Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist

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,...est=latestnews

WTF is going with this country?

Wow...you've got to be fvcking kidding me...

there's gotta be more to this story...

Wow. Fox News does it again. They are making it sound like 'capturing most-wanted terrorist' is the actual crime.

Originally Posted by budman

WTF is going with this country?

Yeah Absolutely... WTF with this country.

You have the right to create a Legal Concentration Camp But you can't perform a legal arrest by special forces.

Originally Posted by hayabusa55

Wow. Fox News does it again. They are making it sound like 'capturing most-wanted terrorist' is the actual crime.

America won't be free until the last republican isn't hung with the bowels of the last Fox News Employee.

This country has lost its heritage and sense of self. Pathetic.

Originally Posted by budman

WTF is going with this country?

BARAK and his Liberal Sheep Herd is whats going on with it.. I promise you if Bush was in office this would have never happened.. McCain Either.. Liberals hate America.. They feel like everyone should just get along and the BIG SCARY world is just conservative propaganda... This country has gone soft.. I feel horrible for those guys..

Originally Posted by hayabusa55

Wow. Fox News does it again. They are making it sound like 'capturing most-wanted terrorist' is the actual crime.

THERE WAS NO CRIME.... The SEALS captured a TERRORIST responsible for ATTACKING AMERICA!! he is lucky he is even alive to complain about his bloody lip.. You really think that someone who is responsible for American Deaths went peacefully? you dont think he resisted?

Originally Posted by UberBimmer

BARAK and his Liberal Sheep Herd is whats going on with it.. I promise you if Bush was in office this would have never happened.. McCain Either.. Liberals hate America.. They feel like everyone should just get along and the BIG SCARY world is just conservative propaganda... This country has gone soft.. I feel horrible for those guys..

I'm going to wait to hear more from a few other sources on this item before I start applying to conclusions.

Originally Posted by hayabusa55

Wow. Fox News does it again. They are making it sound like 'capturing most-wanted terrorist' is the actual crime.

instead, the SEALS should have given him a cigarette and a pat on the back saying everything is going to be alright. Right?

God forbid a target gets a bloody lip

Originally Posted by drew09

instead, the SEALS should have given him a cigarette and a pat on the back saying everything is going to be alright. Right?

That's not the point he's trying to make.

Quit letting FOX pull your emotions around.

Originally Posted by UberBimmer

BARAK and his Liberal Sheep Herd is whats going on with it.. I promise you if Bush was in office this would have never happened.. McCain Either.. Liberals hate America.. They feel like everyone should just get along and the BIG SCARY world is just conservative propaganda... This country has gone soft.. I feel horrible for those guys..

this is whats wrong with this country. its ok to have different stances on things, but come on people.

but in today's america, people (educated and not educated) are so quick to blame the president for everything. lost a $20 bill at the bar? F the president!

there's more to the story. don't buy in to media hype over 1 article.

Dead people can't make complaints

America is massively A$$ backwards....no wonder we're failing as a society.
Lets just charge the entire military with murder

Originally Posted by UberBimmer

BARAK and his Liberal Sheep Herd is whats going on with it.. I promise you if Bush was in office this would have never happened.. McCain Either.. Liberals hate America.. They feel like everyone should just get along and the BIG SCARY world is just conservative propaganda... This country has gone soft.. I feel horrible for those guys..

yeah you're right, if it was under Bush we would've violated the Geneva Convention and tortured the guy

btw I can't find this on any real/legit news sites/organizations. Only Faux "News" and NY Post...


so take it for what it's worth until it is actually reported on by a valid news source

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/1...arged_112409w/