Be sure to stop by Fresh Tapas on Saturday, March 20th, and support the Naval Special Warfare Foundation.
Mar 04
Burton defends SEALs facing trial in abuse of terrorist
By Bridget Johnson – 03/04/10 02:30 PM ET
Reps. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) planned Thursday to present 180,000 signatures to Pentagon officials asking that the courts-martial against three Navy SEALs in the beating of an al-Qaeda suspect be dropped.
“These gentlemen are heroes in my opinion,” Burton, a member of the Foreign Affairs and Oversight and Government Reform committees, said on Fox News. He said that the petition asks that the men be exonerated “and congratulate, them in my opinon.”
Special Warfare Operators 2nd Class Matthew McCabe and Jonathan Keefe and Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Julio Huertas were on the team that captured al-Qaeda operative Ahmed Hashim Abed for the 2004 slaying and mutilation of four Blackwater contractors in Fallujah. After being killed, the contractors’ bodies were burned and hung from a bridge.
The SEALs are going on trial next month on charges that McCabe punched Abed in the stomach and gave him a bloody lip, and that the three made false statements about the incident.
“The al-Qaida manual that they all live by says that if you’re captured make the allegation that you’re abused by the military or whoever else captured you,” Burton said.
The congressman said he didn’t think the men would serve jail time, but that the case could ruin the SEALs’ careers and send a negative message to other members of the military. “These people risk their lives every day and they need to know we’re behind them 100 percent,” he said, adding that a member of al-Qaida “should never get the benefit of the doubt” over servicemembers.
“If I’d been one of the people who catpured this guy I would have broken both of his legs,” Burton said. “…Maybe I’m a little extreme.”
Source:
The contents of this site are © 2010 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.
Mar 04
(CNN) — A U.S. soldier who defused roadside bombs in Iraq wants credit for inspiring the main character in “The Hurt Locker,” a movie up for nine Oscars this weekend.
Master Sgt. Jeffrey Sarver filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday claiming writer Mark Boal — a journalist embedded with his Army unit in Iraq — based the film’s main character on his life.
“They literally transposed his life in the film and then claimed it was a work of fiction,” said lawyer Geoffrey Fieger. “The only fiction was the claim it was a work of fiction.”
Without directly denying Sarver’s claim, the production company said it was “a fictional account of what brave men and women do on the battlefield.”
Summit Entertainment said it hoped “for a quick resolution” of Sarver’s claims.
“The Hurt Locker” is one of this year’s 10 best picture nominees and it has been widely acclaimed by critics.
Sarver held back announcing his lawsuit until late Tuesday after all Oscar ballots were cast, Fieger said.
“We want the movie to be successful, because that is in my client’s benefit,” he said.
Sarver wants the opening credits to list him as the basis for the character Will James, and producers “have to share the financial benefit that apparently they are going to reap from this movie,” Fieger said.
“For years, Hollywood has exploited the heroics and sacrifices of veterans and in this particular case, they attempted to do it again rather grievously,” he said.
A Playboy magazine article by Boal about his time with Sarver’s bomb disposal unit led to the screenplay using details of Sarver’s life, Fieger charged.
“The screenplay says he is a blonde, blue-eyed trailer trash from Tennessee, but he’s blonde, blue-eyed and grew up in a trailer in West Virginia.
“Nobody can claim with a straight face that it’s not Jeff Sarver,” he said.
Fieger said he hopes the movie company will voluntarily acknowledge Sarver and “pay damages for the use of his life without compensation.”
“I would hope they do the right thing, but my experience tells me when people have money they rarely do the right thing,” he said.
Sarver is still in the Army, but his location is a military secret, Fieger said.
“He can’t even tell me,” he said.
[by Alan Duke, CNN]
Mar 01
I found this article over from the NYTimes Blog, by way of Gizmodo.
Feb 26
Not one.
This story is absolutely brilliant, and I commend the burro guy for spreading literacy to the poor.
Feb 22
You’re 0 for 14 this month.
You see, blogs have these things called spam filters, so you’re wasting your time.
Or more accurately, your spambots are a waste of time.
Go away. Thanks.
Feb 10
The official Lance Vaccaro Memorial Ride site is now live at:
I’m serving as the volunteer Public Affairs Officer, and ask that you support the ride and Naval Special Warfare Foundation by visiting the site and purchasing a hat, t-shirt or challenge coin.
Thank you, Lance, for your service and incredible sacrifice. You are not forgotten!
