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, sources told FoxNews.com.
The three, all members of the Navy’s elite commando unit, have refused non-judicial punishment — called an admiral’s mast — and have requested a trial by court-martial.
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.
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.
Matthew McCabe, a Special Operations Petty Officer Second Class (SO-2), is facing three charges: dereliction of performance of duty for willfully failing to safeguard a detainee, making a false official statement, and assault.
Petty Officer Jonathan Keefe, SO-2, is facing charges of dereliction of performance of duty and making a false official statement.
Petty Officer Julio Huertas, SO-1, faces those same charges and an additional charge of impediment of an investigation.
The three SEALs will be arraigned separately on Dec. 7. Another three SEALs — two officers and an enlisted sailor — have been identified by investigators as witnesses but have not been charged.
FoxNews.com obtained the official handwritten statement from one of the three witnesses given on Sept. 3, hours after Abed was captured and still being held at the SEAL base at Camp Baharia. He was later taken to a cell in the U.S.-operated Green Zone in Baghdad.
The SEAL told investigators he had showered after the mission, gone to the kitchen and then decided to look in on the detainee.
“I gave the detainee a glance over and then left,” the SEAL wrote. “I did not notice anything wrong with the detainee and he appeared in good health.”
Lt. Col. Holly Silkman, spokeswoman for the special operations component of U.S. Central Command, confirmed Tuesday to FoxNews.com that three SEALs have been charged in connection with the capture of a detainee. She said their court martial is scheduled for January.
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.
The source said intelligence briefings provided to the SEALs stated that “Objective Amber” planned the 2004 Fallujah ambush, and “they had been tracking this guy for some time.”
The Fallujah atrocity came to symbolize the brutality of the enemy in Iraq and the degree to which a homegrown insurgency was extending its grip over Iraq.
The four Blackwater agents were transporting supplies for a catering company when they were ambushed and killed by gunfire and grenades. Insurgents burned the bodies and dragged them through the city. They hanged two of the bodies on a bridge over the Euphrates River for the world press to photograph.
Intelligence sources identified Abed as the ringleader, but he had evaded capture until September.
The military is sensitive to charges of detainee abuse highlighted in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. The Navy charged four SEALs with abuse in 2004 in connection with detainee treatment.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,576646,00.html.test=latestnews
6 Responses to “How come Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist.”
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With all that you cut & pasted you could not find the answer FAUX wanted you to find.
this is so foolish ,they should be thanked for it but he had a bloody nose so now the seals are in trouble ,the terrorist deserved worst then a bloody nose
Incredible that they would be investigated in the first place.
But I gather the real problems arose when they lied.
If they had not the charges would have been dropped.
That I believe is what is fueling the investigation.
Even the Fox “News” article says nothing about any charges being filed, and if it’s true that this guy only had a bloody lip, none will be filed. Ever.
READ ALL BEFORE JUDGE MY ANSWER. I’ll give you the correct answer, What is not being seen is when the terrist got assalted was while detained, I,m son to a Marine and I’ll tell you the stories my father told me of treatment of prisoners in Veitnam was brutal, now when these stories from my father took place we had a true bootcamp and no limit on training technics, you broke the ladys down and gave them no dignity and stripped all human reserve from them AND TURNED THEM INTO SOLDIERS, NOW WE HAVE “PEOPLE” IN THE SERVICE THAT WANT O BE NICE AND PRIM AND PROPER, THEY DO NOT HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE LOYAL AND JUST, NOW IF THESE GUYS DID STRIKE A DETAINED TERRORIST AND EVEN IF FOR FUN. (EVEN IF FOR FUN) DO YOU THINK THEY WOULD REPORT IT. BIG F ING NO. WHAT HAPPENED IS SOMEONE IS A FAT TATLE TALE. PERIOD
MOST LIKLY SOMEONE WITH RANK OR PULL WITH A RANKING OFFICER AND THINKS WHAT THEY DID IS WRONG, BUT IF IN OLD MILITARY THE PERSON REPORTING THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN BEAT WITH SOAP IN A SOCK AT NIGHT AND TOLD TO KEEP TO HIS OWN BUSSNESS.
IF HE/SHE DID NOT THINK THE GUY DID NOT NEED IT HE JUST DID NOT PARTICIPATE AND THATS IT.
First things first: In the military, you don’t leave anyone or anything unattended (100% accountability). That can be a charge just by itself.
Second, the military is probably not releasing the full details. LTC Silkman is being intentionally vague on the charges faced.
In short, there’s a lot more to the story, and the military is controlling what Fox News was able to access.