Honor and Betrayal : The Untold Story of the Navy Seals Who Captured the Butcher of Fallujah -and the Shameful Ordeal They Later Endured (9780306823091)

by Robinson, Patrick

  And now, eight years later, he was looking at an astounding overreaction by the high command, which was marching down a highway that would lead to heaven knows where and probably cost the SEALs some of their best people.

  At that moment Hunter was far more than the Marine captain or the US congressman; in his mind he tugged down his treasured camouflaged desert MARPAT (Marine Pattern) combat cap and went straight to work, taking the steps of the Capitol three at a time. This rubbish had to be stopped, and he, Marine Duncan Hunter, was the very guy to get the ball rolling.

  He hit the Internet, accessed Graham’s website, summoned his assistants to clip the newspaper cuttings, and called for transcripts of the FoxNews broadcasts. He began networking among his fellow Republican Congressmen.

  No issue ever raised more eyebrows. Hunter’s colleagues, men who would not ordinarily tune in to military matters, reacted as he had—with genuine astonishment.

  Matt, Jon, and Sam had just made the leap from the dry and dusty couple of acres of Camp Schwedler to the heart of US government. Congressmen were speaking their names right there in the glorious rotunda of the neoclassical Capitol, where General Washington himself had set the cornerstone more than two hundred years before.

  Months later Matt would wonder whether President Washington would have court-martialed his Virginian militiamen for whacking a redcoat. Highly unlikely, he concluded, especially if it weren’t even true.

  And one by one US congressmen agreed to sign, unconditionally, the petition Hunter drafted that would, in its final form, be forwarded to the highest military authority, urging that the three SEALs be exonerated.

  Under the headed writing paper of the US Congress and dated December 4, 2009, it was addressed to the Honorable Robert M. Gates, Secretary of Defense, at his office in the Pentagon. It read,

  Dear Mr. Secretary,

  We are writing to express our grave concern over reports that three Navy SEALs will face court-martial proceedings over their handling of one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq. Based on the information we have, we believe that prosecution of these three men is not warranted.

  As you are aware, in September, the three SEALs in question captured Ahmad Hashim Abd Al-Isawi [name corrected here], the alleged planner of the March 2004 ambush in Fallujah that resulted in the killing of four Blackwater contractors. We all remember the horrifying pictures showing two of these individuals whose bodies, after being burned and mutilated, were hung on a bridge over the Euphrates River.

  Since 2004, Al-Isawi evaded capture. However, in September, Special Warfare Operators 2nd Class Matthew McCabe and Jonathan Keefe, and Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Sam Gonzales undertook a mission that resulted in Al-Isawi’s capture. Soon after his capture, an investigation was conducted, based on reports that Al-Isawi had been struck in the stomach by one of the SEALs. As we understand it, there was no allegation of torture or sustained abuse. There was simply just this one alleged act.

  Prosecuting individuals for such a limited act seems to us to be an overreaction by the command. As a result of the investigation, the three SEALs refused to accept non-judicial punishment believing, according to one of the defense attorneys, that they are innocent of the charges. If convicted they could face a significant punishment of up to one year’s confinement, a bad conduct discharge, forfeiture of a portion of their pay each month for up to a year and a reduction in their rank.

  It appears from all accounts that these SEALs are exceptional sailors, demonstrated by the fact that each had recently been advanced in rank. They captured a terrorist who had planned an attack that not only killed Americans, but also maimed and mutilated their bodies. We believe that prosecution of these sailors for such an apparently limited action will have a negative impact on others in the military who risk their lives in dangerous often ambiguous situations.

  Again, we strongly believe that these court-martial proceedings are not warranted and would urge that you review this matter.

  The letter was signed first by Congressman Duncan Hunter and then by thirty-two others, including the future speaker of the house, John Boehner, who is now third in line to the presidency; he signed, right alongside Congressman Hunter, as house minority leader, the position he occupied at the time.

  Then-Minority Leader Boehner was the US Representative from Ohio’s 8th congressional district since 1991, the same state as Matt McCabe. The US Representative from Florida’s 10th congressional district, Bill Young, the longest-serving Republican member of Congress, signed his name boldly beneath Boehner’s signature.

  Below that was South Carolina’s Joe Wilson, the congressman who received international attention when he interrupted a speech by US President Barack Obama at a joint session of Congress. He is also the father of four sons serving in the US military.

  Bill Shuster, the representative from Pennsylvania’s 9th district, also signed, unsurprisingly, as a member of the Armed Services Committee and of the congressional subcommittee on tactical air and land forces.

  Randy Forbes, the representative of Virginia’s 4th congressional district and Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee’s readiness subcommittee was another prominent signatory. Congressman Forbes is a member of the caucus for Army, Navy, Marines, and Special Operations Forces.

  Perhaps the least surprising signer of all was Republican Congressman Robert Wittman, of Virginia’s 1st congressional district. That’s the one that stretches from the Washington suburbs right down to the Hampton Roads area, home of the US Navy. Congressman Wittman was as mad as Duncan Hunter about the entire court-martial episode, and he had almost certainly heard from several admirals who agreed with him. Rob Wittman was also a member of the Armed Services Committee.

  Congressman Mike Coffman from Colorado’s 6th district, a former infantry officer in the US Marines, placed his signature right next to Congressman Wittman’s. Another Virginia Republican, Frank Wolf, as a former Army lawyer and practicing attorney, was also among the strong supporters of Duncan Hunter’s petition.

  The Texas congressman, Kevin Brady, was another powerful supporter and did not think the SEALs should be dragged into a courtroom after their exemplary behavior on the mission. In fact, Congressman Brady was possibly not enthusiastic about anyone going into a courtroom, as his own father, a South Dakota lawyer, was shot dead in one when Kevin was only twelve years old.

  The Republican Tom Rooney, grandson of Art Rooney, founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers, was another big supporter of Congressman Hunter’s petition. A former Army JAG, Rooney taught constitutional and criminal law as an assistant professor at West Point. He served in the famed US Cavalry Division and was a special assistant US attorney at Fort Hood in Texas.

  Congressman Rooney knew military law from A to Z. And he believed that Matt, Jon, and Sam were being prosecuted by their own side based on dubious evidence.

  The petition was sent by congressional courier directly to the Pentagon. But subsequent events suggest it was transferred from the office of the defense secretary to the convener of the courts-martial, Major General Charles Cleveland, who commanded Special Operations Central Command from MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.

  This surprised no one because, as hot potatoes go, this one would deep-fry the palms of your hands. The upshot of all this was that Congressman Hunter was informed that a letter should be sent directly to the Major General because he had been given free rein to handle the courts-martial any way he saw fit.

  And so, six days after the first letter, the congressmen went back to work, and this time there were forty-one signatures—eight more influential voices. The new letter read,

  Dear General Cleveland,

  We are writing to express out strong disagreement with the decision of your officers to pursue first a non-judicial punishment, and now a full court-martial against three Navy SEALs—Matthew McCabe, Jonathan Keefe and Sam Gonzales—on charges of assault against Ahmad Hashim Abd Al-Isawi—at one point one of the most dangerous terror
ists in Iraq.

  In March 2004, Fallujah, Iraq was a hub or insurgent activity. Four American civilians working as contractors were ambushed and killed; their bodies were mutilated and burned, then dragged through the streets and hung from a bridge over the Euphrates River—one of the most horrific outrages perpetrated on Americans in the last decade. The man widely identified as the mastermind of that attack, as well as other attacks on United States and coalition troops in Iraq, is Ahmad Hashim Abd Al-Isawi.

  For over five years Al-Isawi evaded capture until Matthew McCabe, Jonathan Keefe and Sam Gonzales finally brought him to justice. Instead of being hailed as heroes, these brave Americans are being vilified for allegedly assaulting Al-Isawi once he was in custody. First, press reports raise significant doubts about whether Al-Isawi was actually in SEAL custody when his alleged minor injuries occurred.

  Second, al-Qaeda’s own handbook instructs their operatives to allege detainee abuse if detained by American forces. In fact, al-Qaeda operatives are trained to self-inflict injuries for the sole purpose of accusing US forces of abuse. We’ve seen many cases of this since the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan began.

  General, surely you agree that we are in a war that we must win. Our military personnel are putting their lives on the line every day trying to track down terrorists who want to indiscriminately kill Americans. Our troops and your SEALs need to be bold and decisive in combat; not looking over their shoulder, fearing legal jeopardy for every action or gesture.

  In this case in particular there is more than enough doubt as to whether these SEALs committed any wrongdoing at all. In our opinion, prosecutorial discretion should have been exercised. Failing that, we respectfully and strongly urge you to exercise your leadership authority, stop the impending court martial, and exonerate these men.

  We await your prompt response.

  CC: Hon. Barack Obama, Hon. Robert Gates, Adml. Mike Mullen.

  It was signed by Dan Burton, the influential Republican representative from Indiana’s 5th district, plus forty-one other congressmen. And although none of them thought the president was likely to step in and put a halt to the rumbling juggernaut of legal procedure, it was also obvious that Robert Gates had essentially stepped aside. The four-star Admiral Mike Mullen was, however, a real hope.

  As chairman of the joint chiefs and just beginning his second term, he was the highest-ranking officer in the US Armed Services. A former commanding officer of the guided missile cruiser USS Yorktown, Admiral Mullen was a US Navy man through and through. There was nothing he did not understand about the service that wears dark blue.

  He had served for forty-three years after graduating from the Naval Academy, Annapolis, rising to command the US Second Fleet in the North Atlantic and subsequently holding the office of chief of naval operations. Now aged sixty-three, Admiral Mullen was every sailor’s champion.

  In the opinion of Congressman Hunter there was a genuine chance he might declare from his exalted position that, in the interests of the Navy’s public reputation, and its duty to provide proper anonymity to its front-line operators, these courts-martial should not proceed.

  The letter was dispatched to the great offices of state and to the Florida offices of Major General Cleveland, who replied swiftly, as indeed anyone would, after receiving a letter from the US Congress. His response read,

  Dear Representative Burton,

  Thank you for your letter expressing your and your colleagues concern regarding the pending Courts-martial of Petty Officers Gonzales, McCabe and Keefe. I understand your interest in these cases and can assure you that I am committed to protecting the rights of the Sailors who have been accused.

  Regrettably it appears that your perception of the incident is based on incomplete and factually inaccurate press coverage. Despite what has been reported, these allegations are not founded solely on the word of the detainee, but rather, were initially raised by other US service members.

  Additionally, the alleged injuries did not occur during actions on the objective, as is also being widely reported in the media. A medical examination conducted at the time the detainee was turned over to US forces determined that his alleged injuries were inflicted several hours after the operation had ended, and while in the custody and care of the US at Camp Schweidler’s [sic] detainee holding facility.

  While the assault and resulting injury to the detainee were relatively minor, the more disconcerting allegations are those related to the Sailor’s attempts to cover up the incident, particularly in what appears to be an effort to influence the testimony of a witness. All of these allegations were fully investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).

  As you have likely read, I chose to deal with this incident administratively via non-judicial punishment pursuant to Article 15 of the UCMJ. However, Petty Officers Gonzales, McCabe and Keefe elected to exercise their UCMJ rights to refuse such a hearing. I have attached previously released, redacted copies of the charge sheets in the hope that they will clarify the allegations surrounding this incident. These charges were drawn from information disclosed during the course of the investigation. The release of any further information at this time would be inappropriate as it might prejudice the outcome of the trial.

  I take my military justice authority and responsibility for maintaining good order and discipline very seriously, as I have in six commands previously. Discipline and integrity are primary factors that make our US Special Operators such an effective fighting force. The abuse of a detainee, no matter how minor, creates strategic repercussions that harm our nation’s security and ultimately costs the lives of US citizens.

  I must ensure that the service members under my command abide by the laws passed by Congress and follow the lawful orders of their superior officers. When there are reasonable grounds to believe that an offense has been committed, and that a specific individual in my command has committed that offense, it is my duty to take appropriate action to not only ensure justice is done, but also to maintain good order and discipline.

  It is these factors that led me to refer these charges to Special Courts-martial. I assure you that the rights of these Sailors are being protected and they will have all of the facts of the case presented and reviewed fully by an impartial panel.

  Sincerely,

  Charles T. Cleveland MG, US Army Commanding

  It was, of course, an enormous disappointment, not least because neither the president, the defense secretary, nor the head of the Armed Services seemed inclined to lift a finger to support the three accused SEALs.

  Also it would have been reassuring if the Major General had at least known how to spell Camp Schwedler, named for another decorated Navy SEAL, Petty Officer Clark Schwedler, who died with the utmost heroism in combat in Iraq and was, somewhat coinidentally, the son of a Michigan trial court judge.

  Major General Cleveland’s response was very weak, packed as it was with trite aphorisms and military cliché, very much a letter from a senior officer to a someone of a lower rank and studded with references to his own command seniority.

  It also made a few seriously shaky assumptions—repeated references to Al-Isawi’s “injuries” when even the prosecution was offering only the slightly cut lower lip, which he probably did himself.

  The general also referred to the allegations against the SEALs being “initially raised by other US service members”—plural. If there were anyone else making the same allegations as Brian Westinson, he or she was not yet known to either the defense or the prosecution.

  The general also did not see fit to mention the several SEAL Team 10 members standing by to flatly refute Westinson’s statement. And as for General Cleveland’s assertion that “the more disconcerting allegation” was the “Sailors’ attempts to cover up the incident” and their “efforts to influence the testimony of a witness,” that was not much short of a wild, inaccurate guess.

  Indeed, in Westinson’s sworn statement under oath in Ramadi made on September 4 in
the presence of a naval lieutenant commander, he asserted that “the three SEALs” had not threatened him and that he thought they were “professional and exemplary sailors”—not precisely the impression Major General Cleveland was handing out to Congressman Dan Burton.

  Neither was it altogether fair that he claimed that the SEALs merely exercised their rights when they refused a nonjudicial hearing. The unmentioned truth was that a nonjudicial hearing would have required from them an admission of guilt, which they could not provide because they were entirely innocent.

  It could not possibly be deemed unreasonable to suggest that the man who convened the courts-martial, Major General Charles T. Cleveland, quoted what he saw as the “facts” to Congressman Burton in a subtle but somewhat opportunistic manner.

  And certainly no one in the highest command of the US military wanted anything to do with a devastating document, produced on December 10, the day the congressional letter was sent to the general. It was written under the letterhead,

  DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

  SPECIAL COURT MARTIAL

  NAVY AND MARINE CORPS TRIAL JUDICIARY

  CENTRAL JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

  To the left was the title, UNITED STATES V. MATTHEW V. MCCABE (the sight of which, incidentally, almost broke his heart, and he never really got over it). But this document was helpful. It was the WITNESS PRODUCTION REQUEST, prepared by the Navy Lieutenant JAG, who right now was detailing the SEAL’s defense.

  One by one it listed the men who would stand witness for Matt, although it began with an assessment of what might be expected from Ahmad Hashim Abd Al-Isawi, the alleged victim.

  Section (a) read,

  His allegation of abuse is the basis for the charges against SO2 McCabe. He told the Navy Special Agent that he was kicked in the stomach and hit in the shoulder and head. His statements serve as the backbone of the Government’s case. He is simply the most relevant and necessary live witness in this case.

  The rest were listed in the document along with an assessment of what each one would testify in support of Matt: his platoon lieutenant; SEAL Team 10’s lieutenant; SO1 Eric, the rocket scientist from Georgia Tech who had walked across the pitch-black desert in front of Matt; SO2 Carl Higbie, the air comms chief the night of the raid; Matt’s lieutenant from his months in Germany; Matt’s troop commander, a very senior SEAL; SEAL Team 10’s troop senior chief; two SEALs, one a lieutenant who had trained with Matt, and another platoon chief, both of whom had known Matt for years; and the SEALs’ combat camera operator. The list also included three witnesses who would testify concerning Westinson’s military character and disposition toward Navy SEALs: MCI Lynn Friant, the SEALs’ combat camera operator; a petty officer who served with Brian; and his immediate supervisor, lead master-of-arms.