Crossposted from The US Report

Capt. Carl Bjork’s verdict—a study in trickle down policy from Washington

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 09:15AM

By Kay B. Day

Capt. Carl Bjork served with honor in Iraq.Capt. Carl Bjork came onto our radar at The US Report last year, after the government charged him with two counts of premeditated murder and other charges. The charges stemmed from accusations levied by a man named Col. Ibrahim Hamid Jaza, and a few of Hamid’s fellow former Iraqi police who were detainees in prison.

(continue reading…)

Crossposted from Fox News

Updated April 23, 2010

Associated Press

BAGHDAD

Judge clears second Navy SEAL in Iraqi abuse case linked to 2004 Blackwater killings.

BAGHDAD — A U.S. military judge has cleared a Navy SEAL of wrongdoing in the alleged beating of a prisoner suspected of masterminding the grisly 2004 killings of four American contractors in Iraq.

The military says the judge found insufficient evidence to convict Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Keefe on charges of dereliction of duty.

Keefe — one of three SEALS charged in the case — was not accused of assaulting Ahmed Hashim Abed but of failing to prevent the abuse.

The case has drawn fire from at least 20 members of Congress and other Americans who see it as coddling terrorists to overcompensate for the notorious Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

Crossposted from KGTV San Diego.

SAN DIEGO — A military appeals court Thursday overturned the murder conviction of a Camp Pendleton Marine in the 2006 killing of an Iraqi man near Hamdania.

Lawrence Hutchins, 26, will remain in prison until the Marine Corps decides whether to appeal, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Washington, D.C.- based Navy-Marine Court of Criminal Appeals found that the then-sergeant was denied a fair trial because one of his lead attorneys was allowed to get off the case just before the court-martial, according to published reports.

Prosecutors said Hutchins masterminded a plan to kidnap and kill suspected insurgent Saleh Gowad, but grabbed Hashim Awad instead when Gowad’s family foiled the plot.

Hutchins was convicted in 2007 of unpremeditated murder and other charges and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Seven Marines and one Navy corpsman were initially charged in the case. None of their sentences were higher than 16 months.

(continue reading…)

US Navy SEAL cleared in Iraq abuse case

Associated Press

BAGHDAD

BAGHDAD (AP) — A U.S. Navy SEAL was cleared Thursday of charges he covered up the alleged beating of an Iraqi prisoner suspected of masterminding the grisly 2004 killings of four American security contractors.

A six-man Navy jury found Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas not guilty of dereliction of duty and attempting to influence the testimony of another service member. The jury heard too many differences between the testimony of a sailor who claimed he witnessed the Sept. 1 assault at a U.S. base outside Fallujah, Iraq, and statements from a half-dozen others who denied his account.

Smiling and composed as he left the courthouse at the U.S. military’s Camp Victory on Baghdad’s western outskirts, Huertas said he felt vindicated.

“It’s a big weight off my shoulders,” said Huertas, 29, of Blue Island, Illinois. “Compared to all the physical activity we go through, this has been mentally more challenging.”

(continue reading…)

It would be interesting to create a poll with these two photos and have people guess what’s happening. Most would never assume anything close to the real story. It appears to be a joyous homecoming, a reuniting of mother and son. The truth is not so heart warming.

The lady in the picture is the mother of an American that was ambushed in Fallujah , Iraq . Her son was murdered. His body was dragged around in the streets of the city, then burned and hung from the upper trusses of a bridge. The murderers gathered to celebrate and have their photos taken with the trophy.

The young sailor in the picture is one of the Navy SEALs that later captured the leader of the band of terrorist butchers and brought him to justice.

(continue reading…)