The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the Navy SEALs are the United States Navy's elite commandos. And last week we learned that they captured one of the most wanted terrorists in all of Iraq. Ahmed Hashim Abed was behind the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in the year 2004. This ringleader of this ambush planned the murder of these four Americans in Fallujah. And these four Blackwater security guards, what they were doing was transporting supplies from one place to another.
So he had planned, Abed had planned an ambush against these individuals. They are ambushed. They are murdered. The bodies of these four murdered Americans were then dragged through the streets, burned and hung from a bridge in Fallujah. Mr. Speaker, I've been to that very bridge in the year 2005, and you still have an eerie feeling knowing that four Americans were hung there in public view. The U.S. military, by the way, has put a plaque on that bridge in honor of those security guards.
And so congratulations are in order to the Navy SEALs who captured the mastermind behind this ambush and the murder of these four Americans. We should be celebrating this achievement, and these Navy SEALs should be getting medals for their work doing what we've asked them to do. But that's not what is happening, Mr. Speaker. The military has decided to court-martial the Navy SEALs. It seems that this terrorist, Abed, claimed that he was punched in the mouth by the Navy SEALs, and he wants justice. He wants American justice.
You know, it's the same mouth that preaches hate in the name of religion, the same mouth that demands death to America, the same big mouth that ordered the murder of the four Americans. So the SEALs must answer to this accusation by a terrorist that they captured. After all, the terrorist must have some of that American justice. Next thing we know, we'll be giving these terrorists on the battlefield their Miranda warnings. Oh, we already do that.
Well, then after that, they're going to want to be tried in civilian courts in the United States. But we're already doing that as well. Have we gone a bit too far with the kid glove treatment that we treat these madmen, these terrorists, these people who kill Americans?
The nation is at war, Mr. Speaker. You know, punching occurs in war. Shooting also occurs in war. Instead of a court-martial, the SEALs should be dispatched to go and capture another terrorist. But that's not happening. They are going to be court-martialed because some terrorist supposedly got a bruised mouth.
The SEALs in question are Matthew McCabe, he's a special operations petty officer second class; Petty Officer Jonathan Keefe; and Petty Officer Julio Huertas. They are going to be court-martialed because some terrorist alleges they got punched in the mouth.
It's ironic, Mr. Speaker, that the SEALs will be arraigned next Monday, December 7. December 7, everybody in the United States Navy remembers that day. See, it's been 68 years since the Navy and America was attacked on December the 7th at Pearl Harbor. And now these individuals, ironically, will be arraigned that day.
Mr. Speaker, can you imagine someone in World War II, a soldier, a marine, somebody in the United States Navy, being tried for punching an enemy combatant in the mouth during World War II? You know, we should be commending the Navy SEALs for doing the job that we've asked them to do. They're the best that we have in this country. We've asked them to do tough assignments, and we should be supporting them. The terrorists ought to be on trial for murdering Americans. And the Navy SEALs ought to be getting medals for doing what we have asked them to do. And I say congratulations to the Navy SEALs for a job well done.
And that's just the way it is.