GraniteGrok

UPDATE:  It seems that some of the national politicians are now putting pressure on Secretary Gates to intervene:

Members of Congress, including House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), want Defense Secretary Robert Gates to intervene in the court martial of three Navy SEALs, one of whom is charged with punching a terror suspect, while all three are charged with lying about the alleged incident.
 
Boehner’s name is among 33 other members of Congress in the letter sent to Gates.
 
Meanwhile, the other members such as Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) are expressing concern about the case.
 
“The SEALs were doing what they should do. We’re talking about terrorists,” Inhofe, the number two Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told CNSNews.com. “Yes there is something that can be done about that. We are encouraging him [Gates] to take some kind of action to intervene in this thing. He can do it through the job description: What are SEALs supposed to do? What are special ops all about? What is their role?”  

“The decision to go ahead and prosecute these sailors represents an unusual overreaction,” Joe Kasper, spokesman for Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), told CNSNews.com. 

In a separate letter to Gates, Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) said he does not want to see the careers of the three SEALs cut short “predominantly on the allegation of a murderer and our driving need to be politically correct.”

Locally too, Nat Healy AND Jack Kimball (former head of the Granite State Patriots and, coming out of the NH TEA Party movement, running for the Republican nomination for Governor) have an updated time for a rally for these SEALs:

It is time that we ALL get out and let the country know that we have our Seals backs.  In fact, we have the backs or all our brave men and women in uniform.  So, with that in mind, I am asking all Patriotic Americans in the area to converge on Market Square (in front of the Old North Church) in Portsmouth, NH at from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM on Wednesday, December 16th.  Surely we can all dedicate one hour of our time to show everyone that we do not intend to let this abomination continue.  So, bring lots of American flags and signs.  Lets push to have all charges dropped and bring the Seals home for Christmas.  It's the least we can do. 

I'll keep bumping this up as more info comes in.

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I had angrily posted about the three Navy SEALs who, after capturing the mastermind behind the mutilation of four American security guards in Iraq, have been accused of prisoner abuse (a fat lip). The SEALs could have gone through either a Captain's or Admiral's Mast for adjudication - perhaps a "slap on the wrist" but injurious to their careers by admitting guilt.  These folks, to no great surprise, have decided to fight for their honor - and have demanded a courts martial.

Today, they were arraigned:

Navy SEALs Arraigned on Abuse Charges
Two Men Allegedly Hit and Failed to Protect Suspects in Murder of Blackwater Contractors

Two Navy SEALs accused in the mistreatment of an Iraqi suspect in the 2004 slayings of four U.S. contractors were arraigned in military court Monday, and one SEAL said he was gratified by support from the public and some members of Congress.