HAMDANIYA: Chain of Command Breakdown
16 June 2006 1:46 pm by Taylor Marsh
HAMDANIYA: A Father's Rage
UPDATE: Marine Times cofirms what I learned yesterday from Jodka's attorney: shackles are off.
“… very disappointing turn of events. The upper strata has
turned their backs on my son.” - PFC Jodka's father
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| Where does the buck stop? |
According to PFC Jodka's attorney, the young Marine is “100% innocent”
and “will not take any deals the government offers.” Joseph N. Casas,
the attorney on the case, says the Marine looked him eye to eye and didn't flinch.
He won't back down, which is not a light statement, because the death penalty
could be the punishment. If you're just joining us, here's the background.
For the last couple of hours I've been looking into the Hamdaniya case. I have
talked with both PFC Jodka's attorney, as well as John Jodka's father, John,
on the phone and through emails. I can tell you one thing unequivocally. Both
men believe PFC Jodka is not only innocent of all allegations, but they are
also mad as hell at what the Marine hierarchy, the White House and the Congress
are doing in the name of justice.
Casas informed me in our conversation that there is some good news to report,
which is not in the press right now. The level of confinement has been reduced
for Jodka and the others and they're “not in shackles anymore.” The
pressure on the Marine Corps is evidently working, commented Casas. That said,
the Marines in custody still have not been charged, but this is not against
the UCMJ, which stipulates charges must be filed within 120 days, which began
on May 12th. The next step is an Article 32 preliminary hearing, which will
include quite a cast of people.
Right now, there are 8 in confinement, with 1 of them being a Navy corpsman.
There is one corpsman per squad, in case you weren't aware of this fact, though
I do not pretend to be a military expert in these matters, but a student of
the military across my entire life.
Something Casas said that I found very intriguing, which also has not been
reported, is that there are evidently 4 others that are not in confinement,
but who could be charged in the case. They are rumored, that's right, rumored
to be on “base restriction,” but not even Casas has confirmed this
fact. Not willing to speculate further, Casas said he does have an “idea
who they are,” which brought him to the question: “Why aren't they
confined?”
The 4 men not confined, according to Casas, are “higher up” in the
chain of command.
Jodka happens to be the lowest ranking Marine and the youngest currently in
custody. He's been in the service 13 months.
I couldn't help but feel another pattern developing, the same as what happened
at Abu Ghraib. The lower level grunts and young people getting the blame for
what should have been stopped through the chain of command. This brings me to
an avenue of discussion that troubles me deeply and has for a very long time.
There are obviously “chain of command issues,” as they are called,
stretching throughout the U.S. Armed Forces, including in this situation with
Jodka, from all I've been able to learn so far. There seems to be a crisis of
leadership throughout our military, which started a long time ago. This case
is just the latest evidence, with the cover up of confinement likely to hide
where this might go. Again, I can't help but think about Ian Fishback.
Frankly put, you simply do not send young men into battle and then leave them
hung out to dry through actions of higher ups. It is clear that Casas and Jodka's
father both feel this very strongly too.
Before I go on, I also want to add something Casas said, which is that NCIS
is now involved, he thinks back in Iraq, however, that cannot be confirmed right now.
They are exhuming the body, which raises all types of questions. Having also
been a prosecutor, Casas wondered aloud in our conversation about the forensics
involved in exhuming and doing tests on a body that has been buried in blazing
heat in the desert. “Was the (original autopsy) complete?” No one
knows. Needless to say, this topic is way beyond my pay grade, but I wanted
to report to you because I think it's of importance and interest.
“Our sources tell us that NCIS has reopened their investigation.”
– Joseph N. Casas, attorney for PFC Jodka.
Casas also warned of something else, including more horrific allegations, as
well as “confessions,” which should be taken as “rumors”
until the facts are exposed. Be aware of this if you hear of NCIS leaks.
Talking with PFC Jodka's dad broke my heart. He was on the way to a
graduation ceremony, so we talked while he was driving. The father wants one
thing: justice for his son, which he says “is my very best work.”
To say that John Jodka, the dad, is furious with the executive and legislative
branches of the U.S. government, as well as the civilian and military “leadership” (my quotes) right now is an understatement. His fury is
directed at Jack Murtha and General Hagee, as well as President Bush and
Rumsfeld for their comments, saying that they have all “wrapped themselves
in shame.”
As an aside and for the record, I expressed my disagreement with both men on their view of John Murtha, which I also stated in my earlier post. But Murtha is not the issue, so let us all not get distracted.
The level of restraint on the Marines involved in this case is getting a lot
of attention. Both Casas and Jodka (the dad) stated that the talk is that no
one has “seen a level of restraint like this” ever before, with the
people commenting on the subject having 50 years plus legal experience.
Something doesn't smell right about all of this, which I believe points to
“chain of command” issues. It's something that Barry McCaffery talked
about long ago: the U.S. Armed Forces are beginning to break down, to the point
that they are also turning on their own.
Jodka shared what his Father's Day would be like on Sunday. He said that he
just wants to talk to his son without the glass of prison confinement between
them. He also shared something else, which was that he didn't care about making
political statements, just about getting his son out. But he wondered aloud
that if we're going to put soldiers into battle and not back them up then he
thought we should just bring them home.
We are deserting our soldiers at every turn, from war policy to veterans policies,
to legal issues that can ruin their lives. This matters. The United States of
America cannot go down this path, but we've been there starting with Abu Ghraib.
George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld took us down this path, where we will have
to go a long way to recover.
When will the chain of command be held responsible, instead of 20 year old
kids at the bottom?
Stand up. Speak out. Justice lies in the balance.
NOTE: The title of this post has been changed.
