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Marine deserves medal, gets murder charge

Marine Second Lieutenant Ilario Pantano, 33 years old, first served his country in the 1991 Gulf War.

After the Manhattan native lost friends in the September 11 terrorist attacks, Pantano, by then a married father of two sons, quit his job as a highly-paid Goldman, Sachs stockbroker and re-joined the Marines. He completed officers' training school, received a commission, and became a platoon leader with the Second Marine Division, landing in Iraq last March and cheating death in the battle of Fallujah.

Unlike some of his fellow Marines, Lt. Pantano made it safely back home.

But now, the Marines are forcing him to cheat death again.

On February 1, the Marine Corps he loves charged him with double murder for shooting two Iraqi insurgents who put him in fear for his life during a dangerous security mission. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

On April 15, 2004, Lt. Pantano's men were ordered to search a suspected insurgent hideout. Inside the building, they found weapons, ammunition, and bomb-making materials. Then, a sport-utility vehicle pulled away from the site.

Pantano's Marines shot out the SUV's tires and took the two Iraqi men inside into custody. Since the insurgents often rigged vehicles with bombs, Pantano ordered the Iraqis to search it thoroughly for booby traps.

But in the midst of stripping the vehicle's interior, the Iraqis stopped, turned toward Pantano, and began walking toward him.

Pantano ordered them to stop, in Arabic, but they kept advancing. He shot them both dead.

A precise, disciplined Marine, Pantano made all the necessary reports to his superiors concerning the shooting. None of them had a problem with his actions. He served for three more months in Iraq, and returned home a hero.

So how did he end up charged with murder?

His lawyer, Marine reserve officer Charles Gittins, claims the Marine who first accused Pantano is a disgruntled sergeant who may be upset at Pantano for some perceived slight. But whatever petty motive lies behind the allegations, it's difficult to see why the Corps itself lent them any credibility.

Pantano's situation is tragic not just because his valiant service is being rewarded with a potential court-martial, but because it will lead all our troops, in Iraq and elsewhere, to second-guess themselves. And if the fear of ending up in Pantano's position causes them to hesitate an extra second before pulling the trigger, some of them will die.

Pantano's family has set up a site with information about his situation, www.defendthedefenders.org, but at present, it appears to have exceeded its bandwith allocation. I expect they'll have it up again soon.

Meanwhile, World Net Daily commentator Joseph Farah offers a suggestion to the Marines on how to resolve Pantano's case:

Drop the charges now. Fire the overzealous persecutor. Apologize to Lt. Pantano and grant him a medal for his distinguished and courageous service to his country.
That would be a good start, followed up by disciplining the Sergeant who made the allegations of criminal conduct, as well as the officers who decided to act on them. And sending a clear message to our troops that their commanders won't second-guess decisions made in the heat of battle. (After all, if British homeowners can be trusted to know when to pull the trigger, surely our fighting men and women can as well.)

But rather than drop the case, Marine Corps prosecutors are, bizzarrely, adding additional charges that, the Washington Times says, Pantano's supporters describe as "piling on": destruction of property, for slashing the vehicle tires so they could not be repaired, and desecration, for posting a sign in English on the SUV with the Marine Corps slogan, "No better friend. No worse enemy".

It's not clear why the Marines are treating Pantano as an enemy. But it's time they stopped.

FOLLOW-UP:
A number of people have pointed out to me that "we don't have all the facts" on Pantano's case yet.

That may be so. It's theoretically possible that a Gulf War veteran who voluntarily re-joined the military suddenly snapped, shot two men in cold blood, and then went about being an outstanding Marine for three more months before leaving Iraq.

But I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that's what happened. All we have is an allegation of murder, as yet unsubstantiated by any corroborating evidence, brought by a Marine who may have had a grudge against Pantano.

I'm planning to stay on top of this story, and if new facts emerge, I'll consider them in due course. But right now, the murder charge seems baseless, and the Marine Corps has not, to my knowledge, released or claimed to have any information that would make it less so.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Curious that he would un hand cuff insurgents. I mean they found bomb making materials at their house? Had to shoot out the tires to catch them. Only way they could prove it was premeditated is if things he said to his men were something along the lines "I'm going to uncuff them, then shoot them." We don't know the whole story. They haven't released the whole story. With the information about the men coming at him, and he shot, that alone sounds innocent. Why did he uncuff them though?  

Posted by fasteddie

Anonymous said...

This story is truly the most outrageous case of political correctness run amock that I have ever heard of. Please stay on this case, keep raising hell about it, and keep it in the spotlight. None of our fighting men & women deserve this sort of twisted abuse. 

Posted by Brian Meyette

Anonymous said...

Well, as you can see in my latest post, there is new info out about the case. If the accuser is telling the truth, Pantano executed the men in cold blood, so the Marines were probably not just being "politically correct" to investigate the incident and charge Pantano.

It looks like other witnesses, however, contradict the accuser's version of what happened, though, and I'm hoping that as the case progresses, it will be shown that Pantano did not actually commit the acts he's been accused of.

At this point, it looks like we're just going to have to wait and see how the situation develops. 

Posted by GaijinBiker

Anonymous said...

it amazes me that the Commandant or the President has not thrown these charges out & return the Lt to duty after they give him a medal. As far as i'm concerned the Lt done good 

Posted by david edmonds

Anonymous said...

Between my 2 sons my family has had someone in Iraq for 2 years (my Marine Sgt 2 tours; my Army Sgt 1 year tour). From the stories I have heard from their experiences, you don't have a lot of time to think; you have to think about the safety of your men and the safety of the Iraqis around you. We haven't been in a situation where the day before you dealt with an insurgent who was a suicide bomber; you don't know if the next guy is a bomber. I'm behind the Lt; he I believe he did his job to the best of his ability with what he knew at that point. If he had been dealing with a suicide bomber would we be condeming him for not protecting his unit? If all our military were accused of murder for each insurgent killed there would be few left to carry one. My sons carry deep scares for the lives they took to protect there units - they don't feel good about it; they never will. Let the Lt go back to work to support his family. 

Posted by Sharon Matlock

Anonymous said...

I would like to quote the following from "sns" on the message board at:

http://vaconservative.com/archives/2005/02/14/marine-lt-ilario-pantano-charged-with-murder/

...Ask yourself why the Marine Corps would ever in their right mind go on a witch hunt for a 2ndLt. for double murder, when the end result is terrible PR, and possibly the death of an American. One post asks why the prosecution has refused to speak on this. My response is that the prosecutor most likely has decided to stay silent because a media-hungry defense attorney like Gittens would take anything said by the prosecution and twist it around. Besides…why should he say anything to the press? He’ll have plenty to say to the jury…believe that. And don’t judge the prosecutor as blood hungry pencil pusher looking for good press. The majority of Marine attorneys have served in Iraq, been shot at and seen friends and fellow Marines killed…just like Lt. Pantano. A lot of these lawyers are former pilots, infantrymen, etc…they know what it is to lead Marines and fight the enemy.

Those of you who have labeled Pantano a hero…consider what comment 11 states. What if this is true? Is he still a hero? Of course not…hero’s don’t kill EPWs in cold blood, and post intimidating signs on the corpses. “No better friend, no worse enemy” doesn’t take into account the senseless execution of enemy combatants. If we accept that as the norm, we are no better than the two terrorists that Pantano killed.

Things that make you go hmmm...

 

Posted by Mom of Two Marines

Anonymous said...

I would like to quote the following from "sns" on the message board at:

http://vaconservative.com/archives/2005/02/14/marine-lt-ilario-pantano-charged-with-murder/

...Ask yourself why the Marine Corps would ever in their right mind go on a witch hunt for a 2ndLt. for double murder, when the end result is terrible PR, and possibly the death of an American. One post asks why the prosecution has refused to speak on this. My response is that the prosecutor most likely has decided to stay silent because a media-hungry defense attorney like Gittens would take anything said by the prosecution and twist it around. Besides…why should he say anything to the press? He’ll have plenty to say to the jury…believe that. And don’t judge the prosecutor as blood hungry pencil pusher looking for good press. The majority of Marine attorneys have served in Iraq, been shot at and seen friends and fellow Marines killed…just like Lt. Pantano. A lot of these lawyers are former pilots, infantrymen, etc…they know what it is to lead Marines and fight the enemy.

Those of you who have labeled Pantano a hero…consider what comment 11 states. What if this is true? Is he still a hero? Of course not…hero’s don’t kill EPWs in cold blood, and post intimidating signs on the corpses. “No better friend, no worse enemy” doesn’t take into account the senseless execution of enemy combatants. If we accept that as the norm, we are no better than the two terrorists that Pantano killed.

Things that make you go hmmm...

 

Posted by Mom of Two Marines

Anonymous said...

Keep your views of "pretty wars" I have lost 1/2 of my family at the hands of "well meaning" Americans during WWII. I was born an American of German immigrant parents and LOVE the United States. I support the actions of Mr. Pantano for a number of combat-related reasons, not the least of which is, as the offspring of a Stalingrad foot soldier survivor, that I understand the terror and immediacy of action while in combat, through my veteran father and grandfather, but also that, as a civilian (whether a MOM or not) I cannot fully comprehend the military situation which Mr. Pantano found himself in.

P.S. - Please don't insert yourself into the opinionated situation of the military based on the fact that your sons are military...YOU ARE NOT.

If we need to hear an educated view of this situation, let us hear from them...NOT YOU. 

Posted by Anton

Anonymous said...

You want to know what I think? These two insurgents were actively engaged in killing Americans and Iraqi civilians. They got caught in the act. Whether the Marine shot them in self-defense, or summary execution, I really don't care. Two insurgents who will never kill anymore US troops or Iraqi civilians. Anyone remember the scene in Band of Brothers where the Lieutenant executes the enemy germany pows? How often do you think that really happened in WWII? Especially when SS units or snipers or saboteurs who US soldiers KNEW had been actively engaged in killing their friends? Do we call those people war criminals? Of course not. "No greater friend, no worse enemy." Amen.  

Posted by sgtmac

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