A Maryland man who the FBI says posed for years as a retired army special forces colonel and made a career lecturing law enforcement agencies about global terrorism and human trafficking across the country has been arrested.

William G. Hillar, 66, was arrested at his home Tuesday and faces a federal count of mail fraud for payment he received for lectures he gave at Monterey Institute of International Studies in California, according to court papers.

Hillar’s former website, which has since been taken down, claimed that he is a retired Colonel of the U.S Army Special Forces and served in Asia, the Middle East and Central and South America, according to court papers.

Sporting this resume, Hillar apparently had no problem finding work.

His client list included dozens of schools and agencies across the country, ranging from FBI and Army units to local and state police agencies from Idaho to Georgia, reported the Herald.

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Dungeons and Dragons Threatens Prison Security, Court Rules Man Seeks Protection From Sex-Crazed Wife in Germany Labrador Retriever Named Most Popular Dog in U.S. a nice wholesome hooters girl for the kids A Federal Gravy Train May End The investigation found that Hillar was never a Green Beret nor did he serve in the U.S. Army. The highest rank he reached was radarman in the Coast Guard, serving from 1962 to 1970. Court papers go on to say Hillar was never deployed to the locations he stated in his biography and never underwent any documented training to support claims of knowledge in counter-terrorism, explosive ordinance, emergency medicine or psychological warfare.

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Merry Christmas to all Michael Behenna Supporters!

To the thousands of Michael Supporters,

God bless each of you. We have been in this fight together for the past two years and your encouragement and support has been the driving force behind all we have been able to accomplish. Last year, the Clemency Board gave Michael a reduction of 5 years off his 20 year sentence. On December 2nd we again pleaded Michael’s case before the Army Clemency Board. We pointed out to them that Michael’s sentence was 50% larger than the highest sentence given to any soldier convicted of unpremeditated murder in a combat zone. We also addressed Michael’s unblemished record in prison for the past two years, his many accomplishments while incarcerated, and his unblemished civilian record. We stressed that he was not a threat to anyone and offered many letters of reference including those from the Governor of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Attorney General, Law Enforcement Agency Heads, and all of the supporters who took the time to write letters of support for Michael. In addition, the entire Oklahoma Congressional Delegation offered their support for Michael’s clemency. We also had three letters of immediate employment for Michael upon his release. After our arguments to the Clemency Board, the Board had no additional uncompleted factors for Michael, and the Chairman of the Clemency Board stated that Michael had “turned the corner.” Unfortunately, on December 22nd, Michael was notified that all of our efforts fell on deaf ears and he was denied even ONE day of clemency by the Clemency Board and the Secretary of the Army John McHugh. We have no idea why they denied Michael’s clemency request and can only surmise that the Secretary of the Army desires Michael to spend a substantial amount of time in prison.

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The Army Court of Criminal Appeals has put a temporary hold on the prosecution of Pfc. Andrew Holmes, a soldier at Joint Base Lewis-McChord who stands accused of killing an unarmed Afghan man last January.

By Hal Bernton

Seattle Times staff reporter

The Army Court of Criminal Appeals has put a temporary hold on the prosecution of Pfc. Andrew Holmes, a soldier accused of killing an unarmed Afghan man last January.

The court in Virginia is responding to a motion filed by Holmes’ defense counsel Daniel Conway, who argued that a restrictive order limiting access to photos of the victim violated Holmes’ right to a public trial and the presentation of important evidence.

“This is quite an unusual circumstance,” Conway said Saturday. “It is not very often that you see petitions to an appeals court at this stage of a proceeding, and we are pleased that the court acted so quickly. It is a very serious issue.” [Read more...]

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To the thousands of Michael Behenna supporters:

The New York Times recently reported (see link below) that the US military has initiated a policy to “reintegrate” imprisoned Taliban fighters to their Afghan communities. These Taliban fighters were caught with evidence that they had killed our soldiers, but are released to their families in an active war zone with merely a ‘pledge’ that they will not return to the Taliban. This appears to be the latest attempt to win the hearts and minds of our enemies and taking the ‘catch and release policy’ to a whole new level.

This brings us to Michael’s case. Michael has been incarcerated by the Army for over a year now. We have asked at every level that Michael’s constitutional right to a fair trial be granted so that all the evidence is disclosed to the jury. Doesn’t seem too much to ask for an American citizen who fought for his country does it? Yet Michael’s request for a new trial has been stranded. The Army seems to be in no hurry to have Michael’s case in front of the Army Court of Appeals as they have yet to file their response to Michael’s brief which was filed back in December 2009.

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Crossposted from Seattle Times Newspaper

In one of the most serious war-crimes cases to emerge from the Afghanistan war, five soldiers from a Stryker infantry brigade based at Joint Base Lewis- McChord are now charged with murder for their alleged roles in the random killings of three Afghan civilians.

By Hal Bernton

Seattle Times staff reporter

Spc. Jeremy Morlock

Last December, Army Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs began joking with other soldiers about how easy it would be to “toss a grenade” at Afghan civilians and kill them, according to statements made by fellow platoon members to military investigators.

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