Docs detail murders of unarmed Iraqis by NC GOP candidate for Congress

[BurtWorm]

From salon.com:


http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/10/07/ilario_patano_article_32_transcript

Last month we told you about Iraq War vet Ilario Pantano, a Republican congressional hopeful who has a real shot at taking out incumbent Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC). In Iraq in 2004 Pantano shot two unarmed Iraqi prisoners, unloading up to 60 rounds, and then placed a sign next to their bodies with a Marine slogan, "No better friend, no worse enemy."

Charges of premeditated murder against Pantano were aired in 2005 in an Article 32 hearing, which helps determine whether there is enough evidence to go forward to a court martial. The military ultimately agreed with Pantano's version of events, in which the two Iraqi men made a threatening movement toward him, and decided to drop the charges. Officials also opted not to subject Pantano to nonjudicial punishment for desecrating the bodies of the two men (by reloading his rifle and emptying another magazine into the men after they were already dead).

Perhaps fearing a backlash in a district with a sizable ex-military population, Pantano's Democratic opponent has so far not made an issue of the murder case.

But now, a transcript of the hearing in which the the murder charges were aired in 2005 has been posted by an anonymous anti-Pantano blog. (Read it in full below.) The nearly 800-page document offers dramatic details about the case, and paints an often brutal picture of the Iraq War.

...

Here's a sample of the prosecutor's closing statement:


...


<Go here, scroll down to read full transcript>

[indepat]

1. Nothing here to see if you buy Pantano's story and have no problem with morbidly desecrating

bodies. :shrug:

[gratuitous]

2. Never you mind what anyone did or might have done

You're just supposed to bow down to the troops in America. I predict Pantano wins by double digits.

[catgirl]

3. K&R