The Man in the Arena by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

40. The “Video”

CONGRESSMAN DUNCAN HUNTER

April 19, 2019

San Diego/Washington, D.C.

For months, we’d been hearing about this incriminating video that showed Eddie stabbing the ISIS terrorist wounded in battle. Tommy Marquez, my deputy director, had been told by Naval Special Warfare JAG Lieutenant Keleigh Anderson that, and I quote, “If you saw what I saw, you’d want Eddie in the brig.” We had our doubts about this video. If it showed a murder, the prosecution wouldn’t have blocked my office from seeing it. They’d been leaking information to the press for months; if this video existed, the New York Times would certainly have a copy. Finally, after jumping through hoops for months, a viewing was approved for members of Congress.

Frankly, I didn’t give a shit if Eddie had killed him. This was the only ISIS scumbag still alive after an intense battle with Eddie’s platoon and our partner forces. He had been wounded in an air strike while trying to kill our guys. He was the enemy. And if we were going to lock up our warriors for killing the enemy, there had better be some damn strong proof they did something wrong.

Tommy and I went to Eddie’s room in the barracks to watch the video. Outside the door, a junior officer from Naval Special Warfare stopped us. He said that per Commodore Rosenbloom and Keleigh Anderson, we were not allowed to meet with Eddie unless he was present. We ignored the command representative and walked in, where Eddie and his attorney, Tim Parlatore, were waiting for us. Tommy asked the officer, who had walked in with us, to take two steps back, then he shut the door in his face. Minutes later, Tim got a a call from Anderson. He put her on speaker.

“The only way I granted your visit request was with the stipulation that a representative from the command had to be present!” she yelled.

I’d had enough of this, and quickly interrupted her. “You don’t give me permission, you grant my requests!” I shouted back. “You obviously need to speak to the House of Representatives’ attorneys about how this works!”

I was Eddie’s congressional representative and his lawyer was present. It was ludicrous to think the people prosecuting him had a right to sit in on our meeting. Anderson, realizing I was correct, backed down, and once Tim hung up we all had a good laugh.

Tim inserted a CD into his laptop, and the first video started playing. Tommy and I shared a glance, like, “Well, let’s see.” Showtime.

It opened with a young male terrorist, severely wounded, with Iraqi forces surrounding him. I had seen my share of combat and death in Iraq when I was a marine, so I wasn’t blown away by the first images. Then Eddie appeared on screen. He was holding what I recognized as a medical kit. He dropped the bag on the ground, opened it, and began to cut the pants off the terrorist. He then began to treat him. At one point, the terrorist tried to get up.

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