US Navy SEAL Cleared of All Prisoner Abuse Charges

UPDATE: On May 06, Navy SEAL Matthew McCabe was found NOT GUILTY on all charges by a military jury. All three SEALs were vindicated. "It's over and done with," McCabe said at a press conference after the four day court-martial. "We're moving on with our careers."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/06/virginia.navy.seal.trial/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn

UPDATE: On Friday, A U.S. military judge assigned to Camp Victory cleared a second Navy SEAL of wrongdoing in the alleged beating of a Ahmed Hashim Abed suspected of masterminding the grisly 2004 killings of four American contractors in Iraq. The final trial for McCabe is scheduled for May 03, in Virginia.

A six-man military jury found Navy SEAL Julio Huertas not guilty of dereliction of duty and attempting to influence the testimony of another service member.

Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas, 29, of Blue Island, Illinois said "compared to all the physical activity we go through, this has been mentally more challenging." He plans on continuing his military career and to go "home and kiss [his] wife."

The trial took place in Iraq. The Iraqi prisoner, Ahmed Hashim Abed, testified Wednesday on the opening day of the trial that he was beaten by U.S. troops while hooded and tied to a chair. The jury deliberated for two hours before returning a not-guilty plea.

Ahmed Hashim Abed was a wanted terrorist that murdered four American civilians, two of whom were former SEALs. The American victims were set on fire and dragged through the streets. The bodies of two of them were hung from a bridge in Fallujah, an image that was broadcast around the world.

Abed was captured by three heroic Navy SEALs; Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas, Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Keefe, of Yorktown, Virginia and Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe, of Perrysburg, Ohio.

Abed claimed one of the SEALs struck him from behind, struck him in the stomach and caused him to fall on his face. Photos of the prisoner only reveal a minor cut on the inside of Abed's mouth.

A confiscated al-Qaeda manual proved al-Qaeda operatives are instructed how to operate in a prison or detention center. It directs detainees to "insist on proving that torture was inflicted" and to "complain of mistreatment while in prison."

Huertas' civilian attorney Monica Lombardi said, "There was no abuse, this is classic terrorist training."

After the verdict, Lombardi said the jurors told her they had made their ruling because there were too many inconsistencies in the case and that they did not believe the prisoner. Testimony from prosecution witness, Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Kevin DeMartino (not a SEAL) was also discounted.

The court-martial of Navy SEAL Jonathan Keefe is scheduled for Friday at Camp Victory, Iraq.

Matthew McCabe, the only SEAL charged with assault is scheduled to go on trial May 3^rd, in Virginia.

Thankfully, the jury saw reason. It is still a sad day for justice that these SEALs must rely on a jury to clear them.

It is very telling that Obama's DOJ can forgive illegally armed activists for blatant voter intimidation, during the presidential election.

Was it political correctness that motivated Army Major Gen. Charles T. Cleveland, commander of Special Operation Command Central to charge the SEALs?

Is political cowardice preventing Defense Secretary Gates from getting involved?

Is there an ideological angle on the part of the Obama administration to coddle apprehended terrorists, while sacrificing our defenders of freedom?

After all, it is this administration that desired to give Khalid Sheik Mohammed a platform to express his anti-American rhetoric in a civilian trial near Ground Zero.

It is this administration that stacked the DOJ with lawyers that have advocated for and defended terrorists.

President Obama's personal lawyer and chief White House counsel, Robert Bauer, was a partner in the law firm that went out of their way to defend Osama bin Laden's personal bodyguard and chauffer.

Are these terror friendly connections merely accidental or an indication of the sentiment of America's current leaders?

One US Navy SEAL cleared; two more to go!

Sources: In addition to those embedded:

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/04/22/seal-trial-jury-deliberates-iraqi-abuse-case/

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2494447/trial_date_set_for_navy_seals.html?cat=9