Second SEAL cleared in alleged abuse case (Updated)
Friday, April 23, 2010
A jury cleared Special Operator 2nd Class Jonathan Keefe today during his court martial in Iraq. Keefe was charged with failing to prevent the alleged abuse of Ahmed Hashim Abed, the man believed responsible for the grisly 2004 massacre of four Blackwater security contractors.
SO1 Julio Huertas was cleared yesterday. Now only SO2 Matthew McCabe's trial remains, which is set to begin on 3 May in the United States. McCabe is the only SEAL charged with striking Abed.
My sources say that Abed was convicted in Iraq for murdering innocent Iraqis, and is sentenced to death. Will report on this as details become available.
Gratuitous anti-military propaganda is available from the Associated (with Terrorists) Press at this link, but the release doesn't contain anything not already mentioned in this post.
Update: The law firm representing Matthew McCabe informs me that they are asking Maj. Gen. Charles Cleveland - the convening authority of the trials - to dismiss McCabe's charges. "To proceed with the trial against SO2 McCabe would be a tremendous waste of tax payer money."