navy seal trial moved to iraq

[dmaxx3500]

this isn't right,is this being done so we can't protest




http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34811699/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

[GTFPDQ]

Its sounds like they have gone to fuldil US Law, the right to face their accuser.

[ghost]

I can't believe this shit.

[Colors]

These laws put over the heads of western forces are getting stupid. Not to say that we should not have them at all but when you can't fight a war because a lawyer said you might get sued ... then there is a problem for the soldier. Will they get screwed for doing as they were trained / ordered? They certainly have been in this case.

I'm not saying we should adopt the Rambo style approach to warfare. I'm just saying that if the coalition forces continue down this path then we run a real risk of defeating ourselves.

You can't fight a war when you're bound at the wrists with red tape.


----------------------------
EDIT: I'd like to add that we shouldn't undermine the importance of newfangled intertoolz like facebook. There is a facebook group in support of the seals that currently has 208, 924 members. "Americans UNITED against the prosecution of 3 navy seals"

The anti - Islam4uk facebook page has been quoted in almost every single article and news story concerning their planned march through an English town and is widely regarded as being a key factor is the positive outcome we see now. Even the top end politicians of the UK joined it.

[nastyleg]

These laws put over the heads of western forces are getting stupid. Not to say that we should not have them at all but when you can't fight a war because a lawyer said you might get sued ... then there is a problem for the soldier. Will they get screwed for doing as they were trained / ordered? They certainly have been in this case.

I'm not saying we should adopt the Rambo style approach to warfare. I'm just saying that if the coalition forces continue down this path then we run a real risk of defeating ourselves.

You can't fight a war when you're bound at the wrists with red tape.

Kinda hard to fight with your hands tied behind your back. These guys should be exonerated and let free. It is only through there training and restraint that they did not kill him out right.

[WretchedDevice]

"Military officials originally wanted to handle the case through a process known as "nonjudicial punishment," but the SEALs insisted on going to trial in an effort to clear their names and save their careers. If convicted by a six-person military jury, they could face up to a year in jail, a bad conduct discharge or loss of pay."

"McCabe and the other two SEALs also are charged with lying to investigators. Huertas also is charged with impeding the investigation."


Sounds like this could have all been avoided if they would have taken the high road and been straight up about the deal. Not knocking these guys but sooner or later you have to man up.

On the other hand, I wasnt directly involved and am probably talking out of my arse.;}

[dmaxx3500]

but if they didn't do anything wrong,why confess to something you didn't do? ,just to get a lesser sentance?

[Reactor-Axe-Man]

"Military officials originally wanted to handle the case through a process known as "nonjudicial punishment," but the SEALs insisted on going to trial in an effort to clear their names and save their careers. If convicted by a six-person military jury, they could face up to a year in jail, a bad conduct discharge or loss of pay."

"McCabe and the other two SEALs also are charged with lying to investigators. Huertas also is charged with impeding the investigation."


Sounds like this could have all been avoided if they would have taken the high road and been straight up about the deal. Not knocking these guys but sooner or later you have to man up.

On the other hand, I wasnt directly involved and am probably talking out of my arse.;}

Or the charges are bullshit.

The way NJP (non-judicial punishment) works is, effectively, the legal presumptions of innocence and other rights that we expect in a criminal trial are non-existent.

This is NJP: You get put on report. The command appoints one or more senior NCOs or officers to investigate the charges. They investigate (check records/logs, interview witnesses, examine evidence, et cetera). At your Captain's Mast (NJP Article 15 hearing), the investigators make a report of their findings to the CO. You are allowed to speak in your defense and call witnesses on your behalf, but you don't get to find out what evidence the investigators have collected against you until the Mast, so you have ZERO time to prepare a defense. There is no cross-examination of witnesses or challenging of evidence here. They make their case and then you make yours. If the CO has a question, he may ask it, but you get no right to challenge evidence used against you. You get excused while the CO considers the evidence and weighs his decision.

Now basically, it's up to one man, in a hearing that might last an hour or two (at the absolute most - the typical Mast hearing is over in fifteen to thirty minutes), based on evidence prepared and presented by people (You most of all) who are in no way shape or form attorneys, to decide if you're guilty. If he finds you guilty, he immediately 'awards' punishment that includes getting busted in rank by a paygrade, forfeiture of pay and allowances for up to two months, two months extra duty and/or restriction to the command, even getting put on bread and water rations for several days if you're at sea. You get no appeal. If a witness against you lied, or the investigating officer bungled his investigation and left out exculpatory evidence that you also missed, you're still fucked, and that NJP will follow your ass around for the rest of your career. Kiss E-7 or an officer program goodbye.

The SEALs opted for a court martial because it gave them the maximum legal protection, especially the ability to appeal a conviction. It was a smart move whether they are innocent or guilty.