Sometimes I just don’t get it. This is definitely one of those times. I understand that waterboarding is torture. I understand that torturing a prisoner who is in full control of his captors is not acceptable. But…
This according to Fox News:
Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the military code-named “Objective Amber,” told investigators he was punched by his captors — and he had the bloody lip to prove it.
Ah… and?
Now, instead of being lauded for bringing to justice a high-value target, three of the SEAL commandos, all enlisted, face assault charges and have retained lawyers.
Now, the three must have done something more dreadful than busting a lip.
United States Central Command declined to discuss the detainee, but a legal source told FoxNews.com that the detainee was turned over to Iraqi authorities, to whom he made the abuse complaints. He was then returned to American custody. The SEAL leader reported the charge up the chain of command, and an investigation ensued.
Ahmed Hashim Abed, the captive, is said to have masterminded the Fallujah attack that killed four Blackwater employees.
Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq — the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004. And three of the SEALs who captured him are now facing criminal charges.
The three who are scheduled for arraignment on December 7, 2009 probably did something to derail the investigation of the “bloody lip.” To be sure we would not prosecute our own who seem to have been doing their jobs. Or, would we?
That’s the rub with war. We teach our men and women to kill. Yet, when they capture, instead of killing, and do bodily harm in the process we charge them with crimes. Needless to say, BernieHund is probably way left of center when it comes to war. In fact, from day one this site has protested our involvement in Iraq. That said, we sent our young men and women to Iraq to do a job. And, when we were not met with children holding flowers along the roadside as our military marched toward Baghdad…. remember? Dick and Donald said we would be welcomed with open arms…. when the war was on, it became a real war.
Granted, Blackwater is a mercenary group of well-trained soldiers. According to our government they were needed in Iraq. Whatever our opinion of mercenaries for hire, we sent them into battle. And, when members of the Blackwater team were killed as they were in Fallujah, it was natural to search for and capture those who killed them. Isn’t that what war is about?
But, to bring charges against three Navy SEALS for a bloody lip is a bit of a stretch. If there is more to the story we can only hope that it comes out. If the action taken by the military is designed to placate the Iraqi government that’s another story. We cannot allow our government to barter our brave men and women into criminal charges to make an almost certainly corrupt government happy.
Enough said. We will await the rest of the story.
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