And he will be as Brahms is a former Marine Corps Brigadier General and suffice it to say that he (as the other defense attorneys) will take a political prosecution and prove that is exactly what it is.

Mothers and fathers all across the nation, indeed the world because our military is made up of a sea of foreign nationals that want to serve America, used to only have to worry if their son or daughter would be killed or injured in battles for which they volunteer to fight for the United States.  Now their worries must be turned to not only worry about safety, but to a judicial system – foreign to most of them because the Uniform Code of Military Justice is not exactly coffee table literature – that may take their child away from them because the left in this country desires so much to prove America and our military are always in the wrong.

To the Marine Corps I say that it is shameful that you have given into the pressures of the left to pursue charges against people who volunteered to serve and whose innocence is merely implied and not implicitly stated.  The zeal in which these men are being processed is telling and in very short order we will know whether or not something bad happened in Hamdaniya, Iraq or if NCIS or an Iraqi family or other serviceman decided they saw something that they did not see.

The terrible thing is that we don’t yet know and seldom talk about the good the men and women in uniform are doing for the people of Iraq and although showing the world that we prosecute our own may be great for geopolitical battles, but it is a living hell for the people involved.

Real lives are ruined because for the rest of their lives these eight men will forever be tarnished with the accusation of murder and other charges – innocent or not – because in the age of the Internet and instant communication nothing can ever be erased and that is not only shameful for them, but should cause the military to pause and think about recruiting.

Who would want to sign up to serve in the armed forces of the United States knowing that even when our troops are viciously and barbarically tortured and beheaded one day that the very next a group of men would be held in the brig (jail) for crimes they have not even been accused of committing, but whose freedom has been taken because there is sufficient evidence in one man’s eyes (whose career depends on the blessing of Congress) says there is?

And America is watching the prosecutions at Duke University over rape with a jaundiced eye – take a look at Pendleton!

Would I sign up today – perhaps, but I’d certainly think twice about being a foot soldier, infantryman or corpsman for in the heat of battle they now have to worry not only about their lives, the lives of the men around them and the innocent civilians (and G-d forbid offending the delicate sensibilities of Iraqis), but now they have to worry about accusations that will stay with them forever.

It used to be that being a pogue (an administrative person in the Marine Corps) made you the butt of jokes – today there is probably a line 100,000 long yearning to be behind a desk rather than in battle and that is the antithesis of what the Marine Corps used to be.

By the way - since NCIS is so into investigating murder - if i remember correctly (and I do) John Kerry admitted to having committed war crimes and murder in Vietnam - no statute of limitations: maybe they should indict him?

Steve Yuhas is a radio talk show host on News Radio 600 KOGO in southern California and may be reached at steve@steveyuhas.com or www.steveyuhas.com