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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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December 22nd,
2006 - Marines Charge 4 With Murder of Iraq Civilians News
article by the New York Times |
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Marines Charge 4 With Murder
of Iraq Civilians By Paul von Zielbauer and Carolyn Marshall New York Times December 22, 2006 Four marines were charged
yesterday with murder in the killings of two dozen Iraqi civilians, including
at least 10 women and children, in the village of Haditha last year, military
officials said at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Military prosecutors also
charged four officers, including a lieutenant colonel in charge of the First
Marine Regiment’s Third Battalion, with dereliction of duty and failure to
ensure that accurate information about the killings was delivered up the
Marine Corps’ chain of command. A military investigation has found evidence
that Marine officers may have obscured certain facts in the case. The Marines could punish other
ranking officers administratively in weeks to come. But the criminal charges
filed yesterday against Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani, 42, and three other
officers reflect an unusually aggressive judicial reaction by military
prosecutors to a massacre that has damaged the military’s credibility with
Iraqi officials and civilians, military justice experts said. “This is very aggressive
charging - wow,” said Gary Solis, who teaches the law of war at Georgetown
University Law Center and at West Point. “I think this illustrates the deep
seriousness the Marine Corps takes with these events.” He added, “I definitely
think the Marine Corps is sending a message to commanders, to those in
authority of combat troops, that they better pay close attention to the activities
of their subordinates to ensure that there was no wrongdoing.” Though this was not the
first instance of American forces being charged with killing Iraqi civilians,
the charges announced yesterday, including 13 counts of murder against one
sergeant alone, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, 26, suggest that military prosecutors
view the Haditha killings as being among the most serious breaches of
military rules in the nearly four-year war. The charges are a result of two
military investigations into the actions of members of Company K, Third
Battalion, First Marine Regiment after a roadside bomb killed one of their
comrades shortly after 7 a.m. on Nov. 19, 2005, in Haditha, a village in a
region northwest of Baghdad that is rife with Sunni Arab insurgents. A total of 24 Iraqis, nearly
all of them unarmed, were killed by several marines in a series of attacks on
a car and three nearby homes over the next several hours, military officials
said. The four enlisted men
charged with unpremeditated murder, all members of a squad of Company K,
Third Battalion, First Marine Regiment, are: Sergeant Wuterich of Meriden,
Conn.; Sgt. Sanick De La Cruz, 24, of Chicago; Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt,
22, of Carbondale, Pa.; and Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum, 25, of Edmond, Okla. Sergeant Wuterich and
Sergeant De La Cruz confronted five military-age men - a taxi driver and four
college students - after marines frantically ordered the vehicle to stop,
about 100 yards from the stalled Marine convoy of four Humvees. The two
marines were each charged with murder in connection with the deaths of all five
men after ordering them out of the taxi, Marine officials said. Several marines then
attacked a home nearby, killing several family members inside, military
officials and defense lawyers said. Sergeant Wuterich is charged with killing
six people in the house. Lance Corporal Tatum is charged with negligent
homicide in the deaths of four people, including an elderly man in a
wheelchair in that house. Thinking they were under
fire and believing they were pursuing attackers from the first home, squad
members proceeded to a second home, defense lawyers said. Sergeant Wuterich
is charged with killing six people in that house: two adults and four
children, including three who were 4, 6 and 11 years old. Lance Corporal Tatum is
charged with killing two children in the second house: a 15-year-old boy and
a girl who was about 6 years old. At least two hours later,
squad members attacked people in a third home nearby, where one AK-47 was
found later, military officials and defense lawyers have said. Sergeant Wuterich
is charged with killing the first person in that house. Lance Corporal
Sharratt is charged with killing three brothers who rushed to the home to
inquire what was happening, military officials have said. They were shot with
an M9 service pistol. In all, Sergeant Wuterich
was charged with 13 counts of murder in connection with the deaths of 18
people, who were killed with an M4 service rifle; falsely telling an
investigator that the men from the taxi had fired at the convoy; and urging
Sergeant De La Cruz to report that those men had been killed by Iraqi Army
soldiers at the scene. Lance Corporal Sharratt was
charged with three counts of murder, and Lance Corporal Tatum was charged
with murder in the death of two Iraqis, negligent homicide in the deaths of
four others, and assault. The lawyers for all four
enlisted men declared their clients’ innocence, arguing in separate
statements after the charges that the killings were an unfortunate result of
marines properly responding to an insurgent attack in a dangerous area.
Sergeant Wuterich and his men “did everything they were supposed to do that
day to protect themselves,” said his lawyer, Neal A. Puckett. In addition to Colonel
Chessani, prosecutors charged two captains and a first lieutenant with either
covering up or failing to discover and pass along certain facts about the
killings. “The reporting of the incident up the chain of command was
inaccurate and untimely,” Col. Stewart Navarre said at a news conference at
Camp Pendleton. Capt. Lucas M. McConnell,
31, the Company K commander, was charged with dereliction of duty for
willfully failing to ensure a thorough investigation; Capt. Randy W. Stone,
34, a military lawyer for the Third Battalion, was charged with dereliction
of duty for failing to investigate suspected violations. A Marine intelligence
officer who was part of a team that photographed the aftermath of the
killings, Andrew A. Grayson, 25, was charged with dereliction of duty,
failure to ensure a thorough investigation, making a false official statement
and obstruction of justice. The murder charges against
the four enlisted marines are punishable by a maximum of life in prison and
dishonorable discharge, the Marines said. The charges filed against the four
officers carry significantly less potential prison time - two years for
Colonel Chessani and Captain Stone; six months for Captain McConnell; and
more than 10 years for Lieutenant Grayson - as well as the prospect of
dismissal and forfeiture of pay. Kevin B. McDermott, a
civilian lawyer for Captain McConnell, said his client had reported what he
knew of the Haditha episode to superiors and was not guilty of any crime.
Colonel Chessani, Captain Stone and Lieutenant Grayson could not be reached
for comment yesterday afternoon. None of the eight marines
charged entered a plea yesterday. Formal reviews, known as Article 32
hearings, to determine whether the charges warrant court-martial, could begin
next month, said Mr. Solis, the teacher of the law of war. Prosecutors may use the
hearings to lay out some of the evidence collected by two military
investigations - one into the killings themselves, and a second into the Marines’
investigation of them - and other physical evidence. That evidence is likely
to include detailed photographs of the dead taken by Lieutenant Grayson’s
intelligence unit after the killings; a videotape made by an Iraqi man
shortly after the killings that shows blood-spattered walls inside several
homes and statements from children who survived the assault; and a
surveillance video from a military drone that flew over the scene after the
attack. Archie Tse contributed
reporting. Correction: December 23,
2006 A front-page article
yesterday about murder charges brought against four marines for the killing
of two dozen civilians in the village of Haditha, Iraq, last year, misspelled
the hometown of one of them. Stephen B. Tatum is from Edmond, Okla., not
Edmund. External link: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/22/world/middleeast/22haditha.html Marine squad leader is focus
of Haditha murder case By Thomas Watkins Associated Press December 22, 2006 San Diego - Eight Marines
are charged in the deadliest criminal case to arise from the Iraq war, but it
was the actions of just one that prosecutors say led most directly to the
deaths of 24 unarmed civilians and a subsequent attempted cover-up. According to charging
documents, Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, killed 12 people and was responsible
for the deaths of six others in the Iraqi city of Haditha, telling three
other Marines under his command to "shoot first and ask questions later,
or words to that effect." After the killings, Wuterich
lied about the circumstances, prosecutors say. Besides Wuterich and his men,
four officers have been charged with failure to properly investigate the
incident. Wuterich's lawyer, Neal
Puckett, said prosecutors are eager to get a conviction in this high-profile
case and have set their sights on his 26-year-old client. Though all four
Marines charged with unpremeditated murder say they acted properly in a
combat situation, it's likely prosecutors will seek to pressure those who
served under Wuterich to blame him for the killings. In return for their
cooperation, charges could be reduced or dropped. "They work really hard
on the lesser actors to try to get them talk about the greater actors,"
Puckett said. "It's a common practice to flip the little guys against
the big guys." That is what happened
recently in a separate case at Camp Pendleton, when seven Marines and a Navy
corpsman were charged with kidnapping and murdering an Iraqi civilian in the
town of Hamdania. Four pleaded guilty in return for reduced charges and
prison sentences of less than two years. They have agreed to testify against
the others, who are awaiting trial. Military prosecutors are not
discussing the Haditha case, which has created a firestorm of controversy in
Iraq. Friends and relatives of those killed say the Marines indiscriminately
killed men, women and children. They want the troops to face harsh penalties,
with some calling for death. The four Marines charged
with unpremeditated murder could face life in prison if convicted. Prosecutors say Wuterich,
26, of Meriden, Conn., showed a "wanton disregard for human life,"
murdering six people in a home after "disregarding the requirement to
have positive identification prior to engaging a target." Afterward, they say, he told
his men to lie to investigators and himself gave a false statement when he
said his squad came under fire from four men in a car. Through their lawyers,
Wuterich and the others they say followed rules of engagement after a roadside
bomb killed one of their comrades. They say they came under small arms fire
from nearby houses and responded appropriately, using approved tactics to
eliminate the threat. Lawyers for two of the men
charged with Wuterich said their clients have no intention of cooperating
with prosecutors. "We're not seeking any
negotiations with the prosecution," said Jack Zimmerman, who represents
Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum. "He will not become a government witness,
because there's nothing to become a government witness about. We don't think
a crime was committed." Attorney Gary Myers, who
represents Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, offered a similar assessment. The
attorney for the fourth enlisted man charged, Lance Cpl. Sanick P. Dela Cruz,
could not be reached for comment. Prosecutors have their work
cut out because all the Marines seem to agree about the circumstances
surrounding the killings, said Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor
and judge who teaches law of war at Georgetown University Law Center. "I still foresee the
possibility for one of the accused offering to testify in return for
immunity, but in this case there isn't as much to reveal," Solis said. © 2006 AP Wire and wire
service sources. All Rights Reserved. External link: http://tinyurl.com/yahj5g Haditha defense seen focused
on Iraq battle chaos By Dan Whitcomb Reuters Friday, December 22, 2006; 5:11 PM Los Anegles - Attorneys
defending the U.S. Marines charged with murder in Haditha, Iraq, do not
dispute that 24 men, women and children were killed -- but are expected to
argue that the defendants have been made scapegoats for a sad reality of war:
civilians sometimes die. It is a defense theme that
first emerged earlier this year, months before four Marines were charged on
Thursday with murder and four others with dereliction of duty for the
November 2005 killings: that the civilians weren't shot in a
"massacre," but in the confusion of a frenzied battle against
insurgents. Iraqi witnesses claim that a
squad of Marines opened fire on the civilians in their homes after a popular
comrade, Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, was ripped in half by a roadside bomb
that exploded as his convoy rolled through Haditha, some 60 miles north of Baghdad. Defense lawyers counter that
the roadside bomb was only the beginning of a daylong battle against
insurgents, who fired on the Marines in some cases from nearby houses --
possibly including one of the homes where the civilians died. "After the (roadside
bomb) went off they engaged the way they were supposed to, and unfortunately
there were civilians there when they engaged," said Neal Puckett, an
attorney for Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, the 26-year-old squad leader who is
charged with the unpremeditated murder of 18 Iraqi civilians. "We will be able to
demonstrate that Staff Sgt. Wuterich followed the rules of engagement,"
Puckett said. "The tactics that were used, as the Marines understood
them, were what they were authorized to use." Attorneys for the accused
Marines also will likely mount a defense based on the rules of engagement
that they are required to follow in combat situations, arguing that the men
were expected to "clear" the homes where the unarmed men, women and
children were inside. The Marines, who are
fighting insurgents who do not wear uniforms and sometimes cannot be
distinguished from civilians, must make split-second decisions on when to
shoot and hesitating can cost them their lives, defense lawyers say. "He's a Marine. They're
in a war. That's what they are trained to do. He was following orders and
following the rules of engagement," said Jaclyn Sharratt, sister of
Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt. Sharratt, a 22-year-old
Pennsylvania native, is charged with the unpremeditated murder of three
civilians who appear from prosecution documents to be from the same family.
Also charged with unpremeditated murder are Lance Corporal Stephen Tatum, 25,
and Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, 24. All of the Marines who have
been charged are entitled to an Article 32 hearing, at which a military judge
would decide if there is enough evidence to convene a court martial. Those
hearings have not yet been set. The four defendants charged
with murder could be sentenced to life prison terms if they are convicted at
a court martial. None of the remaining four Marines facing dereliction of
duty charges are accused of taking part in the shooting and are likely to
argue that they reported the incident as best they understood it. © 2006 Reuters External link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/22/AR2006122200975.html |