Washington Times reporter Rowan Scarborough had a troubling story in today’s paper about a Marine who may face the death penalty for killing two Iraqi insurgents in the heat of battle in a terrorist-infested town near Baghdad.

The young Marine is 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano, and his defenders say that:

[T]he 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. ..

… 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.”

Pantano’s mom’s website is Defend the Defenders. Read through all of it and judge for yourselves, especially the letters from other Marines Pantano has served with in combat.

(Update 2/15 7:25 am EST: Unfortunately, the Defend the Defenders site has gone down, probably because it exceeded its bandwith limit.)

More coverage of Pantano’s case here and here.

Pantano’s plight is especially relevant in light of Easongate/Eason’s Fables/Eason-quiddick. Pantano’s mom writes:

As America rallies behind the rhetoric, the talk of “bringing terrorists to justice” must be translated into action. Fighting men and women with wills of steel are in dark corners of the world getting their hands dirty where “the rubber meets the road” so policy can become a reality. These men and women are placed in harms way and are required to make split-second, life or death decisions – decisions that could cost them their own lives.

DefendtheDefenders.org stands behind the man who puts his life on the line again and again, who makes life or death decisions in the blazing heat, exhaustion, fear and confusion of war while conducting combat operations intended to capture or kill the enemy and as a result of his actions in combat becomes the subject of an investigation or even formal charges.

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Other bloggers covering the story…

Rosemary at My Newz N Ideas
Prince Pundit of Soldiers’ Angels
Eric Hogue
Opinion Bug asks Lt. Col. Allen B West, who went through a similar ordeal, his thoughts on Lt. Pantano’s case. Lt. Col. pulls no punches.
John Behan, an elected prosecutor who blogs at Commonwealth Conservative, shares his legal assessment of the Pantano case.

Update: Art Moore at WND has a follow-up article with more details from both sides.

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