The world has changed, and it’s not going back anytime soon; Or ever, for that matter! Just like the absurd thought of copyright laws on the internet and supporting communist ideas after the Soviet Union fell, China went capitalist, Cubans live in poverty, and North Korea depends on world Aid to feed it’s people. In the same respect is the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

Just to point out you can’t get anymore anti-American than the UCMJ and the American Military. It blows my mind how I and my fellow military members deal with such a slap in the face of American ideals.

To understand how America could allow something so anti-American to exist it important to understand American history. The United States never had a standing army until after World War II. We always had a very small force that could train a larger force very quickly. The US only raised an army when it was going to war. So in the sense of living under an authoritarian rule for the length of a war was a sacrifice that had to be paid. Since we never had a standing army the rights and privileges of the citizens inside of the organization was never an issue. Their can’t be any change when 2 or 4 years after enlistment the millions of fighters leave and go back to their farms and never care about the Army they had just left.

Many American Soldiers I speak with believe that every military must be the same because the way we run our military must be the most logical. This is of course is what happens when you brainwash people. Don’t get me wrong, in basic training it’s very fundamentally important to get a person to learn how to kill. Everything in our humanity pushes us away from wanting to kill another person.

Our brothers in Europe have a bit more liberty. It mostly stems from the fact that they have always had a standing military and things like the possibility of mutiny and voters demographic come into play. The voters demographic is a big one. Our total military power makes up roughly 3 million out of 300 million; which for my math challenged friends is 1% of the population. In America it’s becoming very rare that the common citizen is even related to uniformed service member. Also, deep rooted customs play a considerable role. The United States Military forces all of it’s males to pretty much have a high and tight hair cut with the side burns very high, and the only authorized facial hair is a small mustache. The only military guys your ever going to see with facial hair are special forces operatives trying to blend in with the local population. Even though in American history it was customary of our our generals to have very large beards. When the invention of chemical warfare came around, the US was very quick to nix the wear of beards. Unlike our Germany pals who to this day still rock awesome side burns and I’ve seen many beard wearing German Soldiers, even officers.

Which seems odd considering how as citizens Americans are much more free from their government than citizens of European countries.

Maybe not the best example but when Americans deploy to a combat zone it’s sure enough that the first order out of the commanders mouth is, “You are no longer authorized to drink beer.” Just like that. When I’ve worked with British and German troops I’ve brought this up and they have all agreed that if their commanders would order such a thing that their would surely be mutiny among the men. I’ve also noticed that the British, German and Canadian leaders treat their people with much more respect.

Once again we must look at history to understand the way things are. Before World War II it was very common for men to reach the 6th grade and leave school to pursue work. The common man was very uneducated. Officers were those who had received education and enlisted were the uneducated. In the simplest of terms you can’t have a uneducated moron running things. Officers were always with the men. Officers led the troops. They were responsible for everything they did.  However, in our current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan you’ll find it very hard to find an officer anywhere off base. Officers very rarely go on missions. Everything is run by Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO). In the past you might have had a captain or a major in charge of a convoy you will now find a First Sergeant or Sergeant First Class in charge of a large convoy. In our current wars officer stay inside the base and write memos and push paper. They make strategy, policies, look at the broader war and run command and control or much larger elements.

This isn’t just possible because the world has changed, or that majority of Americans graduate high school with a degree but because the military requires a GED or High School Diploma to enlist. Because of educational benefits most senior enlisted possess a bachelors degree.

With this knowledge it seems absurd that people like LTC Allen West was brought up on charges for the actions of his men below him. Who shouldn’t have been in trouble in the first place. They assaulted an Iraqi Police Officer who betrayed his country and was selling it out to terrorists. He most likely had 200 to 300 men under his command, how can he be responsible for the actions of so many?

To expand on this, when I joined the military I had always believed that if I did something wrong accidentally or for the greater good that the military had your back. Your leaders had your back. Your country had your back.  Maybe because of the actions of those at My Lai during Vietnam that sent our policy to sell out our men for the smallest of infraction. Which is insane, it’s a war people are dieing and someone gets punched in the face and it’s to jail with you! How many enemies did those Soldiers kill for their country and your going to throw them in jail for punching one?

Warriors like the Navy Seals who are being charged for punching some low-life terrorist in the mouth and/or stomach could face time in prison for something they might or might not have done. The absurd thing is that it went so far that they requested a court-martial, but that it should have ended with their commander saying, “Don’t do that again *wink wink* Now get out of my face! Oh and take some much needed R&R.”

Something is wrong with our Leaders, our law, and our military that these things have to be even spoken about.

How many times did our World War II vets probably go a little over-the-line, we don’t know? Because that generation knew how to keep it’s mouth shut and watch each others back. We’ve lost Esprit de corps and it makes me sick.

article from CNSNEWS.com

The accuser, Ahmed Hashim Abed, is the alleged architect of the murder of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. The bodies of the four Americans were burned and hanged from a bridge for display.

The three Navy Seals–Matthew McCabe, Jonathon Keefe, and Julio Huertas–will be arraigned on Monday in Norfolk, Va. They are facing a special court martial–which is equivalent to a misdemeanor charge–and have each denied the allegations of abuse and cover-up.

The trial date for McCabe, the Seal charged with the alleged assault, is tentatively set for Jan. 19, 2010, McCabe’s attorney Neal Puckett said.

Defense attorneys told CNSNews.com that they are waiting to see the evidence from military prosecutors because it is still under review to determine if it is classified. Even the charges, the only court filings in the case thus far, are still under review.

“The government has not handed over anything,” Huertas’ attorney Monica Lombardi told CNSNews.com. “They are now claiming that things are classified, but they are not saying what’s classified and what’s not classified. I filed my discovery request, and they denied it, pending a classification review. … We have no photographs of the alleged injuries. We have no medical reports of these alleged injuries.”

Attorneys for both McCabe and Huertas said they would insist on cross-examining Abed. The Constitution grants Americans the right to face their accuser at a trial.

“If somebody was trying to claim that you assaulted them, but they refused to come into court, what prosecutor in what state would deny you your right to confrontation of the alleged victim?” Lombardi said.

When CNSNews.com asked what would happen if the military declined to bring Abed to the United States to testify for security reasons, Lombardi said, “It would be, at that point, we could ask the judge to dismiss the charges.”

McCabe, a special operations petty officer, second class, is charged with assaulting the detainee for reportedly punching him in the midsection; with dereliction of duty for failure to safeguard the detainee; and with making a false official statement on the matter.

Though news reports differ on whether it was a punch to the gut or a bloody lip, Puckett says the official charge is a punch to the mid-section.

Huertas, a special operations petty officer, first class, is charged with dereliction of duty, making a false official statement and impeding an investigation.

Keefe, a special operations petty officer, second class, is charged with dereliction of duty and making a false official statement.

Under special court-martial rules, all three defendants would face the same maximum penalty, Puckett said, even though the charges against each one deviate slightly. The maximum penalty for the charges would be one year in military confinement, reduction of two-thirds of their pay for a year and discharge from the military for bad conduct.

Lombardi said Huertas greatly appreciates the public outpouring of support since the reports first surfaced of the arrest.

“My client is extremely grateful for all the support from the American public,” Lombardi said. “He’s a career professional who’s just doing his job. It boosts your morale when you know that you go over there and are doing your job and the American public actually does care about what you’re doing. He’s really humbled by it.”

The military first sought non-judicial punishment, called a “captain’s mast.” It would have spared them any chance of imprisonment but would have severely harmed and possibly ended their military careers, Puckett said.

“There was some pressure on them to accept a lesser form of punishment,” Puckett said. “That would have meant that some commander had predetermined their guilt and would have punished them in a way that would have ended their careers. They weren’t willing to accept that and felt that it would not be a fair hearing.”

They each refused the captain’s mast and opted for a court martial, which is a military trial, to clear their names. The punishment from a court-martial conviction could be greater.

Though it was a better option than accepting guilt, Puckett said, such charges should have never been brought.

“Forget what the punishment would be, even a conviction would be a federal conviction for these guys,” Puckett said. “A federal conviction alone–even before you consider what punishment they get–is grossly disproportionate to the misconduct that’s alleged.

“If we’re talking about the detainee getting punched in the gut by Petty Officer McCabe, given the evil that guy [Abed] is alleged to have wrought on American contractors back in 2004 in Fallujah, it seems that it’s overkill to think that it’s appropriate to send these guys to court martial,” Puckett added.

Puckett suspects this was an overreaction by military brass in regards to detainee abuse.

“The most obvious speculation to me seems to be that the American military and particular Army commanders, and this was an Army commander, are overly sensitive to allegations of detainee abuse in the wake of Abu Ghraib,” Puckett said. “I think they feel a need to overly punish, overly react to these allegations to keep future ones from happening again.”

The alleged punch happened on Sept. 1 when Abed was in captivity.

Abed, after his capture, was held at Camp Baharia, a U.S. base outside of Fallujah. He was briefly handed over to Iraqi authorities and then returned to U.S. custody. Another petty officer, not a Navy Seal, reported the alleged abuse, Lombardi said. It then went up the chain of command, and the commanding general ordered the charges.

Lombardi believes if there was any abuse, it might have happened on the Iraqi side.

“He was turned over to the Iraqi police,” Lombardi said. “He is an Iraqi citizen. Eventually, he’ll go home. Wouldn’t it be a lot better to claim the Americans abused you than the Iraqi police?”

Lombardi said there is a legal defense fund for the Seals, and that she is glad the public can see the Seals were doing the right thing.

“They were capturing a terrorist that we’ve been searching for, for five years. They did it in a professional manner,” Lombardi said. “When you think you’re doing everything right and you’ve got somebody saying, ‘no, you did it wrong,’ it’s really nice to know everybody is saying, ‘you did it right. You did us a favor. Why are you being punished?”