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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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December 27th,
2006 - Wuterich Allegedly Ordered ‘Shoot First and Ask Questions Later’ |
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Wuterich Allegedly Ordered ‘Shoot
First and Ask Questions Later’ By Mark Walker North County Times December 27, 2006 North County - The man at
the center of accusations that Marines under his control murdered 24 Iraqi
civilians in Haditha last year ordered his troops to "shoot first and
ask questions later," according to a prosecution document. The document known as a "Charge
Sheet" alleges that Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich issued those orders
"or words to that effect" during the incident that took place on
Nov. 19, 2005. In doing so, Marine Corps
prosecutors further allege, the 26-year-old Connecticut native disregarded so-called
rules of engagement directives that required he "have positive
identification prior to engaging a target." The four-page document
obtained this week by the North County Times also accuses Wuterich of
directing a corporal charged in the case to lie by telling investigators that
Iraqi army members shot and killed four men who emerged from a taxi that
happened upon the scene. The corporal also was directed to falsely state that
he had ordered the men to stop running. The version of events laid
out in the document differs from a version Wuterich presented in a libel suit
he filed against U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., who last summer said the
Marines in Haditha had "killed in cold blood." In the lawsuit version,
Wuterich said the men in the taxi were "military-aged" and that the
car was "lingering" by the site. After they ignored commands to
stop, his lawsuit says, the four Iraqis were killed as part of a standard
procedure to "shoot suspicious people fleeing a bombing." Wuterich, charged with 13
counts of murder, two counts of soliciting another to commit an offense and
making a false statement, stands by what was in his lawsuit filed last
summer, said Mark Zaid, one of his two civilian attorneys, on Wednesday. "Our take is that any
differences go to the heart of what this case is all about and whether the
actions that were taken were appropriate," Zaid said during a telephone
interview. "The Charge Sheet is based on what others might have said,
and a great deal of this case will come down to what Sgt. Wuterich and the
other Marines were thinking." Charges and evidence Prosecutors this week sent
defense attorneys a computer disk containing thousands of pages of
investigative material, information that one lawyer said will take days, if
not weeks, to read and sort through. It was one week ago today
that the Marine Corps announced the results of a nine-month investigation
into what happened at Haditha. In addition to Wuterich, Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz
was charged with five counts of murder and one of making a false statement;
Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt was charged with three counts of murder; and Lance
Cpl. Stephen Tatum was charged with two counts of murder, four counts of
negligent homicide and one count of assault. Prosecutors also filed
criminal charges against four officers, the highest number of officers
accused of any wrongdoing in Iraq in a single incident since the U.S.
invasion in March 2003. Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani
was charged with failing to properly investigate what happened under his command
and two counts of dereliction of duty. Also charged was the 3rd
Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment's legal officer at the time, Capt. Randy
Stone, the first legal affairs officer ever charged with criminal acts in a
war setting, according to Gary Solis, a Georgetown University law professor
who spent more than two decades as a Marine Corps legal officer. Another accused officer is
Capt. Lucas McConnell, the man commanding the Kilo Company squad that
included Wuterich and the other enlisted defendants. McConnell is charged
with two counts of dereliction of duty. The fourth officer indicted
in the Haditha killings is platoon commander 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson, accused
of two counts of dereliction of duty, and one count each of obstruction of
justice and making a false statement. Jack Zimmerman, a
Texas-based attorney who is representing Tatum, said Wednesday that analyzing
the government's case and the hundreds of interviews, reports and related
documents it has now provided will be a painstaking process. "It took the government
and all its lawyers nine months to investigate and put together its case. No
reasonable person should expect we can digest all the information very
quickly." Victims and discrepancies In a release distributed to
reporters last week, the Marine Corps identified 21 Iraqis who died at
Haditha. While the Marine colonel who announced the charges said last week
that there were 24 victims, three of them remain unidentified, a discrepancy
that neither the Marine Corps nor defense attorneys was immediately able to
address Wednesday. "The charges that have
been preferred reflect the deaths that are supported by the investigation at
this point," a statement issued by the Marine Corps said. "The
investigation is ongoing and there is always the potential for additional
charges." That is one of the many discrepancies
that attorney Zaid said will go to the heart of his client's defense, and
likely those of the other seven defendants, none of whom is confined as a
result of a decision by Lt. Gen. James Mattis, commander of Marine Corps
forces in Iraq and the "convening authority" over the Haditha case. According to Wuterich and
the other Marines at Haditha, the incident began when a convoy of four
Humvees was passing through the city at about 7:30 a.m. A massive explosion
from a bomb embedded in the road destroyed one of the Humvees, killing
20-year-old Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas of El Paso, Texas. A short time later, the
Marines said, they began taking small-arms fire, prompting an eventual
storming of nearby homes where most of the Iraqis were killed. "There is no dispute
now that the Marines came under fire," Zaid said, pointing to the Marine
Corps release announcing the decision that confirmed that aspect. "So
what Congressman Murtha has said is now completely unsubstantiated." As a result of the bombing
and small-arms fire, Zaid said the rules of engagement will be a key factor
in the case. "They were absolutely
following the rules as they understood them to be," Zaid said of his
client and the other enlisted Marines. "I don't represent murderers, and
I don't believe Sgt. Wuterich is a murderer." Grayson called victim of politics Joseph Casas, a San Diego
attorney who represented a Marine private accused in the kidnapping and death
of a retired Iraqi policeman in April (an unrelated case involving a different
Camp Pendleton unit), has been retained to represent Grayson in the Haditha
case. Casas said he believed the
Marine Corps was pressured to charge the officers in the Haditha case because
of the worldwide outrage expressed when the incident came to light. "It is clear that
military investigators, evidently bowing to political pressure, were on a
witch hunt to find a cover-up," Casas said Wednesday. "1st Lt.
Grayson is a consummate Marine. He is saddened that the Marine Corps has
targeted him, but he is confident that the military justice system will
confirm his innocence." Casas, who represented Pfc.
John Jodka III in the unrelated April kidnapping and killing of the former
Iraqi policeman in the village of Hamdania, said Grayson had been recommended
for a Bronze Star with combat distinguishing marker for his actions in Iraq
last year. That award has been put on
hold pending the outcome of the case against Grayson. "Based on my
conversations with 1st Lt. Grayson regarding the Haditha incident and my
initial review of the facts and evidence, I am unequivocally convinced that
military investigators barked up the wrong tree with this Marine
officer," Casas said. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/12/28/news/top_stories/1_04_5712_27_06.txt |