A note on Hamdania...
(originally posted 16 November 2006)
Writer G.K. Chesterton, the "Prince of Paradox", once penned, "The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him..." On 26 April 2006, a squad of seven Marines and a Navy corpsman on detail in Hamdania forgot this maxim, instead choosing to lash out against a perceived enemy. Allegedly scouring the town for a suspected insurgent occupying the area, the eight-strong force became enraged and bent on action. Sergeant Lawrence Hutchins III presented the plan to the group, planning to execute Saleh Gowad, a supposed insurgent arrested and released on several occasions by Iraqi police. If unfound, any other warm body would do...they were itching for some blood-sport. Searching in nearby homes, they instead found Hashim Ibrahim Awad, a 52-year-old civilian. The disabled grandfather, without provocation, was dragged from his home, bound and beaten, and taken to a roadside hole. The plan was to make the killing look like the thwarting of a roadside terrorist. As four of the Marines fired their rifles a slight distance away from the captive, the other four opened fire on the hole. Staggering away after the shots rang through the moonless night, Awad fell dead, with at least thirteen bullets in his head and chest. Afterward, the party dragged the body and spent casings to the nearest Iraqi police station. Their story straight, they attempted to wash their hands of the episode. But unfortunately for this octet, the story was just beginning to unravel.
Jodka, the lowest-ranking member of the party, was quickly detained along with the other implicated soldiers, and taken to Camp Pendleton, California. Charged on 21 June 2006 by the Marines, the eight soldiers have sat in confinement awaiting sentencing. While awaiting sentencing, he admitted to shooting Awad, and confessed that there was a premeditated execution plot agreed upon unanimously. Pleading guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice as part of a plea bargain requiring him to testify against his co-defendants, Jodka was pardoned from any possibility of receiving the death penalty. Instead facing a maximum of fifteen years, Jodka sat back to sweat out the time until his 15 November sentencing date and planning new defense strategies.
News has finally arrived from Camp Pendleton, California, that Private First Class John Jodka now faces only eighteen months in custody for his role in the killing. Presiding judge Lieutenant Colonel David Jones .. shackled by the pre-trial agreements on maximum sentencing for various outlined crimes and the lack of substantial evidence to pin anything concrete on Jodka .. was forced by the bargain into his sentence, which also included a general discharge from the Marines. Jones, perturbed by the handcuffs placed on his ability to appropriately sentence, declared that he would have sentenced Jodka to five years and a dishonorable discharge if permitted, adding, "You have a very fortuitous pretrial agreement." But, rather, this is a case of the military needing the evidence to convict ringleaders like Sergeant Hutchins. Along with the lenient sentence handed to the Navy man in the group, Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson Bacos, the Armed Forces is working to attempt to bring down the masterminds of the operation.
In court, Jodka apologized to the family of the murdered man and to his fellow Marines for his breach of conduct. He spoke about conditions for soldiers stationed in Iraq. Intimating a general sentiment of fear, revulsion, and frustration, he confessed that he often felt poorly trained to undertake the duties to which he was assigned. Not two years removed from his high-school graduation, Jodka was ordered by a superior officer to pull the trigger, and he acted accordingly...
But the real fright is not in the lenient sentencing or even in the fact that the insidious act ever took place; rather, the real fright is that little is being done to curb this culture of unchecked aggression. The simple act of placing American troops on Iraqi soil is a poor example of a way to conduct oneself to provide fresh soldiers. As the Chesterton quote so poignantly stated, a soldier fights to protect their homeland. Battling in defense of allies is an extension of this philosophy. Invading a state, deposing its leader and installing a puppet democracy is an egregious breach of this adage. And newly-implanted soldiers such as Jodka are only going to obey the commands of their ranking officers; it is the very lifeblood of the entire military structure. Without order and regimentation, the armed forces fall to pieces.
The real shame is that this war will ultimately stand as a bigger flop than Vietnam; Bush must pray every night that the Democrats hold to their word and refrain from any impeachment proceedings. Because, if that idyllic day should ever come, Bush will be cast in a light that makes the crimes of Johnson, Nixon and Clinton seem collectively petty. The sentencing of Jodka is the tip of the iceberg; the remaining ninety percent of the story remains underwater, waiting to be melted and filtered for the truth. Until Bacos and Jodka begin to speak clearly, and the public gets the messages from the proceedings, will any true light be shed on this story. But at least some soldiers are stepping up and providing their services in dredging the sinking barge of our military and, indeed, our entire government. Because it is too apparent that men such as Jodka and Bacos and even Hutchins were all acting on orders of intimidation, torture, coercion and unwavering suspicion of everything and everyone not wearing the colors of the U.S. Armed Forces. Until the orders change from on high, the soldiers cannot be expected to act in any more civilized fashion than they have proven able to perform...