Marines Shackled For Political Reasons ... ? Apparently, the story about the Marines, and the Navy corpsman in shackles is beginning to get "legs." It was first broken by Michael Savage last week, and today, there's an article in the LA Times. And note -- these are not the Marines involved in Haditha, but in an unrelated incident.

From the LA Times:

ENCINITAS — The parents of a Marine who is in solitary confinement while the military investigates the killing of an Iraqi civilian said Saturday that they fear that he is receiving harsh treatment because of politics.

Pfc. John Jodka III is in the brig at Camp Pendleton pending charges in the April 26 killing of an apparently unarmed man in the Iraqi town of Hamandiya.

His parents, who say their 20-year-old son has been in shackles when they visited him, accuse the Marine Corps of making an example of their son and others because of criticism that it was slow to investigate earlier killings in the town of Haditha.

"It appears to me that this is the reaction of some senior people to show 'we're in charge, we're cleaning up our act,' " John Jodka Jr. said. He said he believes that the generals figure, "If a few privates and corporals have to take it, that's the price of keeping my stars."

Incidentally, these Marines and sailors were not involved in Haditha.

Officials familiar with the Hamandiya investigation, including Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), a retired Marine colonel and leading critic of the Iraq war, say an unarmed man was dragged from his home in the middle of the night.

They assert that he was killed without provocation and that the troops left a shovel and an AK-47 near the body to suggest he was an insurgent caught planting a roadside bomb. But defense attorneys have not seen the evidence. (wonder if it was supplied by "Ahmed Mohammed," in a photograph that doesn't exist ... )

Jodka, who has established a Web site, www.innocentmarine.com, said he cannot believe his son has done anything wrong. "I know my son," said Jodka, 44, a parts buyer for a major shipbuilding company. "He's the epitome of a true-blue, ready-to-go, high-speed Marine rifleman."

To a large degree, John Jodka does not fit the common mold of the Marine enlisted ranks, which often are filled with the sons of blue-collar families for whom college was not an easy option

All a bunch of knuckle-draggers, right? (I suppose that includes Patrick Daley, Chicago Mayor Daley's son, who joined the Army after getting a Master's in Economics ...)

Here's my article discussing information from Marine Times last week, please take a look at the very pertinent comments.

Now, Brian, of LiftPort, says that when you join the service, you waive many of your rights to due process: So, no, the sailor in question does not explicitly have the right to be innocent until proven guilty, and may indeed be confined before being charged, if he is the subject of an investigation. Or if his command orders it...

Here's a link to one of the Marine's wife's page -- the Patriot Defense. And let's just keep tabs on how this one pans out.

  ¶ 8:05 AM