Navy SEALs charged with abusing detainee

The hosts of Fox & Friends are up in arms over the forthcoming courts martial of three Navy SEALS who were involved in the capture last September of an Iraqi terrorist believed to have orchestrated the murder of four Blackwater guards in Fallujah in 2004.

One of the SEALS is accused of punching Ahmed Hisham Abed in the face after he was in custody, and all three are charged with making false statements to cover up what had occurred. The suspect might have been injured as he was being apprehended, but one witness has stated that when he checked on Abed shortly after his capture, "I did not notice anything wrong with the detainee and he appeared in good health." Abed complained of abuse by the Americans after he was handed over to Iraqi authorities and an investigation followed.

The Fox hosts, however, see this as an outrage."The Navy SEALS who captured him, you'd think, would be getting a heroes' congratulations," Alisyn Camerota stated indignantly. "Strangely, they are going to face assault charges for capturing this most-wanted terrorist, and all because he complained to superiors and said that he had, basically, a bloody lip as a result."

Brian Kilmeade then chimed in with an impressive display of convoluted logic, suggesting that it was only natural if the SEAL assaulted Abed after he was in custody and that to hold him responsible for it would just reward the terrorists.

"These three guys, and maybe a whole entire unit, have searched far and long to find out who perpetrated this brutal crime," Kilmeade insisted "You finally get a hold of him -- and even if it didhappen and you let your emotions get the best of you and you popped him two or three times in a war -- can you believe you wouldn't have been caught? How do you expect to win any war, any fight, if of course this is the message. And now the word is out -- if you were caught and you were a terrorist say you were assaulted, because you'll end up right in New York City and the guys that did it will end up right in jail."

Conservative bloggers are now fighting with one another over whether the military is doing the right thing in the case. Allahpundit argues that "the fact that this turd got the Iraqi authorities involved may have left Central Command with little choice here. The last thing the military needs right now is another detainee-abuse headache, especially with some Iraqi pols already leaning on them about withdrawal. Giving the SEALs a zero-tolerance wrist slap reminds other troops not to do anything more seriously stupid that might be exploited politically. And it will be a wrist slap, I’m sure."

Uncle Jimbo, however, rips into his fellow conservative, writing, "Noted beta male and 'many moons ago' entertaining blogger Allahpundit at Hot Air throws three Navy SEALs under the bus just to appease people who are only safe to be appeased, himself included, because of these rough men. ... That wrist slap would be a career-ender in Spec Ops for these men. You understand? We take three guys who accomplish more in a lazy afternoon than you have in your entire anonymous, snarking-from-the-sideline, existence and we put them out of work making dead tangos."

"I realize you get paid to say controversial shite all day long," Jimbo continued. "Every once in a while you ought to take a gander at who gives you the freedom to flap your freakin' gums and think twice before you decide that zero-tolerance demands that your betters suffer for some bullshit like this. Don't offer the PC losers cover, ever. They will use it against my friends."