Phony Soldier Charged With Making Up Claims of Atrocities in Iraq?

Question

Phony Soldier Charged With Making Up Claims of Atrocities in Iraq
Sunday , May 20, 2007



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A man who tried to position himself as a leader of the anti-war movement by claiming to have participated in war crimes while serving in Iraq is facing federal charges of falsifying his record.

Jesse Adam Macbeth, 23, formerly of Phoenix, garnered attention on blogs and in some alternative media after he began claiming in 2005 to have been awarded a Purple Heart for his service, which he said included slaughtering innocents in a Fallujah mosque. His story was contradicted by his discharge form, showing that he was kicked out of the Army after six weeks at Fort Benning, Ga., in 2003 because of his “entry level performance and conduct.”

A complaint unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle charged him with one count of using or possessing a forged or altered military discharge certificate, and one count of making false statements in seeking benefits from the Veterans Administration.

Macbeth’s public defender, Jay Stansell, declined to comment.

Organizations that opposed the war, including Iraq Veterans Against the War, posted videos or statements containing Macbeth’s claims on their Web sites. In one videotaped interview, a skinny, stuttering Macbeth, dressed in a camouflage jacket, described slaughtering hundreds of people in a mosque: “We would burn their bodies ... hang their bodies from the rafters in the mosque,” he said.

Iraq Veterans Against the War and other organizations removed the claims after learning they were false.

“He approached us in early 2006, posing as a war veteran. He seemed very emotionally distressed about his experiences,” said Amadee Braxton, a spokeswoman for Iraq Veterans Against the War, based in Philadelphia.

Macbeth claimed in an application for benefits to have served from May 2001 to June 2004, to have been shot in Iraq and to have suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, LaMont E. Stokes, an agent with the VA’s Office of the Inspector General, wrote in the charging papers. He also collected more than $10,400 in benefits to which he was not entitled, Stokes wrote.

Stokes said he interviewed Macbeth in a Tacoma jail, where he has been serving a sentence for fourth-degree assault, and that Macbeth admitted falsifying the documents because he was homeless and wanted to “sucker” anything he could out of the government.

Answer 1

Truth be told, Macbeth was an anti-war liberals wet dream come true. His accounts of his "experiences" were broadcast all over the web and when Rush Limbaugh referred to him as a "phony soldier," his statement was taken out of context and used to discredit and slam Limbaugh. I'm no Rush fan by any means, but these lies and deceptive stories are just plain wrong.
These far left loony tactics are becoming far to common - and don't look for any retractions because the damage has already taken place - and the far left air heads aren't about to set the record straight because it simply doesn't agree with their apparent MO.
It is apparent that any real research into these these propaganda stories are nonexistent - Bush's military records as reported by NBC, the "massacre" by American soldiers as reported by Newsweek (later retracted), the constant barrage of negatives reported by CNBC and others, the John Kerry exit polls in the last presidential election, the vile and disgusting ad in the NY Times by Moveon.Org as well as the story that you refer to.
I'm getting to the point where I don't believe any story that has a far left slant to it - and with good reason.

Answer 2

You should all think about this. What this man did was an awful thing but... he was homeless. I am not saying its a good reason or that he was right.

The Bush administration is not homeless. They are very powerful and yet they started a war under false pretenses and have made billions from war profiteering from government funds. The people who have no bid contracts are closely tied to Cheney and Bush.

In the end what is worse? A homeless man who had nothing and was trying to get benefits and some cash to survive or a group who starts a war that kills thousands so they can make a bundle to stack up with the rest of there fortune, all on the blood of Americans?

Answer 3

Good, he deserves what he gets. I remember reading some of his blogs and found myself failing to believe the stories he told of experiences over there. I didn't think he made the whole "being a soldier" part up, I just thought maybe some type of disorder caused from the war made him say dillusionary things. Glad to hear that this guy is a total fraud.

Answer 4

Hang him from the nuts until dead. Either him or his nuts.

This is the same guy that Rush Limbaugh spoke of on his radio show and now the left (Senate, House, AND Media) are taking what he said out of context and trying to say that he was speaking of ALL soldiers who speak out against the war as PHONY soldiers.

Limbaugh didn't say such a thing - he was speaking specifically of this MacBeth @$$hole on his show.

This guy is a lot like John Kerry, except that Kerry was actually in Vietnam until he could lie his way out through phony Purple Hearts. Unlike this guy who never even graduated from Boot Camp and was never near Iraq.

Answer 5

It's almost as if you expect people to not try and take advantage of any situation anywhere ever.
It's much like a war profiteer 'cooking the books' or a Justice Department legitimizing torture.
And it totally would be nothing like an administration flogging an attack on it's country to exert enormous control over the populace through reduction of civil rights and scare tactics.

Nothing like that right?

Leanne, Limbaugh discredits himself everytime he opens his mouth.

Answer 6

This guy should have a sign in Arabic that says "Allah is queer" tied around his neck, put in a Burkha and dropped off in Anbar. Sew a giant American Flag to the back of the Burkha. If he survives he can come home.

Answer 7

Where's the question?
There have been several instances about people lying about their sevice records. Ever heard of Wes Cooley?

Answer 8

I'm still waiting to find out how the left is going to blame this on President Bush.

Answer 9

Another wacko signs up with the left and is immediately embraced and promoted by their elected and non-elected leadership. The vast middle is watching, guys....

Answer 10

That is the phony solider Rush was refering to but liberals don't want to hear that part.