Marine jailed for refusing to testify to grand jury (accused of killing detainee in Fallujah)

[Barrett808]

Source: Associated Press

SAN DIEGO - A Marine accused of killing of an unarmed detainee in Fallujah, Iraq, is in jail because he refused to testify against a comrade.

The detention of Sgt. Jermaine A. Nelson has forced his arraignment to be postponed.

Nelson was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday at Camp Pendleton on charges of unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty.

When Nelson failed to appear in court, his attorney said a federal judge had ordered Nelson jailed for refusing to testify before grand jury about Jose Nazario, a former Marine charged in the killings of two captured insurgents.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080522/ap_on_re_us/marines_fallujah

[KSinTX]

1. These poor guys confound duty and loyalty with friendship

I know they're inculcated with the mantra of loyalty but it's never explained in great enough depth. I believe he feels duty to comrades trumps duty and loyalty to country, but he couldn't be more wrong. I hope he does the right thing.

[bahrbearian]

2. Yes ,Yes

[gratuitous]

3. The Acolytes will be all over him

The High Church of Redemptive Violence will be there to reinforce this decision, arguing that all that is Good and Holy will be served by his refusal to testify. Killers will go free, but that's part of the price we pay to be America.

[KSinTX]

4. You've missed the trajectory of this war

Enlisted = guilty
Officer = innocent

They wind these guys up then point them in the direction of the "enemy" like guided missiles. The leadership will not back him; he's a sacrificial lamb designed to deflect charges of foul away from the power. It is stunning the number of enlisted prosecutions that stemmed from Abu Grahib and other high-level military scandals. It left me with the impression that these E-nothing anarchists must have turned the chain-of-command on its head and taken over the leadership. This explains the utter shock of Generals, such as Sanchez and Kiley, to learn that they were getting bounced when they believed they were simply victims of a 'perfect storm' that surrounded them and not ultimately responsible. They'd become accustomed to blaming the underling enlisted and junior officer and getting away with it. No jail time, just lose a star and go away.

Of course these overpaid, overly-lauded, pampered simps weren't shy about cashing the big CEO paycheck every month nor accepting the attendant trappings of power. Too often these guys lose sight of the fact that with authority and power in the military comes this little thing called responsibility. Then again ...

We do have Sergeants Nelson and Nazario, right?

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. Here's a thought: Could he have been ordered to refuse to testify?

Or even ordered not to take the Fifth? Would such orders be unlawful? If it comes out that he was ordered to refuse testimony, what would happen to the officer who gave that order?

[ohio2007]

6. Band of brothers

nt