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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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June 26th, 2006 - Guardsmen
Charged in Iraqi’s Death |
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Guardsmen Charged in Iraqi’s
Death By Joshua Partlow Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, June 26, 2006; Page A17 Baghdad, June 25 - Two
Pennsylvania National Guardsmen were charged in connection with the killing
of an unarmed Iraqi man in the restive western province of Anbar, the U.S.
military said Sunday. Spec. Nathan B. Lynn of the
National Guard 1st Battalion, 109th Infantry was charged with voluntary
manslaughter for allegedly shooting Gani Ahmad Zaben in the chest on Feb. 15
while Zaben was in front of his home near Ramadi, according to charges
released Sunday. Lynn, 21, of South
Williamsport, Pa., and another soldier, Sgt. Milton Ortiz, Jr., 36, of Islip,
N.Y., were also charged with obstructing justice for allegedly conspiring
with a third, unnamed person to plant an AK-47 next to Zaben's body to
suggest he was an insurgent, the military said. At the time, Lynn had been
providing security for an operation. Both soldiers were taken to
a Baghdad military base for a hearing to determine whether there is
sufficient evidence for court-martial proceedings. The announcement marked
the third time in a week that the U.S. military has charged troops in
connection with killings in Iraq. On Wednesday, Marine Corps
officials announced that seven Marines and one Navy corpsman had been charged
with murder and kidnapping in connection with the death in April of an Iraqi
man in a village west of Baghdad. The troops were part of Kilo Company, 3rd
Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. Four soldiers have been accused
of killing three men in their custody last month near Samarra, about 65 miles
north of Baghdad. In addition, inquiries are
ongoing into allegations that a Marine unit killed as many as two dozen Iraqi
civilians last November in Haditha, 125 miles northwest of the capital. U.S. military leaders have
vowed to remind troops of the rules and responsibilities of battle. The U.S. military also said
that Ortiz had been charged with an assault on March 8. In that incident, he
allegedly put an unloaded gun to the head of an Iraqi male civilian and said,
" 'I'm going to put you in Abu Ghraib for the rest of your life,' or
words to that affect," according to charging documents. U.S. and Iraqi forces have
recently stepped up operations in Ramadi in an attempt to pacify what has
become a stronghold for the Sunni Muslim insurgency. © 2006 The Washington Post
Company External link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/25/AR2006062500624.html |