thedrifter
07-08-07, 07:30 AM
Last Updated: 8:25 am | Sunday, July 8, 2007
Hackett defends soldier in Iraqi killings
Attorney says ex-Marine client was 'hero,' not bad guy
BY THOMAS WATKINS | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | AND CHUCK MARTIN CMARTIN@ENQUIRER.COM
Indian Hill attorney and former Ohio congressional candidate Paul Hackett on Saturday called an ex-Marine being investigated for allegedly killing unarmed Iraqi captives a "hero."
Hackett is representing the ex-Marine, Cpl. Ryan Weemer, who lives in the Louisville area. Weemer is at the center of a probe into whether Camp Pendleton troops killed five to 10 unarmed captives during a battle. Weemer sought a lawyer this year because he was concerned Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents wanted to question him, Hackett said.
"He is a great young American who literally shed his blood for this country and served with distinction and honor and wants to get on with his life," said Hackett, who became a widely known political figure during his losing race for the 2nd Congressional district seat in 2005. "How this came about is a sad indictment of where America is."
Weemer, 24, is at the center of an NCIS probe into the actions of his squad in Fallujah around Nov. 10, 2004. Hackett, a lawyer and Marine reservist who volunteered for the Iraq war, was stationed in Fallujah at the same time.
The investigation was launched after Weemer left the Marines and applied for a job with the Secret Service, according to a military writer who interviewed him last year. Weemer described the killings of the suspected insurgents when asked before a polygraph test if he had ever participated in a wrongful death.
Hackett declined to comment on Weemer's discussions with the Secret Service.
Weemer was a rifleman in a four-man fire team in the 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, Hackett said.
Fallujah was the scene of two fierce Marine battles in 2004, including the deadly November offensive against insurgents that produced heavy casualties on both sides.
"I'm not acknowledging that any of the allegations in this case are true," Hackett said. 'But if you don't think mistakes are made and that wrong people are killed (in battle), you're requiring a level of perfection impossible to achieve."
Different members of the same company Weemer served in were later accused of wrongdoing in the killings of 24 civilians in Haditha in 2005.
"(Weemer) is a real American hero," Hackett said. "When Americans ask young men to do that, they have to confront reality. Bad things happen. It's not the movies."
Hackett said his defending Weemer and other Marines who have served in Iraq doesn't change his position on the war, that "it always has been a misuse of the military. This is an example of some ways the war has been mismanaged."
Ellie
Hackett defends soldier in Iraqi killings
Attorney says ex-Marine client was 'hero,' not bad guy
BY THOMAS WATKINS | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | AND CHUCK MARTIN CMARTIN@ENQUIRER.COM
Indian Hill attorney and former Ohio congressional candidate Paul Hackett on Saturday called an ex-Marine being investigated for allegedly killing unarmed Iraqi captives a "hero."
Hackett is representing the ex-Marine, Cpl. Ryan Weemer, who lives in the Louisville area. Weemer is at the center of a probe into whether Camp Pendleton troops killed five to 10 unarmed captives during a battle. Weemer sought a lawyer this year because he was concerned Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents wanted to question him, Hackett said.
"He is a great young American who literally shed his blood for this country and served with distinction and honor and wants to get on with his life," said Hackett, who became a widely known political figure during his losing race for the 2nd Congressional district seat in 2005. "How this came about is a sad indictment of where America is."
Weemer, 24, is at the center of an NCIS probe into the actions of his squad in Fallujah around Nov. 10, 2004. Hackett, a lawyer and Marine reservist who volunteered for the Iraq war, was stationed in Fallujah at the same time.
The investigation was launched after Weemer left the Marines and applied for a job with the Secret Service, according to a military writer who interviewed him last year. Weemer described the killings of the suspected insurgents when asked before a polygraph test if he had ever participated in a wrongful death.
Hackett declined to comment on Weemer's discussions with the Secret Service.
Weemer was a rifleman in a four-man fire team in the 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, Hackett said.
Fallujah was the scene of two fierce Marine battles in 2004, including the deadly November offensive against insurgents that produced heavy casualties on both sides.
"I'm not acknowledging that any of the allegations in this case are true," Hackett said. 'But if you don't think mistakes are made and that wrong people are killed (in battle), you're requiring a level of perfection impossible to achieve."
Different members of the same company Weemer served in were later accused of wrongdoing in the killings of 24 civilians in Haditha in 2005.
"(Weemer) is a real American hero," Hackett said. "When Americans ask young men to do that, they have to confront reality. Bad things happen. It's not the movies."
Hackett said his defending Weemer and other Marines who have served in Iraq doesn't change his position on the war, that "it always has been a misuse of the military. This is an example of some ways the war has been mismanaged."
Ellie