General: SEAL abuse charges justified

[unhappycamper]

Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew McCabe is charged with assaulting an alleged terrorist in Iraq in September.


General: SEAL abuse charges justified
By Mark D. Faram - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jan 5, 2010 16:01:05 EST

NORFOLK, Va. — The Army general who leveled charges at three Navy SEALs related to an alleged assault on a suspected al-Qaida terrorist in their custody defended his actions in a letter to lawmakers who questioned the need for prosecution.

Maj. Gen. Charles Cleveland, commander of Special Operations Command, Central Command, wrote the justification in a Dec. 15 response to Indiana Republican Rep. Dan Burton’s call on behalf a group of 40 lawmakers who want all charges against the SEALs dropped.

“Regrettably, it appears that your perception of the incident is based on incomplete and factually inaccurate press coverage,” Cleveland wrote. “Despite what has been reported, these allegations are not founded solely on the word of the detainee, but rather, were initially raised by other U.S. service members.”

But the explanation Cleveland provided doesn’t wash with the 40 members of Congress who signed a petition last month to have the charges dropped. In a Jan. 4 response, they continued to call for the charges to be dropped.

Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew McCabe is accused of punching alleged terrorist Ahmed Hashim Abed, who allegedly masterminded the 2004 ambush in Fallujah, Iraq, in which four Blackwater security contractors were burned and mutilated.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/01/navy_SEAL_abusecase_010510w/