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I think the Propaganda Group should be front and center on DU ! Good luck guys, hope you make the cut, which I'm sure you are since you have 4 STARS on the Greatest Page now :grouphug: Feel the love :sarcasm: from a military group: ----- Original Message ----- From: "Col xxxxxxxxxxxx USMC (Ret)" <waymor@bizec.rr.com> To: "'Richard Van Luvender'" <rvanluve@comcast.net> Sent: Saturday, June 24, 2006 6:15 AM Subject: RE: Marines Held in Brig: the left is rejoicing while Marines across the world watch in horror > Thanks Rick...very interesting read re the ongoing issue. > > Full List open Bcc. > > S/F, > > WVM > > Wayne V. Morris > Col USMC (Ret) > > When you want to know Way More on Vet-related info...join up now with > WAYMOR...contact us for fee info and GET ON BOARD...! > > WAYMOR Inc > PO Box 232 > Jacksonville, NC > 28541-0232 > > _____ > > From: Richard Van Luvender > Sent: Friday, June 23, 2006 2:03 PM > To: Bill Donahue USMC (Ret); Wayne Morris USMC (Ret); Don Greenlaw; > ' Albano, Frank' > Subject: Marines Held in Brig: the left is rejoicing while Marines across > the world watch in horror > > > June 23, 2006 > > Marines Held in Brig: the left is rejoicing while Marines across the world > watch in horror - Indict Kerry > > Steve Yuhas > > When the announcement was made on Tuesday that seven Marines and a navy > corpsman were being charged for an incident that allegedly occurred in > Hamdaniya, Iraq the left and people like Cindy Sheehan, John Kerry and > John > Murtha must have applauded. After all, so many of them were animated that > our servicemen were cold blooded killers (Murtha), terrorizing innocent > Iraqis in the night (Kerry) and doing everything against the laws of war > (Sheehan) that they must now be thankful that charges are being filed > against the military warriors. > > If someone were to turn on the news and just watch five minutes of the > talking points of any left wing organization - organizations that decide > elections and nominees for the Democratic Party - the eight people who > were > willing to give their lives for their nation are already guilty. > > Why bother with a trial at all - this is a political prosecution not a > military one and a prosecution that comes just after the mutilated and > decapitated bodies of two other servicemen who went missing last week were > found by Iraqi officials: Army PFC Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, TX > and > PFC Thomas Tucker, 25, of Madras, OR. > > Now military officials in the United States will turn their attention, not > to avenging the desecration of men who served their country, but to the > prosecution of eight for an incident for which witnesses are sparse and > during which time a war was going on. > > Those sitting in the brig at Camp Pendleton are all from 3/5 Marine > Regiment > and have a presumption of innocence, but the standard of proof and rules > of > evidence in the trial of these eight will make the Moussaoui trial look > like > a judicial hit parade. > > Sitting in the brig awaiting trial for murder and other charges are: Sgt. > Lawrence G. Hutchins III, navy corpsman Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. > Bacos, Corporals Marshall L. Magincalda and Trent D. Thomas, Lance > Corporals > Tyler A. Jackson, Robert B. Pennington, Jerry E. Shumate Jr and Private > First Class John J. Jodka. > > Colonel Stewart Navarre, Chief of Staff for Marine Corps Installations > West > said in a statement announcing the charges, "The Marine Corps takes > allegations of wrongdoing by Marines very seriously and is committed to > thoroughly investigating such allegations. The Marine Corps also prides > itself on holding its members accountable for their actions." > > That would be great if the defendants in the case were not presumed guilty > by some Democratic members of Congress (the place from which the funds for > not only war, but peace come from) and if the rules governing the trials > of > these eight people were equal to those that are given to a convicted and > admitted member of al-Qaeda in federal court. They're not. > > Military justice is not like the justice system that would be applied to > any > civilian in a civilian court charged with the most heinous of crimes, but > the swiftness in which this case was put together boggles the mind; > especially for someone like me who worked in the Marine Corps justice > system > and watched as it took months to put together cases regarding simple > infractions like unauthorized absence or desertion. > > Being held in the brig at Camp Pendleton is no luxury and the men there > are > probably sitting in the dark bowels of the prison (the brig will not say > and > neither will the public information desk at Camp Pendleton), but I know > that > prison well and no matter where they are it is tragic that the eight of > them > sit rotting in pre-trial confinement because of a report by NCIS (Naval > Criminal Investigative Service) and the whim of the general in charge of > IMEF: Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler (who will receive his 4th star from the > very > Congress that includes some members who have already sullied the > reputation > of not just these Marines, but servicemen and women the world over). > > Lawyers for the defendants and their families are looking forward to the > Article 32 hearing because they will finally be able to look at the > evidence > against their clients. > > Joseph Casas and Jane Siegal are attorneys representing servicemen caught > up > in this political war: their defense may take them to Iraq to interview > the > alleged victims and certainly other servicemen. Parents of servicemen are > adamant about the innocence of their children as well. > > John Jodka's father told reporters that the Article 32 hearing is a > relief, > "It's sorta like taking a breath after holding your breath for a long > time. > (My son) wants to get on with this so he can be vindicated." > > Another defense attorney, David Brahms who represents Lance Corporal > Robert > Pennington also talked to reporters, "We will see all the evidence. The > government will tell its story and we will tell ours. . . I'm ready for > war." And he will be as Brahms is a former Marine Corps Brigadier General > and suffice it to say that he (as the other defense attorneys) will take a > political prosecution and prove that is exactly what it is. > > Mothers and fathers all across the nation, indeed the world because our > military is made up of a sea of foreign nationals that want to serve > America, used to only have to worry if their son or daughter would be > killed > or injured in battles for which they volunteer to fight for the United > States. Now their worries must be turned to not only worry about safety, > but > to a judicial system - foreign to most of them because the Uniform Code of > Military Justice is not exactly coffee table literature - that may take > their child away from them because the left in this country desires so > much > to prove America and our military are always in the wrong. > > To the Marine Corps I say that it is shameful that you have given into the > pressures of the left to pursue charges against people who volunteered to > serve and whose innocence is merely implied and not implicitly stated. The > zeal in which these men are being processed is telling and in very short > order we will know whether or not something bad happened in Hamdaniya, > Iraq > or if NCIS or an Iraqi family or other serviceman decided they saw > something > that they did not see. > > The terrible thing is that we don't yet know and seldom talk about the > good > the men and women in uniform are doing for the people of Iraq and although > showing the world that we prosecute our own may be great for geopolitical > battles, but it is a living hell for the people involved. > > Real lives are ruined because for the rest of their lives these eight men > will forever be tarnished with the accusation of murder and other > charges - > innocent or not - because in the age of the Internet and instant > communication nothing can ever be erased and that is not only shameful for > them, but should cause the military to pause and think about recruiting. > > Who would want to sign up to serve in the armed forces of the United > States > knowing that even when our troops are viciously and barbarically tortured > and beheaded one day that the very next a group of men would be held in > the > brig (jail) for crimes they have not even been accused of committing, but > whose freedom has been taken because there is sufficient evidence in one > man's eyes (whose career depends on the blessing of Congress) says there > is? > > And America is watching the prosecutions at Duke University over rape with > a > jaundiced eye - take a look at Pendleton! > > Would I sign up today - perhaps, but I'd certainly think twice about being > a > foot soldier, infantryman or corpsman for in the heat of battle they now > have to worry not only about their lives, the lives of the men around them > and the innocent civilians (and G-d forbid offending the delicate > sensibilities of Iraqis), but now they have to worry about accusations > that > will stay with them forever. > > It used to be that being a pogue (an administrative person in the Marine > Corps) made you the butt of jokes - today there is probably a line 100,000 > long yearning to be behind a desk rather than in battle and that is the > antithesis of what the Marine Corps used to be. > > By the way - since NCIS is so into investigating murder - if i remember > correctly (and I do) John Kerry admitted to having committed war crimes > and > murder in Vietnam - no statute of limitations: maybe they should indict > him? > > > Steve Yuhas is a radio talk show host on News Radio 600 KOGO in southern > California and may be reached at steve@steveyuhas.com or > http://www.steveyuhas.com/
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