http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/fallujah/ en-us Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:38:00 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2088839/posts RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Prosecutors want to drop contempt proceedings against two Marines who refused to testify against their former squad leader when he was being tried for the killings of four unarmed Iraqi detainees. Los Angeles-based U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Brien filed the motion Monday, asking U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson to drop the charges against Sgt. Ryan Weemer and Sgt. Jermaine Nelson. They refused to testify at the civilian trial of former Marine Jose Luis Nazario Jr., who was found not guilty of charges that he killed or caused others to kill four detainees in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. Weemer... The Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2088839/posts#comment Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:38:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2088553/posts Government Drops Contempt Charges Against Sergeants Weemer and NelsonThis is a developing story. For background on the contempt charges, see here. Defend Our Marines http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2088553/posts#comment Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:57:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2074869/posts Defend Our Marines | Nathaniel R. Helms | Thursday, September 4, 2008 [pdf]Riverside, California – A reporter quickly learns that nothing is ever as it seems. That was never more apparent than at the recent US District Court trial of a former Marine acquitted of war crimes that allegedly occured in Fallujah, Iraq almost four years ago. Former sergeant and infantry squad leader Jose L. Nazario was a Riverside Police Department probationary patrolman when he was arrested last year by federal agents and charged in US District Court with killing two enemy prisoners of war. “Was” is the operative word... Defend Our Marines http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2074869/posts#comment Thu, 4 Sep 2008 21:51:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2072485/posts Prosecutors faced uphill fight in proving 2004 killingsA former Camp Pendleton Marine acquitted last week in the slaying of four detainees during a 2004 battle for the city of Fallujah, Iraq, says his most vivid memory of those days was "constant fear." "We were running out of ammo and we weren't able to clear every house," Jose L. Nazario Jr. said Friday, one day after a U.S. District Court civilian jury declared him not guilty of manslaughter and related charges in the first-ever trial of its kind. "We were moving past buildings and structures where we could have been ambushed... NC Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2072485/posts#comment Mon, 1 Sep 2008 17:53:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2070501/posts RIVERSIDE, Calif. (Aug. 29) -- Jurors wept and embraced former Marine Jose Luis Nazario Jr. after acquitting him of voluntary manslaughter in the killings of unarmed Iraqi detainees during a fierce 2004 battle. Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2070501/posts#comment Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:30:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2070159/posts Tampa Bay Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2070159/posts#comment Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:50:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2070087/posts Developing story... Defend Our Marines http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2070087/posts#comment Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:10:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2069898/posts Riverside, California--A jury of 12 civilians began deliberations Wednesday afternoon in the case of a former Marine infantry squad leader accused of killing four unarmed insurgents in Fallujah Iraq almost four years ago. Former Sgt. Jose L. Nazario faces federal charges of voluntary manslaughter, abetting murder, assault with a deadly weapon and unlawfully using his firearm. Assistant US Attorney Jerry Behnke took the first shots in closing arguments that began Wednesday morning. Before offering closing arguments, he offered the jury of nine women and three men a surreptitiously recorded telephone conversation between the former squad leader and Sgt. Jermaine Nelson,... Defend Our Marines http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2069898/posts#comment Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:29:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2069276/posts Riverside, California--After two years, countless thousands of dollars and the destruction of far too many reputations, the manslaughter trial of former Marine Corps Sergeant Jose L. Nazario is almost over. Tuesday afternoon at the close of business US District Judge Stephen Larson told the lawyers and spectators in the crowded court room in Riverside that the case against Nazario will go to the jury Thursday morning. From the sound of the things, the news didn’t reach the nine women and three men any too soon. They were already asking Larson when the trial would end, he said. Despite watching the... Defend Our Marines http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2069276/posts#comment Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:39:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2068272/posts Riverside, California--The first witness with personal knowledge of what allegedly happened at Fallujah, Iraq in 2004 is expected to testify today against his former squad leader in US District Court. Former Lance Corporal Corey Carlisle was a Mormon missionary working in Indiana last year when he told a Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigator he heard and saw events that indicated several of his squad mates killed enemy prisoners in the opening hours of the battle. Carlisle told NCIS Special Agent Mark O Fox that his former squad leader Sgt. Jose L. Nazario, his fire team leader Cpl. Ryan Weemer, and... Defend Our Marines http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2068272/posts#comment Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:49:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2066062/posts Riverside, California--There is a lot at stake in the utilitarian court room dominated by the Seal of the United States District Court for Central California at Riverside. This is where former Marine Corps Sergeant Jose Luis Nazario, 28, is on trial for allegedly killing enemy combatants his squad captured in the opening hours of the battle for Fallujah, Iraq almost four years ago. Two other Marines in the squad he led are charged with unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty by the Marine Corps. For the record, Nazario says it never happened. On trial with Nazario is almost 250 years... Defend Our Marines http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2066062/posts#comment Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:58:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2065110/posts Wednesday, August 20: Jury selection is complete in the Jose Nazario trial. Fifty-four jurors were pooled, twelve (and two alternates) were chosen. There are nine women and three men on the jury, most have military members in their family and some are veterans. Jose Nazario is happy with the jury selection and confident that justice will be served. Opening statements are scheduled for tomorrow. And so we begin.... Defend Our Marines http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2065110/posts#comment Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:26:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/2065089/posts My name is April Popaditch, wife of Gysgt Nick Popaditch (ret) AKA Cee-gar Marine to FreeRepublic. This web site was such a source of strength to my family and I when my husband was wounded in Fallujah, Iraq April 2004. The beauty of the words and prayers that we read on a daily basis from all of you, will stay in our hearts forever. Military life is a sacrifice but one you never regret. Support from people you've never met, is life affirming and gives us the strength to carry on our new missions in life. I hear on the... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/2065089/posts#comment Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:17:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2063413/posts IRVINE, Calif. - A former Marine sergeant facing the first federal civilian prosecution of a military member accused of a war crime says there is much more at stake than his claim of innocence on charges that he killed unarmed detainees in Fallujah, Iraq. In the view of Jose Luis Nazario Jr., U.S. troops may begin to question whether they will be prosecuted by civilians for doing what their military superiors taught them to do in battle... Yahoo/AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2063413/posts#comment Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:15:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062902/posts Two Camp Pendleton Marines, ordered to testify against former sergeant Jose L. Nazario by the US District Judge presiding over his voluntary manslaughter trial, have decided to refuse the judge’s order. Kevin B. McDermott, the Orange County attorney representing Nazario, says he received the news this morning. “It shows the solidarity of these Marines,” McDermott says. Nazario is charged with two counts of voluntary manslaughter for allegedly executing two captured enemy combatants, compelling his subordinates to assist him in killing two others, and unlawfully using a firearm--his M-16 rifle--in the commission of the crime. Weemer and Nelson face general court-martials... Defend Our Marines http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062902/posts#comment Sat, 16 Aug 2008 15:22:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062000/posts Government prosecutors, who filed an application in US District Court for an order compelling two Marines co-defendants to testify against their former squad leader, revealed that one of them was a government informant. All three men are accused of executing four enemy combatants they captured in the opening hours of the month-long battle of Fallujah in November 2004. Documents filed in the US District Court for Central California August 11 on reveal that Sgt. Jermaine Nelson, a co-defendant in the case against former Marine Jose L. Nazario, tried to trick his former squad leader into admitting the incident occurred. Nazario,... Defend Our Marines http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062000/posts#comment Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:36:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2061318/posts The Marine Corps is considering the unprecedented step of appointing a reserve lawyer to assist the US Attorney for Central California in prosecuting former Marine Sgt. Jose L. Nazario in US District Court in Riverside, California, Defend Our Marines has learned.A Marine Corps spokesman at Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C. confirmed Thursday that a request for an SJA to assist in the prosecution of Nazario was received at HQMC from the US Attorneys Office for Central California. Nazario was indicted by a federal Grand Jury last August 17 for allegedly executing two prisoners of war at Fallujah. In a... Defend Our Marines http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2061318/posts#comment Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:34:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2057789/posts A year after Cpl. Garrett Jones lost his left leg to a bomb in Iraq, he has rejoined his unit in Afghanistan. Improved medical care and prostheses -- and his determination -- made it possible. CAMP BARBER, AFGHANISTAN -- Just over a year ago, Cpl. Garrett Jones was one of thousands of Marines slogging through a tour of duty in Iraq. Today, he is deployed with the same unit in Afghanistan, but he serves now with an unusual distinction. On July 23, 2007, Jones was on foot patrol near the Iraqi city of Fallouja when he was injured by a... LA Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2057789/posts#comment Thu, 7 Aug 2008 01:37:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2057783/posts Major Bill Donahue (USMC, retired) has a personal stake in the Third Battle of Fallujah. He lost a son in that city (a second son lost both legs a month later in Iraq). Now Donahue heads United American Patriots, a national non-profit 501(c) 3 organization and its Warrior Fund project. His mission is to ensure justice for soldiers and Marines accused of crimes arising out of combat in Iraq. Donahue speaks with passion about his cause. And he speaks with understandable pride about his successes. Donations from Warrior Fund were crucial to the recent exonerations of Sgt. Leonardo Treviño and... Defend Our Marines http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2057783/posts#comment Thu, 7 Aug 2008 01:20:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2055221/posts Camp Pendleton commander backs cut in Marine forces in western IraqCamp Pendleton's Maj. Gen. John Kelly said Friday that the military is on the verge on victory in Iraq's once rebellious Anbar province. "We have all but won this thing when they once said that was impossible," Kelly said during a telephone interview with the North County Times from his headquarters in the city of Fallujah, once a flash point in the battle against the insurgency. "The rest of the country is now following Anbar's lead." The two-star general was deliberately cautious about declaring outright victory, stressing that work remains... NC Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2055221/posts#comment Sat, 2 Aug 2008 03:00:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2055229/posts CHRIS Doran (Letters, 1/8) is entitled to his view, but he gets just about everything wrong about my account of the Iraq war... The assault was neither disproportionate nor was it indiscriminate; it was conducted strictly in accordance with the laws of armed conflict and undertaken to remove a safe haven for terrorists/insurgents whose crimes against the people we have publicly documented... White phosphorous is as terrible as any battlefield weapon but it is not a chemical weapon and is not illegal if used against enemy forces as it was in Fallujah... Far from closing down Fallujah’s hospital, the coalition... The Australian letter page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2055229/posts#comment Sat, 2 Aug 2008 03:18:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2054643/posts A Navy Cross recipient is among the Marine veterans of the Battle of Fallujah getting subpoenaed to a US District Court in Riverside, California where former comrade-in-arms Jose L Nazario is scheduled to go on trial for allegedly executing two captured enemy combatants in the opening hours of the battle. When the battle erupted on November 9, 2004 Nazario was an infantry squad leader in 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines – the Thundering Third. He is scheduled to go on trial Aug 19 for voluntary manslaughter and related charges after allegedly killing two insurgents and ordering Marines... Defend Our Marines http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2054643/posts#comment Fri, 1 Aug 2008 01:54:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2049971/posts Marines visiting a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. Scenes include troops walking inside the restaurant and KFC workers preparing and frying chicken and french fries. Click link to see video clip Live Leak http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2049971/posts#comment Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:26:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048050/posts Marines visiting a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. Scenes include troops walking inside the restaurant and KFC workers preparing and frying chicken and french fries. Live Leak via Gateway Pundit http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048050/posts#comment Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:36:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2045896/posts Marine Sgt. Ryan Weemer is accused of murdering an enemy combatant captured a few hours after his squad crossed the line of departure on November 9, 2004 to attack Fallujah, Iraq. The government claims somebody gave Weemer’s squad leader an order over a radio to kill four prisoners they had just captured and Weemer was one of the Marines who complied. Weemer’s former squad leader Jose L. Nazario, and Sgt. Jermaine Nelson, an assaultman attached to his squad, are also accused of murder in the affair. After Weemer and Nelson waived their right to legal counsel they both gave voluntary... Defend Our Marines http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2045896/posts#comment Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:55:34 GMT