Last week, I noted the possibility of a plea deal in the trial of SSgt Frank Wuterich, the last of the U.S. Marines charged in connection to an alleged massacre of Iraqi civilians in the village of Haditha in 2005.

(See here. All previous Wuterich trial coverage and Haditha links below.)

Today, the plea deal was reached. SSgt Wuterich’s defense team at Puckett Faraj says this afternoon:

Press Release, Aexandria VA January 23, 2012/12:45PM:

“No one denies that the consequences of November 19, 2005 were tragic, least of all SSgt Frank Wuterich. But the fact of the matter is that he has now been totally exonerated of the homicide charges brought against him by the government and the media. For six years, he’s had his name dragged through the mud. Today, we hope, is the beginning of his redemption. He has always publicly taken responsibility for the lawful actions of his squad that day, as portrayed in his interview with CBS 60 Minutes. Today’s agreement is completely consistent with everything he has always said. Which is that the decisions he made that day led to an outcome that was tragic and regrettable and he takes responsibility for them, but they were not criminal.”

The North County Times reports on the details:

Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich agreed to plead guilty Monday to one count of negligent dereliction of duty, ending his trial on manslaughter and related charges for his role in the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in 2005.

“This was his decision and his decision alone,” Neal Puckett, Wuterich’s lead defense attorney, told the North County Times. “Staff Sergeant Wuterich believed this was the right and honorable thing to do.”

Negligent dereliction of duty is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of 90 days in custody and a reduction or forfeiture of pay. It was not immediately known when a sentencing decision would be announced.

The deal was announced in court early Monday morning. After the announcement, Wuterich shook hands and hugged his parents, who have been watching the courtroom proceedings since the trial began.

The agreement has been approved by Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser.

The plea deal ends the six-year saga of eight Camp Pendleton Marines charged with criminal wrongdoing in the incident that took place in the city of Haditha at the height of the war.

A reminder of how the Left’s smear merchants tried and convicted the Haditha Marines in the court of public opinion — and got away with it:

Outrage came from around the world and from Washington, D.C., where the late Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha said he believed the Marines might have “killed in cold blood” and went on to say U.S. troops were overstressed.

The result was eight Marines being charged with crimes at Haditha, including four officers and four enlisted men.

Seven of those eight saw their cases resolved, some with the withdrawal of charges in exchange for their testimony, one acquitted at trial and others having charges dropped entirely.

Wuterich, a 31-year-old Murrieta single father of three girls, had pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors appeared ready to strike a plea deal last week after a series of their own witnesses gave testimony largely beneficial to Wuterich’s position that he believed he and his men were under attack and responded in keeping with their training.

Puckett said his client continues to believe his actions were lawful, despite the civilians deaths, which Wuterich has repeatedly said he regrets.

“He has always taken responsibility for his and his squad’s actions that day,” Puckett said. “Today’s agreement is completely consistent with everything he has said, which is that the decisions he made that day led to an outcome that was tragic and regrettable, but they were not criminal.”

***

(Graphic via Defend Our Marines)

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Previous:

1/23/12 The trial of the last Haditha Marine: SSgt Wuterich takes plea deal

1/19/12 The last Haditha Marine: Trial update, prosecution collapse, plea deal in the works?

1/5/12 The last Haditha Marine: Wuterich trial update

1/2/12 Remember SSgt Frank D. Wuterich: The last Haditha Marine goes on trial

5/6/09 Haditha Marine update: Lt. Col. Chessani wins another round

4/23/09 Justice Dept. attorney: Murtha should be immune from Haditha lawsuit

11/19/08 Murtha Watch: Cut-and-run smear merchant wants immunity

8/23/08 When will Biden apologize for Haditha smear?

6/19/08 The fate of Lt. Col. Chessani, continued

6/18/08 Defining atrocity: Marines vs. the Haditha Smear Merchants

6/17/08 Haditha Watch: Charges dismissed against Lt. Col. Chessani

6/16/08 Haditha Watch: The fate of Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani

June 5: Haditha Marine Lt. Andrew Grayson acquitted

3/28/08 Case dropped against Haditha defendant Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum

9/18/07 Charges dropped against Capt. Lucas McConnell

8/23/07 Charges recommended dropped against Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum

8/9/07 Charges dropped against Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt

4/17/07 Charges dropped against Sergeant Sanick Dela Cruz

Let Freedom Ring reviews the Murtha Marine-smearing timeline.

Everything else you need to know is at Defend Our Marines.

At the beginning of the month, I told you about the trial of SSgt Frank D. Wuterich — the last of the Marines charged in connection to an alleged massacre of Iraqi civilians in the village of Haditha in 2005.

The late corruptocrat John Murtha and the New York Slimes convicted and hanged the Marines in 2006 over the case before a single formal charge had been filed. Murtha slandered the troops before the world, declaring that “Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood.” Then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama unabashedly backed Murtha’s smears. NYTimes reporter Paul von Zielbauer initially filed over 30 stories on the case, which the paper had hyped as the “defining atrocity” of the Iraq war.

And then: One by one over the last six years, the Marines were exonerated.

April 2007: Charges dropped against Sergeant Sanick Dela Cruz.

August 2007: Charges recommended dropped against Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum.

August 2007: Charges dropped against Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt.

September 2007: Charges dropped against Capt. Lucas McConnell.

March 28, 2008: Case dropped against Haditha defendant Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum.

June 5, 2008: Haditha Marine Lt. Andrew Grayson acquitted.

June 17, 2008: Charges dismissed against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani.

SSgt Wuterich’s trial has been ongoing the last three weeks.

Captain’s Journal has coverage here.

Defend Our Marines and our friend Sgt. Tim Sumner give a heads-up today that a plea deal may be in the works. The hearing had been scheduled to resume this afternoon, but was postponed until tomorrow morning. The LA Times reports:

Negotiations continued Thursday into a possible plea bargain in the court-martial of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, the last of eight defendants in the 2005 killing of 24 Iraqi civilians by Marines from Camp Pendleton.

At issue in the negotiations could be the kind of discharge that Wuterich will receive and what, if any, criminal charges he will plead guilty to.

Wuterich, 31, who was the squad leader during the killings in Haditha, is charged with manslaughter, assault and dereliction of duty. The dereliction of duty charge carries a lesser-included charge of failure to follow a lawful order.

The charges, if Wuterich were convicted on all counts, could bring a prison sentence of 154 years and a dishonorable discharge.

But the prosecution’s case has been undercut by testimony from two of its own witnesses that seemed to back the defense assertion that Wuterich was merely following orders and training when he led his squad into two “hostile” homes in search of insurgents.

Three other prosecution witnesses underwent stringent cross-examination by defense attorneys who doubted their credibility because of their various accounts of what happened on the morning of Nov. 19, 2005, after a roadside bomb killed one Marine and injured two.

The military judge, Lt. Col. David Jones, abruptly recessed the trial on Wednesday afternoon, instructing the attorneys to seek “other options.”

Jones initially set 8:30 a.m. Thursday to resume the trial. That was then readjusted to 1 p.m. Thirty minutes before the trial was to resume Thursday, Jones sent word that the jurors had been told that the next session would be 8:30 a.m. Friday.

Stay tuned to the Twitter account of SSgt Wuterich’s legal team at Puckett Faraj.

I told you on Monday about the opening of SSgt Frank D. Wuterich’s trial this week in connection to an alleged massacre of Iraqi civilians in the village of Haditha in 2005. Seven have been exonerated. Wuterich is the last Haditha Marine standing.

Here’s the very latest on the proceedings.

SSgt Wuterich’s defense team succeeded in getting 4 more charges dismissed in the case.

Jury selection is underway.

Puckett Faraj is providing continuous updates on Twitter here.

SSgt Wuterich’s support site is here. Much more background from Defend Our Marines here.

I’ll continue to post dispatches until there’s a verdict.

Welcome to 2012. The headlines will be awash in presidential politics this week, but I want to make sure you take note of the trial of SSgt Frank D. Wuterich set to open Wednesday. He’s the last of the Marines charged in connection to an alleged massacre of Iraqi civilians in the village of Haditha in 2005. The late corruptocrat John Murtha and the New York Slimes convicted and hanged the Marines in 2006 over the case before a single formal charge had been filed. Murtha slandered the troops before the world, declaring that “Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood.” Then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama unabashedly backed Murtha’s smears. NYTimes reporter Paul von Zielbauer initially filed over 30 stories on the case, which the paper had hyped as the “defining atrocity” of the Iraq war.

And then: One by one over the last six years, the Marines were exonerated.

April 2007: Charges dropped against Sergeant Sanick Dela Cruz.

August 2007: Charges recommended dropped against Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum.

August 2007: Charges dropped against Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt.

September 2007: Charges dropped against Capt. Lucas McConnell.

March 28, 2008: Case dropped against Haditha defendant Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum.

June 5, 2008: Haditha Marine Lt. Andrew Grayson acquitted.

June 17, 2008: Charges dismissed against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani.

(Graphic via Defend Our Marines)

The Fishwrap of Record fell silent on the issue. So did troop-smearing tool Keith Olbermann, the Nation, and countless other progressive executioners likening Haditha to My Lai. Smear merchant John Murtha went to his grave without apologizing — encased in federal immunity protection.

Now, SSgt Wuterich is the last Haditha Marine standing. His war-crimes court martial begins on Wednesday at Camp Pendleton:

Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich goes on trial for nine counts of manslaughter, assault and related offenses tied to his role leading his squad in the killing of two dozen Iraqi civilians in 2005.

Wuterich has pleaded not guilty and is the last of eight defendants charged in the killings that took place in the city of Haditha after a roadside bombing that killed a fellow Marine.

The seven other defendants charged in that —- which resulted in the largest war-crime prosecution arising out of the Iraq war, changed the rules of engagement, and touched off a political firestorm —- have all been exonerated through a variety of legal findings.

SSgt Wuterich has maintained his innocence from day one and has the support of military families nationwide. Defend Our Marines will be posting live blog updates from the trial. So will his law firm, Puckett and Faraj. They report:

SSgt Frank Wuterich, the last Marine originally charged in the deaths of 19 of 24 Iraqis killed in Haditha, Iraq in 2005, will be seated at the defense table in his general court-martial in just eight days. On November 19, 2005, insurgents detonated a 500-pound improvised explosive device under the fourth vehicle in his convoy, instantly killing the driver and seriously wounding the assistant driver and the gunner.

The platoon’s commander arrived soon after and ordered the Marines to clear houses to find the triggerman for the bomb and to neutralize snipers. By mid-afternoon, 24 Iraqis were dead. This was the first coordinated attack of five total launched against the Marine forces that morning in Haditha.

SSgt Wuterich’s case has been long and drawn out, first due to the choice to prosecute a group of Marines involved in a separate incident at Hamdaniya, Iraq occurring in 2006. Secondly, the government has incorrectly interpreted the evidence and assumed that the squad leader, SSgt Wuterich, was responsible for all the deaths. Lastly, Marine prosecutors delayed this trial two years litigating the admissibility of the outtakes of the CBS 60 Minutes interview of SSgt Wuterich. Later there was appellate litigation challenging the Government’s severance of SSgt Wuterich’s attorney/client relationship from his detailed military counsel who was not allowed to stay on active duty long enough to defend him.

This has been a long and hard fought battle for justice and the preservation of SSgt Wuterich’s Constitutional rights. We begin the war crimes general court-martial on January 4th. The government will try to prove that SSgt Wuterich was on a rampage and directed unlawful killings. The defense team will prove that the government overlooked key evidence and the truth of what really happened that day will be revealed.

The Law Firm of Puckett & Faraj is very appreciative of all the support for SSgt Wuterich over the last 5-1/2 years. We want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughts, prayers, outspoken words and belief in Frank Wuterich’s innocence. We will be publishing a status of the trial when we can to keep you posted on our progress. Keep Frank Wuterich and his family in your thoughts throughout January!

***

Hey, you know who else smeared the Haditha Marines and has never apologized to the exonerated troops?

Vice President Joe Biden, who called for then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to step down during the Murtha-driven witch hunt campaign.

Wielding a tar brush to appease the appeasement lobby means never having to say you’re sorry.

Cox & Forkum, as always, put it best:

***

Related Haditha fishwrap news here and here. (h/t Sgt Tim)

Wishing you all a joy-filled Christmas 2011!

Isaiah 9:2-7

His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

***

Vivaldi – Gloria: 1. Gloria in excelsis Deo – Trevor Pinnock – The English Concert

***

Fort Carson in my city of Colorado Springs welcomed home 200 soldiers from Afghanistan and another 100 from Iraq this week. God bless all our servicemen and women and their families this Christmas season.

Never forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice:

***

An explosion near a Catholic Church in Nigeria’s capital city on Christmas morning and the cancellation of Christian masses in Iraq remind us of the ever-present persecution and threats to followers of Christ around the world.

Please don’t forget those who have remained steadfast in the face of death — including apostate Pastor
Yousef Nadarkhani, who faces the death penalty in Iran because he refuses to renounce his Christian faith. As the ACLJ notes:

“Christian persecution takes no holiday.”

***
What are your favorite Christmas memories, hymns, and/or traditions? Share via comments or e-mails.

**Written by Doug Powers

Clueless Joe is at it again:

In an interview with Leslie Gelb in Newsweek, Vice President Joe Biden says:

Look, the Taliban per se is not our enemy. That’s critical. There is not a single statement that the president has ever made in any of our policy assertions that the Taliban is our enemy because it threatens U.S. interests. If, in fact, the Taliban is able to collapse the existing government, which is cooperating with us in keeping the bad guys from being able to do damage to us, then that becomes a problem for us.

NPR might agree with Biden, along with select NY Times op-ed contributors, but the 9/11 Commission report — the recommendations of which Biden voted “yes” on implementing — does not agree:

The Taliban seemed to open the doors to all who wanted to come to Afghanistan to train in the camps. The alliance with the Taliban provided al Qaeda a sanctuary in which to train and indoctrinate fighters and terrorists, import weapons, forge ties with other jihad groups and leaders, and plot and staff terrorist schemes. While Bin Ladin maintained his own al Qaeda guesthouses and camps for vetting and training recruits, he also provided support to and benefited from the broad infrastructure of such facilities in Afghanistan made available to the global network of Islamist movements. U.S. intelligence estimates put the total number of fighters who underwent instruction in Bin Ladin-supported camps in Afghanistan from 1996 through 9/11 at 10,000 to 20,000.

Ah, but wait — maybe Joe just didn’t want to say anything too negative about the Taliban while this is going on. Unlikely though. When it comes to keeping secrets, Biden makes Cindy Brady look like an unbreakable confidant, so those beans would have more than likely been spilled during the interview.

Read all about it in the latest issue:

Update: The White House stands by Biden.

(h/t Lachlan Markay, Newsbusters June 2011)

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

A newsreel of the Day of Infamy:

Five memorials will be held today for “servicemen who lived through the assault and want their remains placed in Pearl Harbor out of pride and affinity for those they left behind.”

Here’s the official White House statement on this solemn occasion.

An old salt remembers:

Ninety-one-year-old Constantine Socrates Savalas stepped on the stage at Los Angeles Valley College’s music recital hall and surveyed the younger faces before him.

“I stand before you as a witness to the destruction of ships and destroyers at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941,” said Savalas, briefly describing the surprise attack by the Japanese that killed 2,459 Americans and drew this country into World War II.

He paused, then sang in a strong baritone:

“There’s a grief that can’t be spoken.

There’s a pain goes on and on.

Empty chairs at empty tables.

Now my friends are dead and gone.”

His rendition of the tune from the musical “Les Miserables” is something of a tradition at the campus’ December music performance workshop concerts.

Savalas, brother of the late actor Telly Savalas, loves to sing and has attended the workshops for 18 years. He always chooses “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” at the annual performance – his personal tribute to the people who died 70 years ago Wednesday in the event that devastated the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet.

God bless our veterans and their families.

***

How the Obama daughters’ private school is marking the day: Asian food feast.

Puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?

(Via milblogger Blackfive)

A Suffolk University law professor will not collect items for United States troops overseas and thinks it is “shameful” to do so.

Law professor Michael Avery sent a five-paragraph e-mail to colleagues in response to a school-wide appeal for care packages for deployed soldiers.

“I think it is shameful that it is perceived as legitimate to solicit in an academic institution for support for men and women who have gone overseas to kill other human beings” wrote Avery.

Avery also wrote that he believes sympathy for troops in harms way is “not particularly rational in today’s world.”

The e-mail did not stop with Avery’s objection to the care packages. Avery went on to question the schools intent of the American flag hanging in the atrium:

“Since Sept. 11 we have had perhaps the largest flag in New England hanging in our atrium. This is not a politically neutral act. Excessive patriotic zeal is a hallmark of national security states. It permits, indeed encourages, excesses in the name of national security, as we saw during the Bush administration, and which continue during the Obama administration” wrote Avery.

More at My Fox Boston.

Background on Professor Avery:

Subjects:
Constitutional Law, Individual Rights, Evidence, Scientific Evidence

Professional Activities:
President, National Lawyers Guild (NLG) (2003 – 2006); Former President, Board of Directors, National Police Accountability Project; Frequently invited to lecture on the topic of constitutional law and/or police misconduct at law schools nationwide. Lectures at conferences sponsored by Georgetown University Law Center, Chicago Kent Law School, Suffolk University School of Law, A.L.I. – A.B.A., American Civil Liberties Union affiliates, National Lawyers Guild, Clark Boardman, Ltd., International Association of Chiefs of Police, various law enforcement agencies. President, Board of Directors, National Police Accountability Project, NLG,(1999 – 2003); Cooperating Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights, New York, 1980-present; Co-chair, Massachusetts Chapter, National Lawyers Guild, 1996 to 1998; Board Member, Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, 1983-1986; General Counsel, Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, 1978-1981; Chairperson, Civil Liberties Committee, National Lawyers Guild, 1977-1980; National Council Member, Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, 1976-1979.

Via Discover the Networks:

Michael Avery was the President of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) from 2003 to 2006. In that role, he consistently condemned the Bush administration, its war on terror, and its 2003 invasion of Iraq. “I’m afraid that if we want President Bush to go,” said Avery in 2003, “we will have to make that happen ourselves. The President repeatedly lied about the justification for going to war in Iraq, to the Congress, to the United Nations and to the American people. Where are the weapons of mass destruction? They don’t exist. If they find any now, we should look for the ‘made in the USA’ label on the bottom.”

On February 10, 2005, NLG published a news release expressing its support for the self-proclaimed “radical activist attorney” Lynne Stewart, who had just been convicted of providing material aid to the Islamic Group, an Egypt-based terrorist organization whose leader, Omar Abdel Rahman, helped mastermind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. In the NLG statement, Michael Avery is quoted as saying: “The National Lawyers Guild strongly urges its own members and other defense lawyers to continue to proudly represent clients who are openly critical of government policies. We will not be intimidated and this prosecution has only strengthened our resolve to oppose the repressive attacks this government has made on the civil liberties of everyone in this country. We will also continue to stand by Lynne Stewart.”

Refresher on convicted jihadist-enabler Lynne Stewart here.

Investigation? Is this the same Hillary who last week said “We came, we saw, he died”?

From The Hill:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday that she supports an investigation by the United Nations of the circumstances surrounding Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi’s death.

Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Clinton said such an investigation would help establish democracy in the North African country. Video released last week shows that Gadhafi was alive when captured by Libyan rebels.

An autopsy confirmed Gaddafi died from a gunshot to the head. If the U.N. gets involved they’ll find a way to connect it to climate change.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

WSJ reports:

President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. will pull out all of its troops from Iraq by the end of December, drawing the nine-year war to a conclusion.

The announcement signals the imminent end of a war that has cost the U.S. more than $800 billion dollars and claimed the lives of 3,525 American service members.

Obama administration officials had considered extending the U.S. troop presence beyond the end of the year, leaving a force of between 3,000 and 5,000 for contingencies. The proposal was controversial, dividing administration officials. But the president’s announcement will settle the debate and spell an end to the U.S. troop presence.

Military leaders wanted to keep a presence in Iraq to serve as a training role, and a deterrent to Iranian meddling in Iraq’s affairs.

But negotiations with a divided Iraqi government foundered over the issue of whether U.S. forces should be given a measure of immunity from Iraq laws while serving in the country. The military routinely demands such protections as a condition of deploying troops abroad, but Iraqi officials balked.

Even with a full troop withdrawal, a very small number of military personnel will remain in Baghdad and at U.S. diplomatic facilities to help Iraq with matters such as purchases of American weapons systems, including Abrams tanks and F-16 fighters. But there will be no long-term military-led training program.

***

Commenter canb0nly1:

I’m having a sense of dejavu

Lemme Google that for ya…

Here’s the latest from Reuters:

Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi died of wounds suffered on Thursday as fighters battling to complete an eight-month-old uprising against his rule overran his hometown Sirte, Libya’s interim rulers said.

His killing, which came swiftly after his capture near Sirte, is the most dramatic single development in the Arab Spring revolts that have unseated rulers in Egypt and Tunisia and threatened the grip on power of the leaders of Syria and Yemen.

“He (Gaddafi) was also hit in his head,” National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters. “There was a lot of firing against his group and he died.”

Mlegta told Reuters earlier that Gaddafi, who was in his late 60s, was captured and wounded in both legs at dawn on Thursday as he tried to flee in a convoy which NATO warplanes attacked. He said he had been taken away by an ambulance.

There was no independent confirmation of his remarks.

Here’s a link to the graphic photo purportedly of the slain Libyan dictator.

All those Occupiers holding their “End the War!” signs better march on over to the White House.

President Obama just announced he’s sending U.S. troops to central Africa to fight something called “the Lord’s Resistance Army.”

The letter to House GOP Speaker John Boehner:

TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AND THE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE

# # #

***

FYI. The push for military intervention here is supported and spearheaded by GOP Sen. James Inhofe. Background here.

The U.S. Navy turns 236.

The Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher is 86.

Happy Birthday, well wishes, and thanks to both institutions for their vigilant defense of liberty at home and abroad.

“Hope is no basis for a defense policy.” – Margaret Thatcher

Before 9/11, there was 10/12. The USS Cole bombing, eleven years ago today, should have taught us all that the jihadists’ war on the infidel West started a long, long time ago.

The Navy will remember in Norfolk today.

Have you forgotten? Too many have:

Remember: The flame of Muslim outrage is eternal.

Never forget: The American heroes who gave their lives.

Electronics Technician 1st Class Richard Costelow
Mess Management Specialist Lakina Francis
Information Systems Technician Tim Guana
Signalman Seaman Recruit Cherone Gunn
Seaman James McDaniels
Engineman 2nd Class Mark Nieto
Electronics Warfare Technician 3rd Class Ronald Owens
Seaman Recruit Lakiba Parker
Engineman Fireman Joshua Parlett
Fireman Apprentice Patrick Roy
Electronics Warfare Technician Kevin Rux
Petty Officer 3rd Class Ron Santiago
Operations Special 2nd Class Timothy Sanders
Fireman Gary Swenchonis Jr
Ensign Andrew Triplett
Seaman Apprentice Craig Wibberly
Hull Maintenance Technician 3rd Class Kenneth Clodfelter.

***

Flashback October 12, 2001…

A forgotten day of infamy
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
10/12/01

BEFORE 9-11, there was 10-12. On this dark day, one year ago, a bomb ripped through the U.S.S. Cole – and tore apart the lives of 17 American families who lost loved ones in the terrorist attack. The Cole, a guided missile destroyer sent to enforce the United Nations embargo on Iraq, had been refueling at the Yemeni port of Aden when a pair of suicide bombers rammed their explosive-packed skiff into the American ship.

A year later, the Cole crewmembers and their families have been largely forgotten. Despite former President Clinton’s swaggering promise to track down the attackers (“We will find out who was responsible and hold them accountable.”) not a single suspect has answered for the despicable murders on Oct. 12, 2000. Yemen – long a safe haven for terrorists — refuses to cooperate with our Federal Bureau of Investigation. Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind both the 10-12 and 9-11 attacks, continues to breathe free while American widows grieve.

One of those young widows is Sharla Costelow. Her husband Richard, a chief petty officer on the Cole, died while lunching in the chief’s mess when the explosion hit. A communications technology whiz, he had been promoted at sea a month before the attack. In a paper he wrote during his Chief’s initiation process, Costelow reflected on his new responsibilities: “To instill excellence in today’s generation is a tough job. A Chief must be ready for the challenges that this job creates. I will be ready. I have to be. The future of the Navy depends on it. I will not sit back and take it easy. I will strive for excellence in all that I do.”

Chief Costelow — 35, dedicated to the defense of his country, and devoted to his family — now lies buried in a field of fallen heroes at Arlington National Cemetery.

“There are still days when I get depressed, and angry, and can’t stop crying,” Mrs. Costelow told me in a phone interview earlier this week. The pain, she said, “didn’t end with the death of my husband. It’s part of our daily lives.” She preserves the memory of her husband and the Cole by maintaining a website and writing letters to Congress — which have been ignored.

The great Christian author C.S. Lewis wrote: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Shame on those government officials who refuse to hear the Cole families’ pleas for answers – and accountability. “It’s been swept under the rug,” Mrs. Costelow noted. But she won’t be silenced. She supports the current action in Afghanistan against bin Laden, but she is upset that “so many people had to die because of these terrorists. I feel strongly that our government at the time of the Cole attack was totally negligent.”

Mrs. Costelow wants to write a book about her experience, but in the meantime, her children (Dillon, 14, Brady, 6, and Ethan, 4) keep her going — along with her religious faith. On her website memorial to her husband, Mrs. Costelow posted an image of an eagle along with a scriptural passage that inspires her: “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weary (Isaiah 40: 31).”

The most difficult thing to deal with, Mrs. Costelow said, is the irreplaceable loss suffered by her boys. “The love of their father, the look in his eyes, the feeling from his heart – they won’t ever have that again.” Her youngest son, Ethan, still has trouble sleeping sometimes because “he’s afraid the bad guys will come and get him like they got his dad.”

Never forget Ethan Costelow’s fear. Never forget his father’s bravery and his mother’s grief. This is why we are at war with the evil forces of terrorism. This is why we must win.