Source: Haditha evidence implicates Marines

Investigators reportedly finish initial review in deaths of 24 civilians

The Associated Press

 

 

Updated: 12:23 a.m. ET Aug 2, 2006

WASHINGTON - Evidence collected on the deaths of 24 Iraqis in Haditha supports accusations that U.S. Marines deliberately shot the civilians, including unarmed women and children, a Pentagon official said Wednesday.

 

Agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service have completed their initial work on the incident last November, but may be asked to probe further as Marine Corps and Navy prosecutors review the evidence and determine whether to recommend criminal charges, according to two Pentagon officials who discussed the matter on condition of anonymity.

 

The decision on whether to press criminal charges against four Marines ultimately will be made by the commander of the accused Marines’ parent unit, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif. That currently is Lt. Gen. John Sattler, but he is scheduled to move to a Pentagon assignment soon; his successor will be Lt. Gen. James Mattis.

 

The Marines initially reported after the Nov. 19, 2005 killings that 15 Iraqi civilians at Haditha had been killed by a makeshift roadside bomb and in crossfire between Marines and insurgent attackers. Based on accounts from survivors and human rights groups, Time magazine first reported in March that the killings were deliberate acts by the Marines.

 

A criminal investigation was then ordered by the top Marine commander in Iraq, Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer.

 

 

A parallel investigation is examining whether officers in the Marines’ chain of command tried to cover up the events. The probe, which has not been made public, faults some officers for failing to pursue obvious discrepancies in the initial reports about what happened in Haditha and for not launching an early investigation.

 

Public attention on the Haditha case grew after Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a former Marine, asserted publicly on May 17 that he had learned from Marine Corps officials that innocent Iraqis had been killed “in cold blood.”

 

Lawyers for Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, one of the Marines under investigation, argue in a lawsuit to be filed Wednesday in federal court that Murtha falsely accused Wuterich of murder and war crimes. The suit maintains that Pentagon officials “who have briefed or leaked information to Mr. Murtha deliberately provided him with inaccurate and false information” and that the congressman subsequently “has made repeated statements .... that are defamatory” to Wuterich and his fellow Marines.

 

Among the other cases of alleged deliberate killings of Iraqi civilians, eight Marines have been charged with premeditated murder and other criminal acts in connection with the killing of an Iraqi man in Hamdania on April 26. Also, five soldiers and a former soldier have been charged in the March 12 rape-slaying of a young Iraqi woman and the killings of her relatives in Mahmoudiya.

 

 

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14150687/?GT1=8404

Well theres over 300,000 people in the american armed forces. Cant expect them to be all angels.

 

This sounds true, but i think every single army thats ever existed has done the same thing. War is a horrible experience and it brings out the best and worst in people.

and this makes it ok?? Beacuse its war? Its still murder of innocent civilians...

Well theres over 300,000 people in the american armed forces. Cant expect them to be all angels.

 

This sounds true, but i think every single army thats ever existed has done the same thing. War is a horrible experience and it brings out the best and worst in people.

 

 

wise words.

and this makes it ok?? Beacuse its war? Its still murder of innocent civilians...

 

No it means to expect anything else is just plain naive.

 

This isnt an ideal world, its a bad world and bad things happen. Human Beings are cruel. Understand that.

well no shit sherlock....

 

 

I hope the get convicted though.. thats all I am saying. They shouldn't get away with it justbecause its a war...

Well several American soldiers have already been court martialled and prisoned for other offences.

really? where I haven't heard of any for anything this serious... not even in the Abu Graib situation... at least not to my recollection...

Difference between america's army and most is we punish our people when the mess up.

Only if its in the press...

have them tried and if convicted, prison for life or death. there will always be incidents like this, even with U.S. forces. Thank God that 99% of U.S. soldiers are our angels in fatigues. God Bless them.

but its bad soliders like these who blemish the name of the US military.. granted, I don't doubt that they are all stressed and probably 99% of them have mental issues now... I feel for them, but... something needs to be done.

 

AND for the record, just because I feel this way doesn't mean I don't support the troops... I do.. its precisely why I think something needs to be done..