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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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December 30th,
2006 - Documents Released in Haditha Slayings |
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Documents Released in
Haditha Slayings By Rick Rogers San Diego Union-Tribune December 30, 2006 A unit of Camp Pendleton
Marines used automatic weapons, a pistol and a grenade to kill 24 civilians
over three hours, then tried to tie all the deaths to combat action. Those accusations led to the
charges recently filed against four Marines in connection with an alleged
killing spree Nov. 19, 2005, in Haditha, Iraq. They also prompted charges
against four officers who are blamed for not thoroughly investigating the
incident, which could be the worst U.S. war crime since the Vietnam War's My
Lai massacre. This week, a defense lawyer
in the case gave The San Diego Union-Tribune what is believed to be the first
complete set of documents formally listing the charges. In matter-of-fact language,
they list murder and related charges against four enlisted Marines assigned
to the Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. They also identify
the victims and list their causes of death. Prosecutors say Staff Sgt.
Frank D. Wuterich, Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz, and Lance Cpls. Justin L.
Sharratt and Stephen B. Tatum used an assortment of weapons to attack the
Iraqis after their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, which killed Lance Cpl.
Miguel Terrazas and injured two other Marines. The documents are filled
with entries such as the following one for Sharratt, who is accused of
murdering three people. “In that Lance Cpl. Justin
L. Sharratt ... did at or near Haditha, Iraq, on or about 19 Nov. 2005 with
the intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm, murder a person identified
as Number 21 and believed to be Jasib Aiad Ahmed by means of shooting that
person with an M9 service pistol.” The other two victims linked
to Sharratt also have the surname Ahmed, suggesting they might have been
members of the same family. Less typical are the charges
brought against Wuterich, the highest-ranking service member present during
the Haditha incident. He faces 13 counts of murder, two counts of prompting
someone to commit an offense and one count of making a false official
statement. The Marine Corps'
accusations against Wuterich say, among other things, that “while engaging in
an act inherently dangerous to another and evincing a wanton disregard for
human life, (he did) murder six persons inside a house identified as House 1
by: advising the Marines under his charge, prior to the Marines' entry into
House 1, to 'shoot first and ask questions later' or words to that effect. ...
” Most of the carnage took
place in three homes near where the roadside bomb went off, according to the
military's investigations. The probes also show five men were shot to death
when their taxi approached the convoy after the explosion. Defense lawyers maintain
that their clients followed the military's rules of engagement in countering
insurgents who fired at them after the bomb blast. They described the
civilians' deaths as tragedies, not crimes. The Haditha killings came to
light when Time magazine began questioning the Pentagon about them in
January. The magazine's inquiries, followed by its publication of a story in
March, ignited a series of investigations that culminated in the filing of
charges on Dec. 21 against the enlisted Marines and four of their officers. The officers are Lt. Col.
Jeffrey R. Chessani, the battalion's commander, 1st Lt. Andrew A. Grayson and
Capts. Randy W. Stone and Lucas M. McConnell. They are accused of dereliction
of duty, violating a lawful order, obstruction of justice and other crimes
based on investigators' assertions that they didn't review the Haditha
incident sufficiently or report it to higher-ranking officials. Grayson also is accused of
lying about when he first saw some photos showing the dead victims, and of
ordering that the images be destroyed after naval investigators requested
them. External link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20061230-9999-7m30haditha.html |