Defend the Defenders

Not only are Marines faced with having to go door to door looking for terrorists who wear civilian clothes, they are constantly worried about the Monday Morning quarterbacks who wish to be prosecute them for "crimes." This is a war. The policy is that they are to kill anyone not actively trying to surrender. The Marines are not the police. Let's give this Marine our support.

Marine Second Lieutenant Ilario Pantano...is a young, intelligent, charismatic Marine officer and all that that entails. And yet he is incomprehensibly charged with heinous crimes related to a dangerous military operation that took place in “the triangle of death” just south of Baghdad. It was during the peak of insurgent violence in mid April of 2004, with hundreds of fellow Marines and soldiers being killed and wounded throughout the “Sunni Triangle.” Terrorists, captured while trying to recover a vehicle used in an earlier attack on the Marines, had given detailed information about a supply of weapons and terrorist hideout that my son and his platoon were hastily dispatched to search. Their search revealed weapons, ammunition, mortar equipment, bomb-making material and two fleeing terrorists. In an ensuing search of the terrorists’ vehicle, my son, concerned for his safety and the safety of his men shot them both in self defense and then disabled their vehicle so it could not be used in further attacks. He and his men went on to fight with distinction and honor in Falluja and the surrounding areas and, when possible, aided in the reconstruction effort. Months later, the government began an investigation that only now, 10 months after the fact, alleges an evil intent which is at polar opposite of my son’s character and principals. DefendtheDefenders.org

The site was largely put together by his mother, and I appauld her for being so proactive in the defense of her son.