UPDATE: October 31, 2006

Three defendants have now entered into plea bargains. They are;

Navy corpsman Melson Bacos

Pfc. John Jodka III

Lance Cpl Tyler Jackson

And, there is now mounting evidence about possible conspiracies and misdeeds within the Naval Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS). This is the agency that conducted the initial investigations. We (UnitedPatriots) are in a full court press on this.

Update: October 17, 2006

Sergeant accused in Iraqi man’s killing appears in court; defense attorneys lining up trip to Iraq as Hamdania case moves ahead

By: TERI FIGUEROA and MARK WALKER – Staff Writers
CAMP PENDLETON —- A Marine sergeant accused of directing his squad in an alleged plot to kidnap and kill an Iraqi civilian squared his jaw and waived his right to make a statement Monday during a hearing to determine if his case will be ordered to court-martial.

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In addition to the four Marines (formerly referred to as the Pendleton 8 – Hamdanyia ) from K/3/5 and five Marines
– and possibly more – from K/3/1 (the "Hayditha" case), we now have other warriors facing Courts Martial.

Three (3) soldiers from C Company, 3d Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3d Bridage Combat Team have been referred to a General Courts Martial.

Their names are:

• Pfc Corey Clagett
• Spc William Hunsucker
• SSgt Raymond Girouard

To begin their story, one must read the Article 32 hearing, conducted in at the FOB (Forward Operating Base) in Brassfield-Mora, Iraq, that opened at 1850, 1 August 2006 in the conference room of Building 1701, COB Speicher, Iraq.

By Diana West Friday, January 4, 2008

A major story of 2007 was the progressive unraveling of the case against the seven Marines and one Navy corpsman [Blog note: Now known as the "Pendleton 8"...from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, or "3/5"] charged in connection with the Nov. 19, 2005, killings of Iraqi civilians in Haditha during a day of intense action. To date, charges against four of the men have been dismissed altogether. Two men have been ordered to a court martial. Two cases are pending.

What a difference a year has made since charges came down at the end of 2006. The New York Times in October mourned — I mean, noted — the shift: “Last year, when accounts of the killings of 24 Iraqis in Haditha by a group of Marines came to light, it seemed that the Iraq war had produced its defining atrocity, just as the conflict in Vietnam had spawned the My Lai massacre a generation ago.”

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From a retired Marine Mustang officer:
(Emphasis added)

Basically the case of the Pendleton 8 boils down to several factors:

FIRST: If you don’t have an identifiable human body. You have no case.

SECOND: My best guess in the GCM of Sgt Hutchins is that all the officers sitting on the panel had “Top Secret Clearances” and the Staff NCO’s had a minimum of “Secret Clearances”.

Therfore, I ask you, why didn’t the Presiding Judge, LtCol Meeks, close/clear the court of all others in the gallery and let the panel hear what was contained in that “Classified Matter” (Probably the thumb drive of the PltCdr’s computer). I would doubt that it was classified any higher than “confidential”.

It would be a dumb move to send a Squad Leader beyond the wire with any type classified material. Somebody is covering up some vital info and I think that information is “who issued the order to Sgt Hutchins” & “What was he ordered to do it and how to accomplish the mission”.

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