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Petition to Dismiss Nuisance Charges Against Heroic Navy SEALs
Current Signature Count: 3,915
General David Howell Petraeus
Commander, U.S. Central Command
MacDill Air Force Base
Tampa, Florida
Dear General Petraeus:
We, the editors of The American Spectator, together with the many American signatories to this petition, request that you exercise your influence to ensure that the charges against U.S. Navy SEALs Matthew McCabe, Julio Huertas, and Jonathan Keefe are dismissed immediately.
These three warriors are accused of dishonorable conduct, and their military careers and personal honor threatened, for nothing more than the faithful execution of their daunting orders. The SEALs in question, members of SEAL Team Ten, were among a platoon that captured one Ahmed Hashim Abed during a daring nocturnal raid on or about September 1 in Iraq. Abed is suspected of being the mastermind of the brutal March 2004 ambush in Fallujah of four Blackwater security guards. In a wild firefight, Abed's men killed the Blackwater contractors, all retired special forces members, when they drove into the ambush. Then they desecrated the bodies, dragging them through the streets and hanging two from a bridge for photographers to record and the world to see.
Abed has accused McCabe of punching him in the stomach during his apprehension. Although there is no evidence to support Abed's complaint other than an officer's noting that Abed had a bloody lip that night (which hardly supports the charge that McCabe hit his stomach), McCabe faces court martial. Huertas and Keefe are court-martialed for lying, as they contended that no one hit Abed during his capture.
Army Maj. Gen. C.T. Cleveland, the head of special forces in U.S. Central Command, brought the charges against the three SEALs after they rejected the option to let him dispose of the issue as a personnel matter. They did so knowing that such disciplinary action would end their careers and they would no longer be able to serve our country on the battlefield. Now they face three special courts-martial that could likewise end their careers, and will at the very least detain them from deployment for the near future.
Of course, Abed has already achieved his cowardly goal, which is to obstruct our troops even after his own capture. Al Qaeda provides its members with a training manual. According to Chapter 18 of a manual released by the Justice Department, al Qaeda's fighters are encouraged to complain of torture and lesser acts of mistreatment at the hands of their captors, whether or not they have any cause to do so:
- At the beginning of the trial, once more the brothers must insist on proving that torture was inflicted on them by State Security.
- Complain of mistreatment while in prison.
Chapter 18, "The Manchester Document"
Released by the U.S. Dept. of Justice
Clearly, this tactic is designed to inconvenience the terrorists' enemies and demoralize our soldiers. As the head of U.S. Central Command, you gave Gen. Cleveland the authorization to court-martial the three SEALs, thereby playing right into Abed's devious scheme.
Anyone within the chain of command, through Gen. Cleveland, yourself, Sec. Robert Gates, or Commander-in-Chief Barack Obama can intervene to withdraw these nuisance charges and return our heroes to the fight, where they belong. And we petition you, Gen. Petraeus, to do just that.
Reverse your decision and correct this injustice against the freedom and honor of Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe, Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Keefe, and Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas. Deny the war criminal Abed the chance to deal a devastating blow to the confidence and morale of our other warriors.
Respectfully,
The Editors of The American Spectator
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