Friday, January 06, 2006
Why do we have to start a new war when the last big one hasn't ended?
The guns may have fallen silent in Vietnam, but the battles-- the verbal ones, at least-- continue here at home.
Speaking of cases one would hate to lawyer either side of, I stumbled across the following fascinating site: Thugs Anonymous, associated with Expendable Elite.
A man claiming to be Special Forces Captain (now LTC) Daniel Marvin makes a number of allegations regarding US actions in Southeast Asia. The most explosive of his allegations is a claim that he was dispatched to assassinate Prince Norodom Sihanouk, although the contingency plan to blow the Aswan dam with a nuclear device is certainly a close second. The one closest to woo-woo territory is-- what else?-- a suggestion that LCDR William Bruce Pitzer was assassinated because he had JFK autopsy evidence. Most of what he said was plausible enough that the local media did a sniff test and gave him some ink.
He is apparently being sued by plaintiffs who also claim to have served in SFs. They complain that his book alleges they engaged in illegal actions.
Now, the defendant is entitled to discovery. I sure wouldn't want to be representing a member of the SFs who served during the Vietnam era. Not only is getting documentary evidence all but impossible, but it would be extremely difficult to persuade a jury that it's defamatory to say that SFs do what SFs do. Parse the mission statement as you wish, most people understand that SFs exist to provide the US government with a capability to do covert actions that at best are embarrassing to this nation's ideals and at worst to commit what are recognized as crimes of war.
On the other hand, Marvin says he is up for $125K in legal bills already. And, as we know from having the SwiftBoaties bring it into our living rooms, military p--sing matches are not pretty. Just ask the family of Admiral Jeremy "Mike" Boorda, who was falsely accused of having worn a decoration he wasn't entitled to by a man who was apparently wearing a decoration he wasn't entitled to.
About the only thing one can predict is that the legal bills will be immense, and that the losing lawyer won't get paid in full.
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For what it's worth, which is not a lot, I looked around and concluded I would let the court system work for LTC Marvin and his former friends without lending my aid to either side.
All you might do is read the VICTORY EDITION of Expendable Elite and you will learn about the lawsuit, the trial and the Special Forces Associations'continuing efforts to convince their Green Beret members and the world that the jury just didn't know what to do. Evidence is in this Victory Edition for you to judge for yourself. Listen to the audio tapes made by two of the plaintiffs on website www.ExpendableElite.com
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