Hero SEALS face rap for fiend's bloody lip

By ED ROBINSON

Last Updated: 6:02 AM, November 25, 2009

Posted: 4:14 AM, November 25, 2009

Three Navy SEALs involved in nabbing one of Iraq's most wanted terrorists are reportedly facing criminal charges related to his capture -- all because he claimed he had a bloody lip.
	 
The SEALs took down Ahmed Hasim Abed, the alleged mastermind of a ghastly 2004 incident in which four American contractors who worked security for Blackwater USA, were murdered in Fallujah and two of the bodies were hung from a bridge over the Euphrates River.
	 
But instead of being praised as heroes, the SEALs are all facing charges and have hired lawyers, FoxNews.com reported.
	 
The three enlisted men, Petty Officers Matthew McCabe, Jonathan Keefe and Julio Huertas, got into hot water after Abed, whose military code name was "Objective Amber," said his captors had punched him.
	 
To prove it, he showed off the bloody lip.
	 
A legal source told Fox News that Abed made the complaint when he was in the hands of Iraqi authorities, causing him to be returned to American custody.
	 
An official investigation was launched and led to the three SEALs.
	 
McCabe was charged with assault, dereliction of performance of duty for willfully failing to safeguard a detainee as well as making a false official statement.
	 
Keefe and Huertas were both charged with dereliction of performance of duty and making a false official statement.
	 
Huertas was also charged with impeding an investigation.
	 
All three have refused a non-judicial punishment -- called an admiral's mast -- and have requested courts-martial.
	 
They will be arraigned on Dec. 7.
	 
Lt. Col. Holly Silkman, spokeswoman for the special operations component of US Central Command, told Fox News the proceedings are scheduled for January.
	 
Two officers and an enlisted sailor, who haven't been charged, have been identified as witnesses in the case.
	 
One of them gave a handwritten statement to investigators, which was obtained by Fox News. In it, he described events in the hours after Abed was captured in September and held at the SEAL base at Camp Baharia.
	 
The SEAL told investigators he had showered after the mission, gone to the kitchen and then decided to look in on the detainee.
	 
"I gave the detainee a glance over and then left," he wrote. "I did not notice anything wrong with the detainee and he appeared in good health."
	 
The murder of the Backwater security guards, whose bodies were also burned and dragged through the streets of Fallujah, sparked international outrage, especially after photos of the hanging corpses were beamed around the world.
	 
ed.robinson@nypost.com

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Three Navy SEALs involved in nabbing one of Iraq's most wanted terrorists are reportedly facing criminal charges related to his capture -- all because he claimed he had a bloody lip.

The SEALs took down Ahmed Hasim Abed, the alleged mastermind of a ghastly 2004 incident in which four American contractors who worked security for Blackwater USA, were murdered in Fallujah and two of the bodies were hung from a bridge over the Euphrates River.

But instead of being praised as heroes, the SEALs are all facing charges and have hired lawyers, FoxNews.com reported.

AFP/Getty Images

FRONT LINE: Three US troops have been charged with abusing a prisoner in Fallujah. The terrorist is charged in the murders of Americans whose bodies were hung from a bridge.

The three enlisted men, Petty Officers Matthew McCabe, Jonathan Keefe and Julio Huertas, got into hot water after Abed, whose military code name was "Objective Amber," said his captors had punched him.

To prove it, he showed off the bloody lip.

A legal source told Fox News that Abed made the complaint when he was in the hands of Iraqi authorities, causing him to be returned to American custody.

An official investigation was launched and led to the three SEALs.

McCabe was charged with assault, dereliction of performance of duty for willfully failing to safeguard a detainee as well as making a false official statement.

Keefe and Huertas were both charged with dereliction of performance of duty and making a false official statement.

Huertas was also charged with impeding an investigation.

All three have refused a non-judicial punishment -- called an admiral's mast -- and have requested courts-martial.

They will be arraigned on Dec. 7.

Lt. Col. Holly Silkman, spokeswoman for the special operations component of US Central Command, told Fox News the proceedings are scheduled for January.

Two officers and an enlisted sailor, who haven't been charged, have been identified as witnesses in the case.

One of them gave a handwritten statement to investigators, which was obtained by Fox News. In it, he described events in the hours after Abed was captured in September and held at the SEAL base at Camp Baharia.

The SEAL told investigators he had showered after the mission, gone to the kitchen and then decided to look in on the detainee.

"I gave the detainee a glance over and then left," he wrote. "I did not notice anything wrong with the detainee and he appeared in good health."

The murder of the Backwater security guards, whose bodies were also burned and dragged through the streets of Fallujah, sparked international outrage, especially after photos of the hanging corpses were beamed around the world.

ed.robinson@nypost.com

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Topics

Blackwater USA

Comments (48)

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sflaleo

11/30/2009 6:50 AM

Court martial? these heroes deserve medals. Wake up obamabots and keep the change!
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rtwngr

11/26/2009 1:04 PM

After what this waste of life did he should have a bloody hole right between his eyes !!! It seems that Al Queda can just sit back and watch our own Government destroy our military with their rules of engagement. If Obama wants to give enemy prisoners rights that Americans fought and died for then there is no need for prisoners. Punch their tickets and it's off to allah. WAKE UP AMERICA and send the coward in the White House packing !!!
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Max1066

11/26/2009 5:56 AM

Article 15 is commonly refered to as Captain's Mast . These guys have a right to request a court martial so they can be defended by an attorney . Charging them is a disgrace !
Maybe obama will invite them over for a beer.
No wonder the military is having trouble getting enlistments .
Report Abuse

Ellis

11/26/2009 1:11 AM

I'm the Aussie looking in from Oz and I can scarcely credit that you guys are going to do this to the three SEALS. Just another case of the perpatrator being made the victim and the good guys being made the villains. I can tell the three SEALS that they have myself and a huge number of my friends supporting and rooting for them in these risible and asinine charges. If your Learner Driver President doesn't sort this rubbish out pretty damn quick, his popularity rating will accelerate on its downward spiral.
Ellis.
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djn

11/25/2009 9:41 PM

Ahmed Hasim Abed had a bloody lip? So what. Our Seals are HEROS and these charges are outrageous.

Did Abed get his Miranda rights? Some ACLU lawyer must have told him to claim he was "assaulted"...

Only in Obamaland...oops, is this still America? I wonder if Abed will get his own Reality Show trial in NYC like KSM.

In the meantime, our Seals are charged-what a sham.
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Temmer

11/25/2009 9:10 PM

Cisko: Look, kid: "...four American contractors who worked security for Blackwater USA, were murdered in Fallujah and two of the bodies were hung from a bridge..."

Blackwater goons ARE civilian contractors, and vice versa.
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BlindingLight

11/25/2009 8:39 PM

How come the only "news" that's reporting this is the Post and FoxNews(NY Post TV)?? Maybe we're all getting upset over a made up "story" that no REAL news outlet is reporting because it's a LIE?

Wouldn't be the first time (or the 1000th) time the Murdoch made stuff up to push his agenda!
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Jon Fraud Carry

11/25/2009 7:59 PM

If he really was punched in the mouth by a Navy SEAL he would not have a bloody lip. See, you can't bleed when you are dead. This is just another disgrace by Present Øbama. He must be impeached, immediately.