Graham: Here is the story of Cpl Imad Siddiqi His name is Cpl Imad Siddiqi, USMC. Cpl Siddiqi is
Marine who was born in Afghanistan and immigrated the U.S. with his
family. He has completed one Marine Expeditionary Unit, Special
Operations Capable deployment and one deployment to Afghanistan. On about
11 May of 2009 during his last tour in Afghanistan, his squad came across a person
(Mohamed Gul) on whom they had intel that he is a Taliban operative and was
intimidating villagers and possibly conducting attacks on the friendly
villagers. Cpl Siddiqi speaks Pashtu, Urdu, and Dari. He began to
interrogate Mohamed Gul but could get nothing from him. Cpl Siddiqi had
already spoken to a village elder who explained to him that Mohamed Gul is a
member of the Taliban. He told him that he beats up and terrorizes any
villager he finds out are cooperating or speaking to the Marines. Cpl Siddiqi
relayed this information to his squad leader SSgt Jones. When Cpl Siddiqi
interrogated Gul, Gul would lie and give inconsistent stories. Cpl Siddiqi let
his squad leader know that Gul wasn’t talking and that he was lying about his
activities. The squad leader then ordered another Marine to “take care of
Gul.” The other Marine understood taking care of Gul to mean rough him up a little
so he talks about his contacts and to intimidate him into not terrorizing the
villagers anymore. The next day Gul showed up at the base accusing the
Marines of abuse and demanding payment The unit charged all the Marines in the squad with
conspiracy, false official statement, and assault. Cpl Siddiqi suffers
from severe PTSD and has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. A
conviction could result in his deportation because he is not a citizen
yet. Imagine sending a U.S. Marine back to Afghanistan. His family
is distraught and poor. They live in Northern Virginia. They came
here to get away from Afghanistan and the Taliban, entered the U.S. legally and
are working on building a life here and becoming Americans. They’re proud
of their eldest son’s service but know nothing about his legal troubles. He’s afraid
to tell them because he thinks they might become ashamed of him when they learn
that he is facing charges. Your assistance in assisting us funding his
defense is appreciated. I’ve attached the charge sheet so you can review the
charges. Haytham Faraj, Esq. PUCKETT & FARAJ, PC WASHINGTON DC׀ SAN DIEGO ׀ DEARBORN 888.970.0005 Toll Free 202.280.1039 Fax The information
contained in this electronic message is confidential, and is intended for the
use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended
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received this communication in error, please notify Puckett & Faraj, P.C.
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Attachment:
charge sheet.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document