Tea party warrior Pantano targets McIntyre 2 magazines emptiedHe later testified that the prisoners then made a threatening move toward him. He shot them, using one full magazine of about 30 bullets, then loaded a fresh magazine and emptied that one, too. Then he hung a sign on the bullet riddled car that read "No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy" - a slogan that he had heard from another Marine officer - and left it as a warning.
Pantano was charged with murder after one of his Marines told investigators the shootings weren't justified. In a hearing, though, the key prosecution witness was caught lying, and a host of Marines under and over Pantano in rank stepped forward to testify that he was an extraordinary leader who treated Iraqis with respect.
The officer who led the hearing concluded that Pantano had used poor judgment and recommended he be punished for desecrating the corpses, but found that the evidence did not warrant court-martial. A Marine general dropped the murder charges and overruled the recommendation that Pantano be punished for the shootings.
During his legal ordeal, conservative media took up Pantano's cause, and veterans spoke out against the idea of the Marine Corps prosecuting one of its own for killing likely insurgents in a combat zone.
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