Our Marines Are In Shackles!!

THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED FROM IT’S ORIGINAL VERSION TO SEPARATE THE INCIDENTS OF HADITHA AND HAMANDIA. THE ARTICLE WHERE I DEBUNK THE ALLEGED EVENTS OF HADITHA IS FOUND HERE.

I am shaking with fury right now. I just listened on the radio to the father of one of the Marines and the wife of the Navy corpsman incarcerated in Camp Pendleton - UNCHARGED -after Haditha. Let me tell you what’s going on with OUR Marines right at this moment:

While “detainees” (not “terrorists”, not “prisoners”, not “criminals”, mind you) at Gitmo are accorded every privilege - including playing soccer in the sun, praying whenever they want, white-glove Koran service, and halal meals…our Marines, who have NOT been charged with any crime whatsoever are in SOLITARY CONFINEMENT and wearing leg and wrist SHACKLES. They are allowed no exercise, and can only go outside for one hour per day - unable to move around because of their SHACKLES. They are not allowed to hug their wives or their children - and they are only allowed to speak to them through thick glass, again immobilized while in SHACKLES. They are being treated worse than the terrorist scum lounging around Gitmo on the American dime!!

Yes, goddamn it, you read that right. They have not been charged with any crime, yet they are treated as GUILTY until proven innocent. They are confined in solitary like the worst criminals, and THEY. ARE. NOT.

They are seven Marines and one Navy corpsman from one of the most storied, illustrious units in the Corps: the Dark Horse 3rd Battalion 5th Marines. Their unit motto is “Consummate Professionals” - which every Marine in that unit does his best to embody. They are not slackers, they are not newbies, they are not psychotic, and they are not untried or unblooded. They have lost their brothers in Baghdad, Fallujah, Mosul and Haditha. The Marines under investigation for the events at Haditha were on their second or even third deployment - they were not raw recruits.

Today, our Marines are today SHACKLED like the worst sort of criminals even though they’ve not been charged with any crimes; they are barred from their families; and they are enduring a massive witch-hunt - and already presumed GUILTY by our politicians and media alike!

Let’s not forget what we owe these Marines.

“I can think of no more fitting expression of this country’s appreciation for the sacrifices of our young servicemen than to grant them the same rights they are defending.”

Senator Sam J. Ervin

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP

A legal defense fund for the Navy Corpsman has been set up at The Patriot Defense Fund. Here’s an excerpt written by his wife:

My husband is a 20 year-old Hospital Corpsman Third Class. He graduated from high school in June 2003. He began his first combat deployment to Iraq in July 2004. During his first deployment, 19 Marines from his Battalion gave their lives as the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Nine Marines from his Company were killed, five of them in one firefight. Two Marines died in my husband’s arms. My husband was awarded the Purple Heart during his first deployment. He returned home in April 2005, in time for the birth of our daughter. In January 2006, after spending a very short time at home, my husband left again for his second combat tour in Iraq.

I proudly stood by my husband each time he deployed because I am also an active duty Hospital Corpsman Third Class proudly serving our country.

And here is a letter written to Michael Savage (who is also raising funds for the Marines) from the corpsman’s attorney, Jeremiah Sullivan III:

Dear Dr. Savage:

My Secretary handed me a document this evening which stunned me. It was a document from the investigation which had been scanned and e-mailed to my office by a member of the media. I don’t know who leaked the document- - whether it was an “unnamed Pentagon official,” NCIS, or a politician with an agenda- - but I do know that it is an outrage that the only piece of documentary evidence I’ve seen so far in this case came from a member of the media and not from the Marine Corps. As my client sits shackled in solitary confinement in the Marine Corps Brig with charges yet to be filed, the Marine Corps has stooped to leaking portions of the investigation in order to advance their case in the media.

This maneuver calculated solely for the benefit of an agenda constitutes a miscarriage of justice to the prejudice of my client and all involved. The intentional circulation of this document should shock the conscience of all Americans concerned with the fair treatment of our men and women in uniform. I am outraged that government officials would trample on the constitutional rights of a decorated military member in an effort to meet an agenda. This type of malicious action jeopardizes any chance my client and these Marines might have had for a fair trial. An independent congressional inquiry should commence to investigate this impermissible conduct.

In a similar vein, I am troubled by the “unlawful command influence” at the highest levels.

When the commander-in-chief and other high level military officials are passing on the guilt of these men and making statements regarding punishment based on pure conjecture, what message is that sending to their military subordinates who will be charged with rendering a fair judgment in this case?

Any potential military juror has already seen and heard their superiors at the highest levels intimate their personal verdicts. That kind of influence is patently unjust and, I’m afraid, will operate to taint the judgment of what is supposed to be an impartial fact-finder. My client’s opportunity for justice has been irreparably compromised even before the first charge has been filed.

It is a sad day in military justice when honor on the battlefield takes a back seat to political agendas.

Thanks again for your support. You are a true American.

Jeremiah J. Sullivan, III
Law Offices of Jeremiah J. Sullivan, III

Likely, there will be more legal defense funds set up for the other Marines, and I’ll let you know as I find them.

Also, this is one of those things that is well worth faxing and calling your Congressional representatives about. See the contact utility in our right sidebar for quick access to their contact info. Feel free to post your emails or letters below in comments, or fill us in on your phone calls.

PISSED YET?

FREE OUR MARINES!!!

UPDATE: From our friend Deb over at Marine Corps Moms:

Heidi & Kit - just finished reading through your excellent coverage on Haditha and wanted to comment about one thing. 3/1 Marines were connected with the Haditha event. It looks like that story is completely unraveling, thank God. I’m not sure anyone is actually jailed in connection with that.

The Marines from 3/5 in shackles are actually connected with another event in Hamdaniya. There hasn’t been much attention on this since Haditha has taken center stage. Here’s a link: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/06/05/iraq.probes/index.html

If I understand it right, the two events are not related. I’m concerned that if the Marines are innocent, that they not be forgotten. I received an e-mail last week from the wife of one of the Marines. Her husband is in shackles, she has a baby and is frantic with worry and has no idea what to do to help her husband. I’m working on it but my heart goes out to Marines who are held on nothing more than some very shaky testimony.

THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED FROM IT’S ORIGINAL VERSION TO SEPARATE THE INCIDENTS OF HADITHA AND HAMANDIA. THE ARTICLE WHERE I DEBUNK THE ALLEGED EVENTS OF HADITHA IS FOUND HERE.

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