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Marine's Boss: Iraq Slayings 'A Good Day'
Night Stalker
Member Posts: 11,967
New York Daily News
April 30, 2005
Marine's Boss: Iraq Slayings 'A Good Day'
By Brian Kates, Daily News Staff Writer
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - The officer who sent a New York Marine on the combat mission that resulted in him being accused of murdering two Iraqis testified yesterday that "to me, it was a good day."
"We killed two obvious insurgents. I wasn't concerned with the details," said Maj. Brian Neil, who was the operations officer of the 2nd Marine Battalion.
Neil said 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano volunteered for the April 15, 2004, "search and knock" mission after an Iraqi civilian reported the location of a house where insurgents were firing mortars at American troops.
During the mission, Pantano killed two unarmed Iraqi detainees captured after fleeing the house in a car.
The prosecution contends he executed them in a hail of more than 50 bullets as they knelt on the ground along a road near Mahmudiyah. Pantano said he thought the Iraqis were attacking him and fired in self-defense.
Neil called Pantano "among the very top second lieutenants I have seen in 17 years." Asked if he thought the 33-year-old former Wall Street trader had the judgment to know whether he was being attacked or not, Neil replied: "Absolutely. I think that is an instinctual decision he would make."
The Marine major's testimony came amid a day of bizarre courtroom wrangling in which Pantano's lawyers fought to allow his chief accuser to testify, while the prosecution tried to keep him off the stand.
Pantano's lawyers petitioned Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, commander of the 2nd Marine Division, to grant top prosecution witness Sgt. Daniel Coburn immunity from prosecution so they could question him.
Coburn - one of only two G.I.s with Pantano when the shooting deaths occurred - was pulled abruptly from the witness stand Thursday when he invoked his right to remain silent after admitting he'd broken orders to not speak to the press, including the Daily News, about the case.
NSDQ!
www.nightstalkers.com
"The Lord knows the way I take, and when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold" JOB 23:10
April 30, 2005
Marine's Boss: Iraq Slayings 'A Good Day'
By Brian Kates, Daily News Staff Writer
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - The officer who sent a New York Marine on the combat mission that resulted in him being accused of murdering two Iraqis testified yesterday that "to me, it was a good day."
"We killed two obvious insurgents. I wasn't concerned with the details," said Maj. Brian Neil, who was the operations officer of the 2nd Marine Battalion.
Neil said 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano volunteered for the April 15, 2004, "search and knock" mission after an Iraqi civilian reported the location of a house where insurgents were firing mortars at American troops.
During the mission, Pantano killed two unarmed Iraqi detainees captured after fleeing the house in a car.
The prosecution contends he executed them in a hail of more than 50 bullets as they knelt on the ground along a road near Mahmudiyah. Pantano said he thought the Iraqis were attacking him and fired in self-defense.
Neil called Pantano "among the very top second lieutenants I have seen in 17 years." Asked if he thought the 33-year-old former Wall Street trader had the judgment to know whether he was being attacked or not, Neil replied: "Absolutely. I think that is an instinctual decision he would make."
The Marine major's testimony came amid a day of bizarre courtroom wrangling in which Pantano's lawyers fought to allow his chief accuser to testify, while the prosecution tried to keep him off the stand.
Pantano's lawyers petitioned Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, commander of the 2nd Marine Division, to grant top prosecution witness Sgt. Daniel Coburn immunity from prosecution so they could question him.
Coburn - one of only two G.I.s with Pantano when the shooting deaths occurred - was pulled abruptly from the witness stand Thursday when he invoked his right to remain silent after admitting he'd broken orders to not speak to the press, including the Daily News, about the case.
NSDQ!
www.nightstalkers.com
"The Lord knows the way I take, and when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold" JOB 23:10
Comments
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference...The Marines don't have that problem" Ronald Reagan
"the difference between the almost right word and the right word is like the difference between a lightning bug and a lightning bolt" - Mark Twain.