November 25, 2009
Throwing Navy Seals Under the Bus
Oh my, Uncle Jimbo is not too happy with the way AllahP handled the news of three Navy SEALs court martialed for allegedly roughing up the man behind the murder of American contractors in Iraq -- one of whom was a former Navy SEAL himself.
I'm not trying to insert myself into a blog war, but two things I want to clarify. First, the fact that they chose court martial rather than administrative punishment says either:
a: They are innocent. As Jimbo points out, the first rule of al Qaeda is to allege abuse. Hell, nearly all terrorists detained in the war on terror make this claim -- much of which is borders on the fantastic (such as the claim of Muslim women randomly picked up off the streets and then taken to prisons where they are gang raped in front of the prisoners in order to demoralize the Muslim men) to the absurd but probably accurate (they wouldn't tell me which way was Mecca, torture!). So, maybe the SEALs are innocent? If anyone deserves the presumption of innocence it is our men and women in uniform. Especially Navy SEALs involved in successful counterterrorism operations.
b: Or, one of the SEALs did rough up the prisoner and his buddies covered it up. Big. Freaking. Deal. And, no I'm not condoning roughing up a prisoner. I'm saying that good deeds do in fact cover up a multitude of sins. As Uncle Jimbo points out, a raid and snatch operation is very difficult. These guys probably deserve a medal. Yes, you do give allowances to heroes caught up on the heat of the moment.
Second, pursuing charges against these SEALs creates a perverse incentive to treat prisoners even worse. The intent of disciplining them is to send a message that once a prisoner is apprehended then all the rules of the Geneva Conventions should be followed. This is a noble sentiment.
However, the lesson learned really is that before a suspected terrorist is taken into custody that he should be shot. A dead suspect registers no complaints. And in the fog of war who's to say that he didn't "resist"?
Given the choice between a punch and a .223 in the face, I'll take the fist every time.
Will these guys get off as AllahP predicts? I hope so, but I dunno. Prosecutorial discretion should mean that the charges are dropped before they ever get to court martial. Remember that video shot by Kevin Sites of a Marine giving the ol' double tap at point blank range to an Iraqi laying on the ground during the second battle of Fallujah?
The point being that these Marines had learned a valuable lesson when in the previous days other Iraqis had feigned being dead as a ruse to lure the Marines in closer and then attack. The incentive in that tactic being that instead of helping the enemy wounded you had better make sure they are good and dead.
An investigation ensued and that Marine was cleared. Hopefully these three will be as well. But who knows given the present political climate.
