Nat Helms is a Contributing Editor to Defend Our Marines. He is a Vietnam veteran, former police officer, war correspondent, and, most recently, author of My Men Are My Heroes: The Brad Kasal Story (Meredith Books, 2007).
Posted on 02/28/2008 10:15:23 AM PST by RedRover
Nat Helms is a Contributing Editor to Defend Our Marines. He is a Vietnam veteran, former police officer, war correspondent, and, most recently, author of My Men Are My Heroes: The Brad Kasal Story (Meredith Books, 2007).
Someone name a grunt that hasn’t made such comments as “kill em all” in frustration during hard situations. It’s nothing more than a usual exercise in blowing off steam.
Marine Bump!
I have been saying for it seems like years now that these Marines will ALL be exonerated .
My gut tells me that these Iraqis were killed by crossfire and/or by the bad guys before they “bugged out.”
In any case, no autopsy, no murder convictions.
Semper Fi,
Kelly
Good.
Good news that LCpl Sharratt will testify. I hadn’t even considered that he might have to worry about civilian prosecution in federal court. Glad Sharratt’s lawyers were able to get both approvals.
Good for Justin, his buddies, and all Marines.
and I think Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani will get some sort of slap on the wrist.
“investigate?”
investigate what?
we’re at war
people get killed
they have the videos, and if no one committed any assassinations then lets move on...
gezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I don’t know but this whole issue sounds like a lot of Bravo Sierra.
the more I read about this, the more I think it’s just some JAG trying to make rank off some Grunts.
Semper Fi,
Kelly
There is a Marine on charge of, iirc, murder, in either a San Bernardino or Riverside court because another Marine thinks he remembered something bad happening when he (the other Marine) went to take the polygraph test for Secret Service employment.
No ability to investigate. Nothing but rumor to go on. Anyone know what happened or is happening in that case? I lost track of it.
Sullivan's gone?
I wonder if they're trying to avoid him having to explain Mendoza's "deal":
Sullivan, who is prosecuting Wuterich, may eventually face some heat of his own for how and why star prosecution witness LCpl Humberto Mendoza managed to get transferred to Sullivan’s Chicago-based reserve unit as a driver after he was granted immunity. The defense also wants to know if Sullivan intervened in making Mendoza’s immigration problems disappear. Last week Mendoza stumbled his way through a day of testimony under Sullivan’s tutelage.
At one point during cross-examination Vokey tried to discover if Mendoza’s civilian attorneys had ever made any deals with the prosecution. An unidentified female representing herself as Mendoza’s civilian attorney from Philadelphia rose from the gallery to speak, but was cut off by multiple objections from Sullivan. The answer was left hanging when Ware called for a recess. Later on one of the defense attorneys was heard to mutter, “This isn’t the end of that.”
And finally, the defense wants to know if Mendoza’s lawyers allowed their client to be interviewed by prosecutor’s hunting for a “perfect witness’ before they decided to grant him immunity and provide him the alleged benefits of serving in Chicago instead of staying at Camp Pendleton where he was easily accessible. If they did than Mendoza’s remarkable about face against his former squad mates could be more easily explained.
http://warchronicle.com/TheyAreNotKillers/Blog/DefendOurMarines-MarineDefenderFired-NatHelms.htm
No body, no name, no autopsy, no evidence the terrorist in question ever existed, just a handful of fellow Marines being threatened with similar charges unless they give NCIS a sacrificial lamb.
This technique of pitting Marines against each other under threats of life imprisonment or worse - and the practice of refusing to record interrogations has been common factors in every one of the cases we've studied.
Sullivan’s off the Tatum case but is still in the picture on other cases (at least last I heard).
The prosecution may decide that Mendoza is more trouble than he’s worth. They’ll have fresh Iraqi testimony for the court martials and, after the twin debacles of Dela Cruz and Mendoza, that’s where they may be placing their bets.
Maybe the prosecutors ought to spend time actually getting to know a grunt or two. They might decide to throw in the towel.
Justin Sharratt will testify on behalf of two enlisted Marine infantrymen waiting general court-martial in the infamous case.... It is expected by both defense teams and courtroom observers that Justin Sharratt will provide testimony beneficial to Lance Corporal Stephen Tatum and Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich.... The decision was made by Lieutenant General Samuel T. Helland and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alice S. Fisher.
I guess this says something (very good!) about Lt. Gen. Helland.
Please add me to your ping list.
Absolutely, Smooth. It’ll be a refreshing counter to the Mendoza and Dela Cruz testimony.
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