Defense counters Iraqi’s testimony against SEAL

BAGHDAD – An Iraqi prisoner suspected of masterminding an attack that killed four American contractors testified Wednesday at a court-martial of a Navy SEAL that he was beaten by U.S. troops while hooded and tied to a chair,

But defense witnesses for Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas on the trial’s opening day cast doubt on the testimony by the terror suspect.

The trial stems from an attack on four Blackwater security contractors who were driving through the city of Fallujah west of Baghdad in early 2004. The men were killed and then crowds dragged two of the burnt bodies through the streets and hanged them from a bridge over the Euphrates River – pictures that became iconic of the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

The images drove home to many the rising power of the insurgency and helped spark a bloody U.S. invasion of the city to root out the insurgents. Two of the Blackwater guards were former SEALs, the Navy’s elite special forces team.

Ahmed Hashim Abed was arrested Sept. 1 during a raid on his home by U.S. and Iraqi security forces on multiple terrorism charges. He was the subject of a years-long U.S. manhunt for the Blackwater killings.

He testified Wednesday that he was sitting in a chair with his hands bound behind him and hood over his head when he was hit from behind on the shoulder and back, fell to his knees and was then picked back up and struck in the stomach.

Abed is being held by Iraqi authorities pending trial.

The courts-martial of three Navy SEALS accused in the Iraqi prisoner’s abuse case have outraged many Americans who see it as a sign that their government is going soft on terrorists.

Huertas, 28, of Blue Island, Ill., is the first of three SEALs to go on trial for the alleged assault.

A verdict in Huertas’ case is expected as early as today. If convicted, Huertas could face up to a year in prison.

Huertas’ attorneys on Wednesday showed jurors photographs of Abed after the alleged beating that pictured a visible cut inside his lip, but no obvious signs of bruising or injuries anywhere else.

All three SEALs could have received only a disciplinary reprimand, but insisted on a military trial to clear their names and save their careers.