Jordan rolled out false claims and gave shifting explanations after one of its soldiers killed three U.S. Green Beret trainers outside one of its bases in 2016, according to a new lawsuit brought by their families.
Fathers of the three slain soldiers who sued the kingdom this week say its handling of the deaths is reminiscent of Saudi Arabia’s changing explanations for the murder of Virginia resident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at one its consulates last month.
The lawsuit takes aim at key Middle East ally Jordan and its lucrative relationship with the U.S., which saw $1.7 billion in aid flow to the kingdom last year — another echo of the tens of billions of dollars in arms sales at the heart of the Khashoggi debate.
“For life to work, we all have to be willing to hold the powerful accountable, whoever the powerful are, for whatever they’ve done,” James Moriarty, father of the Army staff sergeant of the same name, said at the National Press Club on Friday. “The Jamal Khashoggi case is virtually identical to this because you have lie after lie after lie after lie where people refuse to accept responsibility for what they’ve done.”
Moriarty and the two other fathers, Chuck Lewellen and Brian McEnroe, are seeking monetary damages from Jordan as punishment for its behavior in the case, which drew international attention and sparked an investigation by the Pentagon that cleared the soldiers.
The shooter, Maarek al-Tawayha, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison last year.
The suit came as the Trump administration issued new sanctions against 17 Saudis accused of taking part in the Khashoggi killing at a Saudi consulate in Turkey. Eleven people have been charged by Saudi prosecutors with being involved in the plot, five of whom face the death penalty.
“The biggest problem that we’ve had throughout the ensuring two years has been the Jordanian response to this attack. It has been very akin to the switching stories that has happened with Saudi Arabia’s treatment of the Jamal Khashoggi killing,” said John Eubanks, the attorney for the families of the U.S. troops.
Eubanks said the civil lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. is not seeking a particular dollar amount.
In 2016, Jordan first said al-Tawayha had obeyed the rules of engagement when he opened fire on the soldiers as they returned from nearby joint training. Officials from Jordan claimed Matthew Lewellen, Kevin McEnroe, and James Moriarty ignored direct orders from Jordanian troops before they were gunned down.
Jordanian officials then said the killing was accidental and suggested the U.S. troops had been drinking.
“For months, Jordan dodged responsibility. First they blamed our sons, the victims,” Lewellen said.
Similarly, the Saudis have given a variety of changing explanations about Khashoggi, first insisting that he left the consulate alive, then saying he died accidentally in a fight and that a rogue group had committed the murder.
The shooting in Jordan and the murder in the consulate also share another similarity: surveillance evidence.
Khashoggi’s murder was captured on audio obtained by Turkey, which has lobbed sharp criticism at Saudi Arabia. The recordings were shared with the U.S. and other countries.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has met with the Saudis and Turks to discuss the incident, has denied listening to the recordings.
A security camera outside the Jordanian base also captured the U.S. soldiers arriving at the base gate in 2016 as they had many times in the past and al-Tawayha opening fire with an M-16 from a guard shack, then hunting down and killing the troops over a six-minute period.
The video was obtained by the FBI and shown to family members. Moriarty said he watched his son’s murder, one of the most difficult decisions of his life.
“When I discovered there was a video tape of the murder of my son, I had a dilemma that no parent should ever want to have. Do I watch my son being killed?” he said. “Then I said, ‘How am I ever going to discover the truth if I’m not willing to confront the truth and accept what it is?’”
It was also taken to the Pentagon and watched by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according Moriarty.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the president and the vice president has seen it,” he said. “Before we give people $1.7 billion a year and they murder our children, every taxpayer ought to look at that video and say we’re supporting these sorry bastards?”
President Trump said Saturday that a reported CIA conclusion that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in Khashoggi’s death was “very premature” but “possible,” adding he would receive a full report Tuesday.
