SwiftVets.com

[Rdtf]

http://insider.washingtontimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050214-121803-1937r

Feb 14, 2005
Marine charged in killing of Iraqis
By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
From the Nation/Politics section
He is the kind of Marine officer who seems to come off the assembly line, so patriotic that he rejoined the Corps after September 11 and went to Iraq to kill terrorists.
That is why it is so hard for 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano and his family to understand how the Marine Corps could call the platoon leader a murderer. He escaped death in Iraq despite daily patrols and raids in the notorious Sunni Triangle.
Back home at Camp Lejeune, N.C., Lt. Pantano, 33, found out the Corps has filed two premeditated murder charges for shooting two Iraqi insurgents in a dusty, terrorist-infested town near Baghdad. If convicted at a court-martial, he would face the death penalty.
"He is a young, intelligent, charismatic Marine officer and all that that entails," states his mother, Merry K. Gregory Pantano, a New York literary agent, on a Web site she created to raise defense funds. "And yet he is incomprehensibly charged with heinous crimes related to a dangerous military operation that took place in 'the triangle of death.' "
To Lt. Pantano, the two Iraqis who came toward him despite his order in Arabic to stop were mortal enemies. Booby-trapped suicide bombers are killing Iraqis by the score and some have even feigned surrender in order to get close to U.S. soldiers. But the Corps views it as murder and filed charges against him Feb. 1.
The case, announced at Camp Lejeune last week, is already driving passions among Marines who know that a split-second delay in defending oneself can result in death.
"Let's stand together and tell our government that it cannot send our boys to the depths of hell and not expect them to see fire and brimstone," said an e-mailer to Mrs. Pantano's site, DefendtheDefenders.org. "It's called war. Sad, dark, horrible, tragic and, in death, permanent."
Lt. Pantano has retained Charles Gittins, a Marine reserve officer and one of the country's most prominent military defense attorneys.
Mr. Gittins said his client reported the shootings to superiors and remained in combat for weeks afterward. It was not until an enlisted man, whom Mr. Gittins described as "disgruntled" after being relieved from two jobs, complained to commanders that an investigation began.

"Lt. Pantano told everyone who needed to know," Mr. Gittins said. "He told them what he did and why he did it. After that, he served three months in combat. Nobody had any problem with it."
The Corps has presented Lt. Pantano with a document known as a "charge sheet" that officially charges him with two counts of murder.
Despite this, a Marine spokesman at Camp Lejeune said the officer had not yet been accused.
Mr. Gittins on Saturday sent a letter to the base's commanding general demanding that he fire the public affairs officer for putting out erroneous information.
Lt. Pantano, raised in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, had already served his country as an enlisted Marine when al Qaeda struck the World Trade Center. He eventually rejoined, graduating from officer training at Quantico, Va., and earning a commission.
The married father of two sons took a hefty pay cut, going from the $100,000 salary of a New York stock broker and TV producer, to the pay of a Marine second lieutenant.
"If he has a fault," says his mother on the site, "it is that he is too idealistic and puts moral responsibility and duty to his country and his men before anything else." Lt. Pantano arrived in Iraq in March 2004, leading a quick-reaction platoon, the kind of unit that is crucial to the U.S. military in its battle against insurgents. Such units receive intelligence reports on hide-outs and arms caches, and must move quickly before the enemy can escape.
"He was in combat every day," Mr. Gittins said. "They were taking serious casualties. In the three weeks before [the shootings] happened, there were over 1,000 [dead and wounded] in his area of operation."
On April 15, commanders dispatched Lt. Pantano's men to a house believed to hold insurgents and weapons. The Marines found bomb-making equipment and were removing it when two Iraqis tried to speed away in a sport utility vehicle, according to Lt. Pantano's account.
The Marines stopped the SUV by shooting out the tires, apprehended the two and placed them in flexible handcuffs. After setting up a security perimeter, Lt. Pantano took off the cuffs and had the two search the vehicle as he supervised. If it was booby-trapped, the Iraqis, not Marines, would pay the price.
It was at this point that the Iraqis stopped searching and moved quickly toward Lt. Pantano.
"They start talking in Arabic and turn toward him as if they are going to rush him," Mr. Gittins said. "He says, 'stop.' They don't stop and he kills them. He didn't know what they were doing but they weren't listening to him. He was in fear of his life and he killed them."
The lawyer said it turned out that the men were unarmed and there were no weapons in the SUV.
"They were from a town that was really bad in terms of the insurgency," he said.
Marine Corps prosecutors added two other charges that seem to Lt. Pantano's supporters to be piling on. The Corps charged him with destruction of property for slashing the vehicle tires so they could not be repaired.
And, Mr. Gittins said, he was charged with desecration for posting a sign in English on the SUV that said, "No better friend. No worse enemy" -- the slogan for the Iraq war of the 1st Marine Division's commander, Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis.
Gen. Mattis got in hot water earlier this month when he said at a conference that "it's fun to shoot some people," referring to Islamic militants.

[shawa]

To contribute to a defense fund:

http://www.defendthedefenders.org/pages/1/index.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From WorldNetDaily:

Marine's charges set 'terrible precedent'
-Lt. Col. West's lawyer sees similarity to case he defended
Posted: February 12, 2005
By Art Moore

Noting similarities to the case of an Army officer he defended more than one year ago, a U.S. military lawyer says Marine commanders should have the courage to dismiss charges against a lieutenant who could face the death penalty for killing two insurgent terrorists in Iraq.


Neal A. Puckett, who represented Lt. Col. Allen B. West, told WorldNetDaily the case of Second Lieutenant Ilario G. Pantano could set a dangerous precedent.

Pantano, charged Feb. 1 with premeditated murder in connection with the April 15, 2004, shooting incident, claims one of the men he shot appeared to be preparing to attack the Marines or detonate nearby explosives.

"It sets a terrible precedent for Marines, who have to make life-or-death decisions in the field, facing terrorists who follow no rules or laws of war," Puckett said in an e-mailed response.

Noting that the combat incident was investigated at the time, clearing anyone of wrongdoing, Puckett said it "defies logic" that the case should be re-opened the following year with criminal charges.

Puckett said Marines now apparently must fear prosecutors as well as terrorists.

"Monday morning quarterbacking, in the absence of any evidence of criminal intent on the part of a trained Marine officer, is just the wrong way to run a war," he said.

"If the officer made a mistake, that should end the matter. Mistakes are made in war. It sounds like Marine prosecutors are trying to justify their jobs by creating a case where there should not be one."

Puckett said the "more ominous possibility" is that outside political pressure is causing military brass to turn against their young leaders.

"That's just wrong," he said. "I think most veterans would agree."

-'What's he supposed to do?'

According to news reports yesterday, Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, commanding general of the 2nd Marine Division, convened an investigation to determine if the 33-year-old Pantano should stand trial, but no further details were released.

Charles Gittens, Pantano's civilian attorney, said, however, the Marine has been formally charged with murder and has "made it pretty firmly clear that he is not guilty."

The platoon Pantano commanded had been ordered to search a suspected terrorist hide-out south of Baghdad last April. After finding weapons, ammunition and bomb-making material in the building, the Marines saw two men fleeing in a sport utility vehicle, Gittens said, according to the wire report.

The Marines shot out the vehicles tires and took two Iraqi men into custody, ordering them to search for booby traps and secret compartments in the vehicle by ripping out its interior and seats, Gittens told Reuters.

Then, according to Gittens, one of the suspects turned suddenly toward Pantano "as if to attack." When Pantano ordered them to stop, they kept moving toward him, Gittens said.

Pantano "thought he was in danger and he fired and he killed them and that's what we do to terrorists who don't listen to orders. ... It's a combat situation, kill or be killed," the attorney told Reuters.

Fearing the two suspects might have been attempting to detonate explosives remotely, Pantano shot them, Gittens said.

"What's he supposed to do, wait until he's standing in the inferno?" the attorney added.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42828

[Rdtf]

This is getting lots of coverage:


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/12/nyregion/12soldier.html
February 12, 2005
“Re-enlisting Led to Warfare and Charges of Murder”
By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD and JOHN DeSANTIS
The New York Times

http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050209/BREAKING/50209008
February 9, 2005
Wilmington Star, NC
Murder? Lejeune Marine charged
By John DeSantis
Staff Writer



http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42828
February 12, 2005
Marine's charges set 'terrible precedent'
-Lt. Col. West's lawyer sees similarity to case he defended
By Art Moore

Admin note: I deleted the duplicate post of a pic following this post and it appears that it's twin was also deleted by someone else. Please repost if you wish.

[Rdtf]

Admin: You were too quick for me! I deleted the dup -
here it is again-



also -
He was in Time Magazine back in May 04


http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,994122,00.html

World
Life on the Front Lines
After a tense standoff, the U.S. pulls back from Fallujah. But for the Marines on the ground, the war rages on. PAUL QUINN-JUDGE reports from Iraq's nastiest battlefield
By PAUL QUINN-JUDGE


May. 10, 2004
Dawn in Fallujah, and the men of the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines' Easy Company, part of the 1st U.S. Marine Expeditionary Force, are withdrawing under fire. At 4:30 that morning, 150 Marines had moved into the southern edge of the city to destroy two bunkers that insurgents were using to fire on their positions. Easy's Third Platoon moved in to inspect one of the buildings, which had been hit the day before by a 500-lb. bomb. Platoon Commander 2nd Lieut. Ilario Pantano reported back that they had found gun emplacements and binoculars and that the building was still usable by insurgents. Another Marine...

[shawa]

Just tuned in Sean Hannity, he's mentioning Lt. Pantano going on trial and
could get death if convicted. Sean is going to talk to Lt. Pantano's mother on today's show.

[blue9t3]

Just heard it on hannity, the military cleared him of everything! It only takes one ***hole to accuse him----and all this crap. I would like to know who this POS is, is he like that muslim that threw the grenade in the tent at the beginning of this opperation?-----thats what I want to talk about!
_________________
MOPAR-BUYER

[DLI78]

Sounds to me like the lunatics are running the asylum. Maybe the commanding general of that post got an extra-heavy-duty lobotomy.

All these years I had this stupid notion that Marines were supposed to shoot the enemy. I'll have to ask my uncles to confirm that one.
_________________
DLI 78
Army Linguist
1978-1986

[blue9t3]

Cant you just see it in rifle training at boot camp? while trying to instruct a voluntary recruit how to draw a bead..... he says " but sir are we supposed to actually shoot the enemy? will I go to jail if I waste this dirtbag I'm shooting at? will ted kennedy tell the world I am an occupier?"
_________________
MOPAR-BUYER

[gmez2001]

This is all part of the leftist ideology. These people won't be happy till we lose our sovereignty and the world court/UN is deciding whether we can defend ourselves and what resources we can use. To them the United States and its military are the problem and needing restraints.
Though in many institutional forms, this agenda has permeated its way through the media and our entire educational system.

Keep up the good fight,we've have a cultural war going for the past 40 years.
_________________
Tin Can Gunline Vietnam
2nd generation Navy

[shawa]

blue9t3 said

[Rdtf]

Whatever he did it certainly wasn't murder. Unless there is some big missing peice to this story, the Corps should investigate the guy that made the decision to take this this far.

[Tom Poole]

Charles Gittins was on O'Reilly last night and both of them seemed a little confused. But, as I recall, Gittins believes they have a good chance of having all charges dismissed. The Corps has never been very good at PR but they've always been very good at killing the enemy. For my money, the media is progressive and should be removed from combat areas for their own protection. Eason Jordan, an important media mogul, has already implied they're in danger.
_________________
'58 Airedale HMR(L)-261 VMO-2

[Rdtf]

http://insider.washingtontimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050216-115952-3599r

Former Marines protect Pantano
By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
From the Nation/Politics section
Retired Marines set up a security watch yesterday around the North Carolina home of accused 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano, after a Pakistan-connected Web site depicted a beheading of the Marine Corps officer.
"It's a show of solidarity for Pantano," Charles Gittins, his civilian attorney, said of the former Marine volunteers.
Mr. Gittins said Lt. Pantano has been charged unfairly with premeditated murder by the Corps at Camp Lejeune, N.C., arguing that he killed two Iraqi insurgents in self-defense.
Lt. Pantano reported the beheading on the Web site to the local sheriff, who is investigating.
Mr. Gittins also said the FBI has opened an investigation after a Web site established by the officer's mother was shut down by repeated cyberattacks that might have come from Pakistan.
The Web site, www.defendthedefenders.org, was set up by Merry K. Gregory Pantano to explain her son's case and his life story and to raise money for his criminal defense. The site crashed several times Tuesday and yesterday. An FBI official in North Carolina had no immediate comment last night. Mr. Gittins said he spoke with a special agent assigned to the investigation.
The attorney said a check of who set up the beheading site shows that it was created in Pakistan. It has an address similar to defendthedefenders.org. The Marine Corps last week announced that Lt. Pantano, the 33-year-old married father of two sons, had been charged Feb. 1 in the deaths of two Iraqis.

The official charge sheet accuses him of premeditated murder, which, if he is convicted at a court-martial, could bring a penalty of death.
He also is charged with destruction of property for damaging the Iraqis' sport utility vehicle. Mr. Gittins said his client smashed the vehicle so other insurgents could not use it.
The shooting occurred April 15 in the town of Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad. It was a particularly bloody time for Marines based near Fallujah, with daily insurgent attacks. Marines had to cease their assault on terrorists in Fallujah when politicians in Baghdad protested the mission, a move that allowed the enemy to continue using the town as a base to launch attacks.
Lt. Pantano led a fast-reaction platoon. On that night, he received orders to raid a house thought to hold insurgents and an arms cache. The Marines discovered the cache, which included bomb-making equipment. They apprehended two Iraqis trying to flee.
Mr. Gittins said Lt. Pantano had the two search the vehicle in case it was booby-trapped. At that point, the men started talking with each other in Arabic and then came at him. The officer warned them in Arabic to stop and then emptied his M-16.
"After the killing, the number of attacks in that area went down to almost zero," Mr. Gittins said.
In an environment where the next person encountered on the street could be a killer, troops in Iraq say that they never know when an insurgent will attack them and that they must act within seconds or risk death.
The Marine command at Camp Lejeune has refused to discuss details of the case. The prosecution's version of events would come out at a pretrial Article 32 hearing, which has not been scheduled. After the hearing, broadly equivalent to a grand jury case in the civilian justice system, an investigative officer decides whether to recommend a court-martial or to dismiss the charges.
Mr. Gittins said his client shot the insurgents many times, following Marine training to use full force. The two men were not armed.
He said that the bodies were buried quickly and that no thorough autopsy, which would provide details of entry and exit wounds, was performed.
He said Lt. Pantano's military defense team at Camp Lejeune has requested command permission to take a combat camera team to Iraq and further investigate the case.
Mr. Gittins said the complaint against Lt. Pantano was lodged by a "disgruntled" sergeant who has been removed from two division jobs. He said statements from platoon members support Lt. Pantano's version of events.

[AMOS]

Looks like the guys up at the top are, again trying to micro-manage the war. Could be a recipe for disaster like Vietnam. History's repeating itself. Could be draft time cause nobody's gonna enlist or re-enlist in a circus like that.

[Marine's Wife]

Thank you so much for finding this. I've been a Marine wife for 50 years. Always respected and loved the Marines.(I love and respect ALL Military.).......but this made me so angry!
I'm going to copy/paste this to put on my website. I'm getting emails and phone calls from concerned people who want to join the fight.
Again, THANK YOU !
Marine's wife