Editor’s Note: SSG Ray Girouard is serving time at Fort Leavenworth, as are two of his men, for charges that they executed detainees they captured during combat operations near Samarra, Iraq. For those who have followed this case, the amount of corruption and falsification by the prosecution and Army leadership defies reason. Now, for the first time, the true story behind the story. Originally published at The Jaghunter, written by retired LCDR Walter Fitzpatrick III, USN. This narrative is intended to explain how and why senior commanders forced-marched Michael Steele, and Steel's innocent subordinates into Defense Department catacombs or into exile. The four purposes served in this posting are: (1) To discuss the "guilty memories" of Ray Girouard's commanders (Part II), exposing his Article 32 hearing as a sham, (2) To justify the call for Ray's immediate release, the release of Ray's men, the release of Larry Hutchins, and every other innocent serviceman followed by, (3) Effecting their return home by Christmas and, (4) Using examples on these JAG HUNTER pages (this series in particular) magnify the warning to Americans that U.S. military commanders have foresaken the U.S. Constitution. So, anyone who has access, get the word to General of the Army George W. Bush (commander ...

Editor’s Note: SSG Ray Girouard is serving time at Fort Leavenworth, as are two of his men, for charges that they executed detainees they captured during combat operations near Samarra, Iraq. For those who have followed this case, the amount of corruption and falsification by the prosecution and Army leadership defies reason. Now, for the first time, the true story behind the story. Originally published at The Jaghunter, written by retired LCDR Walter Fitzpatrick III, USN. Steele's March, Part 2 The purpose of this day's posting is to begin the process of disabusing readers that there was anything lawyerly, lawful, or moral regarding the IRON TRIANGLE courts-martial...or any courts-martial if you care to know. Ray Girouard, Ray's men and others to include Marine Sergeant Lawrence Hutchins and so many more are imprisoned in Defense Department caves as innocent men. To understand why, one must comprehend and appreciate the mind of Army General Courtney or "Court" Massengale. Massengale is Anton Myrer's antagonist in the novel Once An Eagle. Court Massengail is a very dark appellation spoken in low whispers in code throughout Pentagon corridors. The disparagement laconically and instantly identifies flag officers known to embrace Massengail's evil nature. Massengail's is a severely practical and vicious mind. The power, ...

Editor's Note: SSG Ray Girouard is serving time at Fort Leavenworth, as are two of his men, for charges that they executed detainees they captured during combat operations near Samarra, Iraq. For those who have followed this case, the amount of corruption and falsification by the prosecution and Army leadership defies reason. Now, for the first time, the true story behind the story. Originally published at The Jaghunter, written by retired LCDR Walter Fitzpatrick III, USN. Steele's March, Part I America's courts-martial scheme is burdened by a grim reputation. Experienced readers of courts-martial records become conscious always of power and design. In the series of courts-martial surrounding Operation Iron Triangle (9 May 2006), these distinctive factors quickly emerge from the shadows as a ship emerges from dense fog. Army Ranger -- Staff Sergeant Raymond L. Girouard is being punished without a jury trial for crimes he never committed. Courts-martial records are full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes. In consequence of reading yesterday some of the earliest Iron Triangle reports the diabolical government agency that acted against Ray and Ray's men took immediate shape and became coherent. JAG-knifed, Ray Girouard pays with his life for Michael Steele's avarice ...

The Marine Times reports that starting next month, our troops will need to visit a judge for a warrant when wishing to search a home or arrest an individual. Gone is the blanket protection they needed to catch terrorists--now they need to consult Iraqi officials that are often as corrupt as the terrorists we're trying to catch. For nearly six years, American troops have been free under a U.N. mandate to search any home and detain anyone deemed a security risk. All that changes next month, when the mandate expires and a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement takes effect. From then on, troops must obtain Iraqi warrants for searches and arrests — and U.S. officers say the requirement is one of the biggest headaches in complying with the new rules. This turns combat operations into a paper-based bureaucracy game. The U.S. military is about to face the same rules. The security pact states that as of Jan. 1, American troops may not search homes or make arrests without warrants “except in the case of active combat operations.” [...] For the U.S. soldiers, that means spending a lot of time at the copy machine as they try to organize the warrants already held by the ...

Turns out Iraq's new justice system is a lot like the American military one. Iraq is failing to give criminal suspects fair trials and abuse of prisoners appears common ahead of the transfer of thousands of detainees from U.S. prison camps to Iraqi control, a human rights group said on Monday. What? Unfair trials and abuse of prisoners? Check. We have that too. Look at the Hutchins, King, and Girouard cases, for starters. Human Rights Watch said prisoners had to wait months and in some cases years before being brought before a judge. Lack of speedy trials? Check. Sgt Larry Hutchins waited over a year before his case went to trial. He was confined in solitary almost that entire time. They also received ineffectual legal counsel and judges frequently relied on testimony from secret informants or confessions likely to have been extracted under torture or duress, the New York-based group said in a report. Ineffectual legal counsel and questionable "confessions?" Check! The NCIS routinely engages in "interrogations" of American troops lasting up to 14 hours with no food, water, bathroom breaks, or reprieve. I suppose it's what we can expect, considering the Iraqi justice system is supposed to be more like ours ...

The Huffington Post has an article up titled "A History of Music Torture in the 'War on Terror,'" and it's right up there for some of the most idiotic spew I've ever seen. The words "music" and "torture" together are funny anyway, but their tales of mental anguish borne by detainees forced to listen to music they don't like rank far beyond stupidity. Describing how he experienced music torture "on many occasions," Ahmed said, "I can bear being beaten up, it's not a problem. Once you accept that you're going to go into the interrogation room and be beaten up, it's fine. You can prepare yourself mentally. But when you're being psychologically tortured, you can't." He added, however, that when music was introduced, at the end of 2003, "It makes you feel like you are going mad. You lose the plot and it's very scary to think that you might go crazy because of all the music, because of the loud noise, and because after a while you don't hear the lyrics at all, all you hear is heavy banging." Poor Ahmed. The trauma he endured must have been incredible. Life-changing. Scarring, even. [Just in case you haven't figured it out yet, ...

Sgt Jermaine Nelson pled not guilty last week to charges that he killed one of four detainees in Iraq during the Battle of Fallujah in 2004. Nelson, one of Sgt Jose Nazario's men, refused to testify against his sergeant when Nazario was on trial in civilian federal court for charges relating to the same incident.  Nazario was found not guilty of the charges by a civilian jury who were appalled and upset that they were asked to sit in judgment of actions carried out by soldiers in one of the bloodiest battles of present-day American military conflict.  Nelson and his fellow Marine, Ryan Weemer, were twice imprisoned for contempt of court for refusing to testify. The question begs asking--if Nazario was found not guilty, how is it that Weemer and Nelson are still on trial?  Why are we even having this discussion?

Captain Roger Hill and his first sergeant, Tommy Scott, are the two latest victims of the military justice system.  They are charged with war crimes, dereliction of duty, and more after an incident where the government says Afghan detainees were abused.  Let's look at the government's version of "abuse": Members of his unit allegedly slapped Afghan detainees, and Hill himself is said to have fired his pistol into the ground near blindfolded Afghans to frighten them. Even the embedded journalist writing the story says it is "hard...to condemn" the two soldiers for doing their jobs. The evidence against these detainees was "incontrovertible," say several intelligence officers.  They were definitely terrorists.  Hill and Scott did what they had to do in order to get information that would allow their men to return home to their families in one piece.  But of course, our nation doesn't allow the troops to do that anymore.  Our government would rather that we look good to the global community, that we keep our testicular fortitude safe where we can't use it, in a glass case at the U.N. Headquarters. They weren't cutting the terrorists' genitals off and stuffing them in their mouths.  They weren't burning them with cigarettes and carving ...

This article from Israeli paper Haaretz outlines some new changes that are quite interesting. In accordance with the new reform, more than 20 different military edicts on disciplinary action will be combined into one clear, comprehensive order. Officers will be required to study the disciplinary rules and will be tested on their knowledge when they receive a new rank, up until the rank of colonel. Complaints against soldiers must be submitted within a week, and soldiers must be tried within 15 days from when the complaint was submitted. Israel apparently has some of the same problems with their system that the U.S. does. A similar but more limited reform in the sentencing powers of commanders was made in 2004. However, the military prosecution found in a follow-up that the number of soldiers being sentenced had not dropped in the past four years. On the other hand, a large number of distortions of justice were found; accused were sentenced for offenses they were not responsible for and harsh punishments were imposed that the sentencing officers did not have the authority to hand down. The supervisors from the military prosecution had to intervene in 57 percent of the 1,352 cases brought before them in ...

Sgt Lawrence Hutchins III sits in the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, wrongfully convicted of manslaughter. His case is one that made worldwide headlines in 2006, and continues to set records for the amount of corruption and dishonor involved in putting this amazing Marine away for over a decade–all because he did his job. There are those who have worked to free him, and continue to do so even now, almost three years after the incident in Hamdania when seven Marines and a Navy Corpsman ended the life of a terrorist responsible for many deaths. There was to be a lawsuit filed in federal court regarding the practice of attainder (pre-trial incarceration), and addressing the Feres Doctrine (the reason the government cannot be sued by private citizens). A former Marine officer and defense attorney was to represent certain concerned parties involved with the Hutchins case. He was forced to retire by the Marine Corps after his outspoken condemnation of the treatment of the Pendleton 8, Haditha Marines, and the corruption so rampant in the military justice system. For those trying so hard to free Sgt Hutchins, the last of the Pendleton 8, the idea of a day in court was the ...

by John Browning for Dallasblog.com In Part I, we examined the historic application of the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, or MEJA, to Jose Nazario, a decorated ex-Marine, for alleged actions during combat in Iraq in 2004. Although he pleaded not guilty and denied that the incident ever occurred, the charges had immediate repercussions for Nazario. Eight weeks from the end of his probation period with the Riverside Police Department, Nazario was immediately fired upon being arrested. He put up his home as collateral for his bond, and Nazario found himself unemployable with the charges hanging over him like a dark cloud. The ex-Marine and his family got by on his wife’s small paycheck and help from relatives. "At one time in your life, you’re a war hero and a breadwinner," said the former staff sergeant. "The next day, you’re facing felony charges and you’re unemployed. It’s devastating." Fortunately for Nazario, his legal defense team worked largely pro bono. Led by Kevin McDermott and a "dream team" of former Marines from high-powered law firm Pepper Hamilton, Nazario’s lawyers prepared for a courtroom battle that didn’t get underway for a year. It was hardly "CSI: Fallujah." The prosecution offered no bodies, no identities, and no ...

by John Browning With its rich wood paneling, guest gallery, and polished Olympus of a judge’s bench, Courtroom No. One in the federal courthouse in Riverside, California was unlike any battlefield on which former Marine Corps Sergeant Jose Luis Nazario, Jr. had ever found himself. But for the ex-soldier, it was still a battlefield and the stakes were just as high in that courtroom in late August of 2008 as they had been in Fallujah in November, 2004. For amidst the stern trappings of U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson’s court, Nazario was fighting for his life, on trial for alleged war crimes in connection with the killings of four Iraqi insurgents. In a historic trial, Nazario – who had already left the service and was beyond the jurisdiction of military prosecutors – became the first former soldier to be tried for wartime conduct under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act. The Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) was passed in 2000 with the best of intentions. In the midst of Congressional debate about the heightened use of contractors (who are not subject to military courts martial) and crimes overseas that local authorities were reluctant to pursue, legislators felt they were closing a loophole by ...

The Blackwater 5 case is making headlines as the newest group of scapegoats to be roasted over the coals by the U.S. government.  Using the Military Extraterritorial Judicial Act (MEJA), the five men--all prior military with combat experience and stellar careers--were charged under a 35-count indictment for their role in the deaths of Iraqi "civilians."  Absent in every news story on the case is the basic fact that terrorists are also civilians, but facts never did stop the mainstream media. The interesting legal questions in the case are legion — such as venue (the reputedly conservative Salt Lake City vs. D.C., which may be less sympathetic to the Iraq war and Blackwater?), and the proper reach of the of the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (are the guards “contractors” for purposes of the law?). But even if prosecutors get their wish on the venue issue, and even if a judge agrees with their construction of the MEJA, they’ll almost certainly face an uphill battle if the case sees trial.

It's become a common, albeit disgusting, practice for the military to allow JAG attorneys to second-guess actions in combat after the fact and from the relative comfort of safety.  But what happens when we give them the right to raise objections even before the actions happen?  The idea of lawyers reviewing attack strategies in war boggles the mind--but at the Combined Air and Space Operations Center in the Middle East, that's just what's happening. ...there is a military lawyer on hand around-the-clock. If there is a question about the legality of a strike, particularly when it endangers civilians, the lawyer provides advice reflecting the Law of Armed Conflict—the international treaties that prohibit the intentional targeting of noncombatants and require militaries to minimize risks to civilians. "And yet it's war," says Air Force attorney Col. Bill Carranza, the chief JAG officer here. No, that's not war.  That's tiddlywinks. How Carranza can even call it war is baffling. He recalls an incident in which a helicopter was down, and U.S. personnel knew someone was nearby and that he was a threat. "The question was, do we blow the guy up?" Carranza says. "You really are talking about a human life. My recommendation was that you ...

President George Bush issued 14 pardons and two commutations of sentence recently.  "Great," you may think.  "He's released Sgt Hutchins, and pardoned the rest of the Pendleton 8, and SSG Ray Girouard, and Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean."  Right? Wrong. The Center for Individual Freedom breaks it down: "bank embezzlers, tax evaders and a rapper, John E. Forte, who was convicted of aiding and abetting possession with intent to distribute cocaine." Meanwhile, for those still unfamiliar with the Ramos/Compean case, these are the facts: Compean and Ramos were [Border Patrol agents] convicted almost solely on the word of a known illegal alien drug smuggler who claimed that Compean and Ramos shot him in the butt while he was attempting to escape. Incidentally, this smuggler was attempting to transport 743 pounds of marijuana into the United States at the time of the incident. In exchange for his testimony, the smuggler was granted blanket immunity and allowed to come and go across the border almost at will and was actually caught attempting to transport more drugs into the United States while waiting to testify against Compean and Ramos. The court WOULD NOT allow this fact to be submitted during the trial. And, in what may be the greatest irony ...