It makes one wonder how the West is ever going to win the war against radical Islam.
Fox News reported yesterday that three navy SEALs have been charged for allegedly abusing a terrorist leader they had captured in Iraq last September.
The SEALs’ long-sought target, Ahmed Hashim Abed, is believed to have been the mastermind behind one of the most infamous incidents of the Iraq war: the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater security personnel in Fallujah in 2004. The four men were attacked when transporting supplies and had their bodies burned and dragged through the streets. Two of the corpses were then hung from a Euphrates River bridge.
Abed, the alleged planner of this barbarism, claims the navy’s elite commandos had punched him after his capture and that “he had the bloody lip to prove it.”
According to the Fox story the SEALs, to their credit, all refused non-judicial punishment and have requested a trial by court-martial. The Fox reporter, Rowan Scarborough, did not overlook the bitter irony of the case, pointing out that instead of being lauded for bringing a valuable terrorist suspect to justice for an unspeakable crime, the American servicemen are now facing charges themselves. The three men have also retained lawyers.
But the American servicemen’s situation is more than just ironic but rather constitutes a gross injustice. Most right-thinking people would feel that, in the middle of a war, three such brave and highly-skilled warfare specialists, whose expensive training the American taxpayer has funded, should not be facing a demoralizing criminal trial over such a relatively minor matter that may not even have happened.
As far as legality is concerned, terrorists like Abed are lucky to be left among the living after their capture. As conservative columnist Thomas Sowell rightly points out, Islamic terrorists have never followed the Geneva Convention regarding the rules of warfare, as can be easily discerned in the case of the Blackwater security guards alone. More importantly, however, the terrorists themselves are not covered by the Convention’s provisions.
“Neither the Constitution of the United states nor the Geneva Convention gives rights to terrorists who operate outside the law,” writes Sowell.
Legally, under the Convention’s terms, the American military in wartime has the right to shoot any captured enemy not in uniform. Sowell states, “There was a time when everyone understood this” and cites World War Two’s Battle of the Bulge as an example. German troops caught in American uniforms during that battle were shot almost immediately and without trial. Their executions were even filmed and shown years later on American television with no fuss ever made regarding legality.
But in the charges against the three Navy SEALs, one can detect the liberal media’s invisible hand. After the media-induced hysteria about the Abu Ghraib scandal, where American service personnel were rightly punished for subjecting detainees to abuse, some of it no worse than frat party pranks, the American military is supersensitive about the treatment of detainees. It knows the liberal media would love another prisoner mistreatment scandal that can sell papers or earn networks higher ratings as well as simultaneously be used as a stick to beat an American institution it has never liked.
And it is not as if liberals in the media have ever actually cared about Iraqi prisoners. Just the opposite. For 24 years they hypocritically ignored the real suffering of the thousands of people who were tortured and murdered under Saddam Hussein in Abu Ghraib. But that did not stop them from blowing up the scandal involving the American military into something that appeared to merit a second Nuremburg Trials.
This need for scandal that can be turned into a headline, however, has been of greater service to the Islamists in Afghanistan. There, the controversy about civilian deaths caused by American and NATO troops led to a change in their Rules of Engagement (ROE) this year. It is now much more difficult for western forces to drop smart bombs or missiles on targets where civilians may be present. One report states lawyers now have to be consulted and a casualty analysis made before every smart bomb or missile attack.
One military analyst claims the ROE change occurred due to the Taliban’s ability to manipulate the media and western journalists’ “enthusiasm for jumping on real, or imagined, civilian deaths”, since dead civilians are considered news. In other words, the Taliban successfully turned civilian deaths into a “powerful propaganda weapon” that the western media ran with.
The controversy about civilian deaths caused Defense Secretary Robert Gates to assess civilian killings as “one of our strategic vulnerabilities.” Gates probably would not have uttered such a statement if the media had correctly and constantly reported that civilian casualties in Afghanistan have been low when compared to Iraq and other wars. But that is uninteresting news.
Just as uninteresting to the media is the fact the Taliban have killed far more civilians than western forces, four times as many according to one report. But that does not make for headlines. You will also probably not often see a quote like the following from an Afghan father whose son lost his leg to a Taliban roadside bomb.
“I do not mind if I am killed, provided that the Americans get rid of the Taliban. Those tyrants have taken my son’s leg. They laid mines on the road. Don’t they see these roads are also used by civilians?”
Due to the ROE change, one military publication states the Taliban are making greater use of human shields. Taliban fighters spend time in villages or compounds where civilians are present and also bring civilians, whether willing or unwilling, with them as human shields when they go on operations. This has led to their avoiding attacks, in which they earlier would have been killed.
And with the fight becoming more difficult and dangerous for American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, this can only spell bad news.
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Of the opening sentence, we’ll never win the war if we keep deluding ourselves that there is in existence a radical Islam like there are two versions of Islam, a so-called peaceful and moderate version of Islam and a so-called radical and extremist version of Islam. It is political correct multicultural moonbats like this author that ensures we will never win the war because we can’t even acknowledge what Islam really is, and if the author is genuinely ignorant, which I’m sure he really is, it is still no excuse.
Let's see. If I were even handcuffed, and shackled at the ankles, I still would be able to give myself a bloody lip on the floor, or on anything else.
Where's the beef?
Exactly, they'd do far worse to themselves to get their apprehenders in trouble, abed is probably laughing his *ss of that he's getting them court marshalled. Hussein and holder are apparently combing the old cases for people to railroad so they can pin it on the Bush Administration and the GOP. Going over the backs and even graves of US Service Members to attack Conservatives was dp SOP before I even started school in the early '70s.
If this is the kind of stuff they are finding, they've awful slim pickins, though they're obviously willing to railroad exceptional and successful Service Members on the thinnest of pretexts to try and back up the lurid claims they've made over the last 6 years. I'd like to say this will backfire badly on hussein, and it may well (but if it does, it probably won't be in time to retain these SEALs), but the dp was rewarded for all the times they've done it so far (like Haditha).
The SEALs did follow the rules, new absurd ones are just being applied retroactively. Funny that an administration so big on rules is so full of people (like holder) they don't apply to.
Nope, it's politics, or it would have been prosecuted long ago. Even if the accusations were true, this is in the realm of absurdity most Americans won't stand for, especially for the men who have to storm the dens of these Aholes.
I have to wonder, is this to get off, or even reward the scumbag that murdered those scorned by the left Blackwater employees? Won't poor abed be entitled to damages for his most likely self-inflicted fat lip?
you must love to type lol
so how you one
oh
Islam is pure evil to the core. islam is not a religion but a political movement to achieve global dominance. Show me a churhc or a hindu temple or a jewish temple in saudia arabia. Go to Egypt and see how they deal with the Coptic Christains, the egyptians treat them like animals, burn down their chruches at every riot and they dont allow new chruches to be build, infact you have to ask permission from the president of egypt to build a church. Remind you, Egypt was a Coptic Christain Country before Islam took over with the sword and now coptic christains are a minority in their own country. I Guess the Swiss have realized the danger soon…..
In Turkey, they have taken Hagia Sofia Church and turned it to a Mosque, then into a museum. Still they will not give back Hagia Sofia to be a church again. Muslims are hypocrates. Turkey has a mission to wipe off all churches and convert them into secular museums and thus will elimanate the christains populations.
Christains are not allowed to be christains in middle-east, period. Now muslims shout. Give me a church, hindu temple, jewish temple, buddist temple or any other temple in the heart of Mecca or Medina and then I will voice my dis-taste for the swiss vote.
http://www.faithfreedom.org
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com
http://www.thethirdjihad.com
Pardon? Haven't seen you here, welcome to FPM.
You must hate to, lol.
Geen but I feel terrible about us having to kill ONE civilian during American operations. We should loose our heads like the Taliban do to us on a regular basis. Just because the Taliban kill hundreds of civilians themselves, and that is all right, they have that right, but when it comes to Americans killing at least ONE civilian by accident. That is absolutely TERRIBLE.
These BRAVE young SEALS are doing their job and getting held for atrociaous crimes. COME ON NOW, we have to be serious about this whole thing. Our Young SEALS deserve to get the Medal of Honor for BRAVERY for doing the great job they have been doing for years. They are about as good as our UNITED STATES MARINES, who are the bravest of all. BUT THE SEALS deserve to be honored for the great things they do for our country.
GOD BLESS OUR UNITED STATES MARINES AND OUR LOYAL, DEPENDABLE USNAVY SEALS, AND THE OTHER SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE WILLING TO GIVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY.
Let's hear it now for all of them!!! OOHRAH! Gung HO and SEMPER FI!
John W. BURLEW II, United States MARINE. Once a Marine…Always a MARINE!
I know this is about a week or so old, but I still cannot get over it. When are people going to understand that terrorist are not protected by the Constitution? I think it is disgusting that they can beat our guys to a pulp on National TV and yet our marines are being charged for giving the terrorist who was the mastermind behind the savage attack a bloody lip. It makes me sick! It may be just my “conservative” viewpoint, but I think we should rally behind these guys and support them in the legal battle that lies before them.
johnwburlewii
To make the claim that the Marines who I greatly respect are braver than the members of any other branch of service is childish members of all branchs risk there lives in extreme situations and when you put it out there on the line and risk death and injury then there is no seperate degree of bravery at that point. Green Berets A teams operating far behind enemy lines and Airforce personal that are in very risky positions to aid in airstrikes and comunications down to the cav SSG that was awarded the Medal of Honor providing cover for his platoon from the attack of Republican guards are all bearing the burden and risking it all. Valor is what it is there are no seperate degrees.
It was Navy Seals not Marines.
Richard (dick, shark-man, geek) Marchinko…..we need u badly!!!!
This is an outrage!!! This low life piece of PIG EXCREMENT has alleged abuse against some of our finest fighting men and the Obama administration is taking the word of this terrorist that our forces abused him. This — after the atrocities this piece of crap performed on the 4 civilians that were mutilated, murdered and hung up for public viewing!!!!! Gates had better get his head out of his a$$ and realize that these terrorists know how to stymie our system of justice! He probably hit himself in the mouth and claimed abuse (and who gives a crap how he got the fat lib anyway). Those who voted for Obama are now reaping the results of their stupidity. We had better all hang on — our nation is going down the crapper!!! WAKE UP AMERICA!!
What are you — a liberal cry baby who agrees with Osama Obama that these Navy Seals should be charged for giving this worm a fat lip??!! Please tell me that I misunderstood your comment…
Reaping the whirlwind.
You know, if George Washington was still the president, he'd have captured that tango himself and then given him the backhand which is tame compared to what Jefferson would have done (his guards had to protect a would be assassin from him). Why is it our politicians and worse, the commander in chief are all such pansies now? I think we should demand the president at least carry around some weapon as his main function was always set out as to lead the defense of the nation.
There is also a serious issue in restraining a SEAL team with the rules you would set for a police officer. If you want police actions then don't send military forces, if you want military forces then expect a fat lip here and there. He's honestly lucky there weren't apache gunships perforating him and everyone he's ever met.