[1] He allegedly masterminded[2][3][4] the ambush and killing of four American military contractors whose bodies were then dragged by a spontaneously formed mob and hung from the old bridge over the Euphrates river in Fallujah, Iraq.
[8] Four armed private contractors working as security guards for Blackwater USA – Scott Helvenston, Jerry Zovko, Wesley Batalona, and Michael Teague – were killed by machine gun fire and a grenade thrown through a window of their SUVs.
[9][11] Images of the gruesome aftermath were filmed by the international news media, drawing attention to issues around private contractors[8] and prompting Operation Vigilant Resolve,[12] which evolved into the first Battle of Fallujah.
[13] The intelligence community was doubtful, however, because the exhibitionism of broadcasting images of the desecration of the victim's bodies was uncharacteristic of al-Zarqawi, whose typical style was to leak to Al Jazeera that he had planned an attack some weeks after it occurred.
[citation needed] The Blackwater killings marked the start of Ahmad Hashim's supposed rivalry with al-Zarqawi and his "blood-soaked journey to the peak of al-Qaeda command.
[14] Five years after the ambush, in September 2009, a Navy SEAL team raided a house in search of al-Isawi,[10] who was at that time both a high-value target for intelligence gathering[14] and the most wanted terrorist in Iraq.
[citation needed] Special Warfare Operator, Second Class Matthew McCabe located and confronted a man matching al-Isawi's description, who was reaching for a gun.
Members of the SEAL team were interrogated and encouraged to confess to misdeeds in return for receiving non-judicial punishment,[10] which they refused and exercised their right to demand to face a court-martial.
[14] Colonel Dwight Sullivan, USMCR, was the Chief Defense Counsel for the United States for the Guantanamo military commission from 2005 to 2007 and attended the court-martial; he recorded his observations and analysis at his CAAFlog site.
[4] At the Huertas court-martial, photographs of al-Isawi's "face and body taken in the days immediately after the alleged attack" were presented in evidence, and showed "a visible cut inside his lip but no obvious signs of bruising or injuries anywhere else.
DeMartino took responsibility for al-Isawi despite the second master-at-arms having been transferred back to the United States,[32] and admitted during direct testimony that he was consequently in dereliction of duty both in accepting the prisoner and in leaving him unattended.
[7][33] Keefe and McCabe expressed their views through their collaboration with Robinson on his book titled Honor and Betrayal: The Untold Story of the Navy Seals Who Captured the "Butcher of Fallujah"—and the Shameful Ordeal They Later Endured.
[2][34] Robinson's book describes the capture of al-Isawi and subsequent events,[14] and its source material includes interviews with seven of the lawyers involved in the McCabe trial; the author's stated aim[14] was to open the door on the functioning of a high-profile court-martial, something rarely seen because "they're essentially secret.