EXTORTION 17 COVER UP FULL
Navy officials defended the handling of the case, saying the SEAL captain who oversaw it had had full authority to decide it as he saw fit. Several military justice experts, who reviewed a Naval Criminal Investigative Service report on the case at the request of The Times, said that it had been inappropriate for the SEAL command to treat such allegations as an internal disciplinary matter and that it should have referred the case for an Article 32 review, the equivalent of a grand jury, to consider a court-martial. According to the soldiers and Afghan villagers, they had amused themselves by tossing grenades over the walls of their base, firing high-caliber weapons at passing vehicles and even aiming slingshots at children, striking them in the face with hard candy.Ībuse of detainees is among the most serious offenses an American service member can commit. “You can’t squint hard enough to make this gray.”Įven before the beatings, some of the SEALs had exhibited troubling behavior. “It just comes down to what’s wrong and what’s right,” Specialist Walker said in a recent interview. Two of the SEALs and their lieutenant have since been promoted, even though their commander in Afghanistan recommended that they be forced out of the elite SEAL teams. The SEAL command, though, cleared the Team 2 members of wrongdoing in a closed disciplinary process that is typically used only for minor infractions, disregarding a Navy lawyer’s recommendation that the troops face assault charges and choosing not to seek a court-martial. Instead, he said, one of them “jump-kicked this guy kneeling on the ground.” Two others joined in, Specialist Walker and several other soldiers recounted, and along with the Afghan militiamen, they beat the detainees so badly that by dusk, one would die. Along the way, they beat them with rifle butts and car antennas.Ī United States Army medic standing guard at the base, Specialist David Walker, had expected the men from SEAL Team 2 to put a stop to the abuse. Angered by the death of one of their comrades in the blast, the police militiamen had rounded up half a dozen or more suspects from a market in the village of Kalach and forced them to a nearby American outpost. They stood on the prisoners’ heads and poured bottles of water on some of their faces in what, to a pair of Army soldiers, appeared to be an improvised form of waterboarding.Ī few hours earlier, shortly after dawn on May 31, 2012, a bomb had exploded at a checkpoint manned by an Afghan Local Police unit that the SEALs were training.
The bugler soon began to play "Taps" and salutes were rendered to honor the brave men to conclude the ceremony.Īt the ceremony's conclusion, the NAVSPECWARCOM staff took turns visiting the memorial and reading the names of the fallen hereos.The three Navy SEALs stomped on the bound Afghan detainees and dropped heavy stones on their chests, the witnesses recalled.
These particular men would fly again into a fight if called upon," he said.Īt the conclusion of Pybus' remarks, he and NSW Force Master Chief (SEAL) Stephen Link lifted a cloth covering the memorial which consists of a three-ton boulder with a bronze plaque inset containing the names of the fallen. "Extortion 17 was years of combat experience men and teams that new only success - who conducted the most difficult missions, who loved defending our freedom. Pybus also spoke of the level of experience that was lost that day, as well as the bravery and fighting spirit of the men.
The 30 American Soldiers and dog (Bart) memorialized here today join the long and hallowed roll of warriors killed in action fighting on our behalf." At the end of any day or night only our warriors stand between us and those who would harm us. We exist only because our nation comes under threat from others. "Today we are dedicating a memorial to the mission, the men, and "Bart" the dog of Extortion 17," said Pybus.
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