Marine accused of killing detainee gets plea deal ( Fallujah Action in 2004)

Breitbart ^ | Sep 29 01:31 PM US/Eastern | ELLIOT SPAGAT - AP

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) - A military judge has dismissed a murder charge against a Marine accused of killing an unarmed detainee in Iraq.

The charge against Sgt. Jermaine Nelson was dismissed Tuesday at Camp Pendleton after he agreed to plead guilty to dereliction of duty.

His attorney Joseph Low says the plea agreement calls for no prison time and an honorable discharge.

The 28-year-old Nelson could have faced up to life in prison if convicted of murder.

Nelson was among three Marines accused of killing detainees in 2004 during house-to-house fighting to recapture Fallujah.

[Mr. K]

Did the muj raghead need killin’??????????

[Mr. K]

""We went into this house, there happened to be four or five guys in the house," Weemer said in a recording of the interview played during his trial. "We ended up shooting them, we had to." "

THAT's IT???????????? BASED ON THAT THEY FILE MURDER CHARGES??????????? WHAT THE F**** F***???????????

[Berlin_Freeper]

When you are surrounded by the enemy you can’t take suicidal prisoners.

[jazusamo]

Sgt. Nelson Ping!

[Lurker]

His attorney Joseph Low says the plea agreement calls for no prison time and an honorable discharge

In other words the JAG weenies folded.

[smoothsailing]

More here...

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/article_4cc1dbb7-c2b5-5f74-b8a5-aa7a415a4314.html

[MestaMachine]

Haditha ring a bell?

[Lancey Howard]

This works for me. “Dereliction of duty” has become the equivalent of jaywalking in the military. It’s a slap-on charge in case the JAG scumbags need to beg for a morsel they can call a “victory”. It’s all about their future political careers as Democrat state reps and rat-appointed judges, don’t you know.

[lilycicero]

Ping, cuz I don’t know if you are on the ping list.

How could anyone refuse to “plead guilty” w/no jail time..no felony..and re-enlist if you like?

He did what he had to do.

[Bulldawg Fan]

This plea deal to me means the government had nothing on this guy and was willing to let it all go for some cheap conviction.

[jazusamo]

He had to go with this plea deal, too much at stake if he didn’t. I’m glad he’ll be able to reenlist if he chooses to do so.

[Repeat Offender]

How could anyone refuse to “plead guilty” w/no jail time..no felony..and re-enlist if you like?

Well... I thought that too. He is luck for the no prison thing.... no harm/no foul he can walk away from the Marines.

Then again he may be able to force through a re-enlistment package because they said he could re-enlist but, here is the catch, more than likely he'll receive an adverse fitrep. So, he is competing for prommotion in the largest MOS the Marine Corps has. He will have bad paperwork (strike one). Probably can't get a B Billet because he has bad paperwork (strike two). When matched against his peers he will never see SSGT. This is probably a career ender for him.

[Eagles6]

Not the best thing that could have happened but far from the worst.

[cpdiii]

When you are surrounded by the enemy you can’t take suicidal prisoners

He had three choices:

1. Escort the prisoner back to safe lines and have a high probability of getting yourself killed by the enemy.
2. Let the prisoner go free. Only 10 minutes prior this prisoner was trying to kill you and will try again if you set him free.
3. Kill him.

Those were his choices. I think he made the right choice.

[Psalm 144]

Disgusting on the part of the prosecution. Prosecutors have an affirmative duty to present the truth of the matter before the court. Either they had nothing, which I suspect is the case, and IN WHICH CASE THEY WERE ETHICALLY BOUND TO DROP ALL CHARGES, or they had a real case which they did not have the integrity to prosecute.

Honorless vermin, in either scenario. Surely they will have a bright future on medical panels, with conscience free minds like this. Disgraceful. Dereliction of duty indeed.

In any event, applying domestic law enforcement standards and protocols in a combat environment is inane utopianism at best, and an intentional, treasonous attempt to undermine our troops’ safety and efficacy at worst.

[FES0844]

I’d give the Sgt. a medal.

[Storm Cloud]

Wow. You can justify quite a bit with that sentiment.

[smoothsailing]

It works for me too. There is no honor with the JAG here, or they would have just dropped all charges.

Nelson did what he had to do, and I respect him for it.

[Storm Cloud]

THAT's IT???????????? BASED ON THAT THEY FILE MURDER CHARGES???????????


Well, no. There's more. He admitted that he knew that what he was doing was wrong and unlawful, but that he didn't want to go against the other sergeant.


In other words, he admitted participating in the shooting but didn't argue that he acted in self-defense or that the circumstances required that he make a split-second decision.

[Iron Munro]

You can justify quite a bit with that sentiment

You cannot second guess the legitimate survival choices honorable men make in the heat of battle. This applies to our military, Law Enforcement and others who stand between civilization and anarchy, terrorism or worse.

You must stand by the people putting their life on the line to protect you or they will not stand by you when you, your family, neighbors and friends face abuse and death.

"Our Country won't go on forever, if we stay soft as we are now. There won't be any AMERICA because some foreign soldiery will invade us and take our women and breed a hardier race!"

-- Lt. Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, USMC

America needs a man like Chesty right now.

[dalereed]

Best news today!!!!

[dalereed]

“It’s all about their future political careers as Democrat state reps and rat-appointed judges, don’t you know.”

Or RINOs like light lofer Graham!

[lilycicero]

I wouldn’t want to re-up. I hope he gets a nice cushy DOD job as an instructor.

[kellynla]

If you haven’t already seen this

[kellynla]

“His attorney Joseph Low says the plea agreement calls for no prison time and an honorable discharge.”

Good news.

Nelson, like all of the Haditha Marines, should have NEVER even been charged.

Don't deploy Marines to a war zone if you don't want the enemy d...e...a...d!

Semper Fi,
Kelly

[Lancey Howard]

He had to go with this plea deal, too much at stake if he didn’t.

Agreed. It would (obviously) have been preferrable to see Nelson exonerated completely, but the money to fight in court doesn't last forever. ...And I think that's what the JAG scumbags, with their bottomless taxpayer money-pit, count on.

[freema]

Hell yeah, kelly.

I can't say what I really want to say, you'd all be blushing.

You know, the night my son enlisted, I killed a jihadi with my high heels. The little SOB was going to kill my Marines. But I got him first.

Bone and flesh making all kind of noise, I woke myself up moaning, but I didn't stop until he was dead, and then some.

Wonder what I would have gotten? I dunno, But I'll tell ya what would be first on my list. Another pair of high heels : )

Limp Richarded prosecutors. While I hate that he took a plea deal (he should have sued for a playpen to contain the little jihadi's) I'm sure glad Nelson's nightmare is over.

[Saoirise]

Hmm, a plea deal by the Govt, again. Some young JAG prosecutor had to save face.

Sentencing is set for Wednesday.

[Saoirise]

Love the shoes!

[Marine_Uncle]

Pretty classy looking high heels ma. At least this Marines nightmare may be over now. Hopefully he can find some decent employment in this bad economy.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The fact that our soldiers ( and CIA people...etc ) have to actively worry about this kind of crap is absolutely horrible...

[Marine_Uncle]

Amen to that. This PC bullshit is going to continue to kill our men in the field. It’s literally happening in parts of Afghanistan now. Our soldiers and Marines cannot return fire on Taliban and or al Qaeda when it is known so called citizens are within range of fire.

[Semper Fi Mom]

He did what he had to do!! “Nuf” said!!

[Daniel II]

I wanna see some war porn after reading this.

[Girlene]

Thanks for the ping, guys. Well, I’m disappointed Sgt. Nelson wasn’t able to totally clear his name, but I understand why he took the plea deal. Before he was able to retain civilian defense, NCIS used him in trying to set up a sting on his fellow Marines. Whether any statement he made on taped conversations was true or not, NCIS had him admitting to “something”. They had no bodies, no names of any killed Fallujah insurgents, no complaining family members, no forensics, nada. They had a Marine who was afraid of spending the rest of his life in jail and without a competent defense team at the time trying to lessen his sentence after fighting one of the most bloody battles since Iraq was taken.

I hope all three are able to move on in their lives.

[lilycicero]

Hey SFMom!!! I am still praying for your family every day.

[Saoirise]

Here’s an updated story from SD Untion Trib:
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/sep/30/marine-exonerated-4-fallujah-killings/?metro&zIndex=174540

Title is “Marine Exonerated in 4 Fallujah Killings”
FTA:
“All of our efforts to follow the rules as they were written just weren’t working,” Wade said. “We had truckloads of Marines coming back dead or wounded because they tried.”

ROE, or lack thereof, again. God bless Sgt. Nelson for what he has had to put up with and go through.

[444Flyer]

Yep.

“...All of our efforts to follow the rules as they were written just weren’t working,” Wade said. “We had truckloads of Marines coming back dead or wounded because they tried.”

“RULES OF ENGAGEMENT REVISITED”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2346439/posts

[444Flyer]

“THE RULES MURDERING OUR TROOPS”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2347085/posts

[Saoirise]

“We are pinned down. We are running low on ammo. We have no air. We’ve lost today,” Marine Maj. Kevin Williams , 37, said through his translator to his Afghan counterpart, responding to the latter’s repeated demands for helicopters.

RIP Maj. Williams 9/9/09.

[444Flyer]

:(

[MestaMachine]

The really odd thing about this story is that the two other Marines were aquitted of all charges including the Marine who gave the order. Neither are still in the military. Only Nelson, who is still active, finally had to plead guilty to end this charade.
I am so sick to death of how the Marines, whoever made these calls, took great warriors and decided to make “examples” of them....and FOR WHAT?????
To “prove” our humanity to inhumane, brutal, sadistic murderers who would kill us as soon as look at us without a hint of hesitation.
Good luck to this Marine.
I fear it will get worse before it gets better for our Marines in Afghanistan. GOD Protect and Preserve them.

Semper Fi

[444Flyer]

Thanks to the Yitbos upline, it is a very trying time for our military.

[freema]

The freaking definition of 'unarmed' does not apply to anyone with half a brain.

Main Entry: un·armed
Pronunciation: \-ˈärmd\
Function: adjective
Date: 14th century

1 : not armed or armored ; also : not using or involving a weapon

The four insurgents were sitting unarmed in the house and submitted to orders from the Marines, said Capt. Nicholas Gannon, the military co-prosecutor. But Nazario, the squad leader, grew enraged when a search of the house turned up weapons. He hit one of the men with his rifle, and shot and killed two of them.

[Marine_Uncle]

"The freaking definition of 'unarmed' does not apply to anyone with half a brain."
Of course, one must make allowances for the idiots, who medically have a full brain. The bastards that lobbed mortars into Camp MEK (Fallujah) while my nephew and his Marine Sergent attempted to seek shelter did not know if the butt heads outside where armed or not. Unfortunately the good Sergent was blown to bits by a direct hit. The camel sucking assholes that blew up a few Iraqi police in Latifiya (4 miles south of al Mahmudiya Iraq in the triangle of death) while my nephew felt the ground shake as the truck went into the air during a day time raid in that town did not know if the camel ass sucking clowns where armed our not.
I rest my case. God bless our soldiers, airmen, aviators, and Marines.