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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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June 29th, 2006 - The Promotion
After Haditha |
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Time Magazine By Sally B. Donnelly/Washington Thursday, Jun. 29, 2006 As two investigations of the
alleged massacre in Iraq drag on, questions are raised over the promotion of
a Marine who is a focus of the probe Three officers have already
been removed from their posts in the wake of the allegations that U.S.
Marines killed 24 civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha. But while top-level
officials in the Marine Corps await the report from Army Maj. General Eldon
Bargewell, who is investigating the actions of the Marines and the chain of
command after the incident, the promotion of one of the Marines who is the
focus of the criminal investigation is drawing new scrutiny. Staff Sergeant Frank
Wuterich, the Marine who was the unit leader on the ground that day in
Haditha, was put on the Marine Corps list for promotion from sergeant to
staff sergeant in October 2005. Being put on the list, however, does not
ensure promotion; the Marine's commander must okay it first, and the Marine
Corps routinely holds up nominations or promotions if there is any reason to
question the actions of a Marine. Even a charge of "driving while
intoxicated," for example, can delay or derail a step up. Still, Wuterich, who has
over seven years in the Corps but was on his first combat duty in Haditha,
was officially promoted to the higher rank on January 1, 2006, six weeks
after the incident took place. That has led some Marine sources to suspect
there was at least a failure to report relevant details up the chain of
command. Others, including Wuterich's attorney, Neal Puckett, argue that
Wuterich acted appropriately under the rules of engagement in Haiditha and
that if his superior officers had suspected otherwise, Wuterich's promotion
would have been stopped. The Marine Corps has been
more careful with regard to two other promotions since Wuterich's. The Corps
has kept two senior officers - a major general and a colonel - who were in
command at the time of the incident, from moving into new positions until the
report from Army Major General is complete. Meanwhile, despite reports
that Bargewell's report would be delivered weeks ago, it appears that Lt.
Gen. Peter Chairelli, the ground commander in Iraq, who ordered up the
investigation, is still reviewing Bargewell's detailed report. "He is
going over it with a fine tooth comb," says one defense official.
"Given the interest in this case, everyone wants the first report to be
comprehensive and answer all the possible questions." The other inquiry into the
alleged Haditha massacre, being conducted by the Naval Criminal Investigative
Service, is not likely to reach its final conclusions until later this
summer. One problem slowing that probe is the refusal of Iraqi families to
allow the bodies of the victims to be exhumed. In some previous cases where
U.S. troops were under suspicion, Iraqi corpses have in fact been brought
back to Dover Air Force Base for US forensic specialists to examine. Navy
investigators are still trying to get the Iraqi families in the Haditha probe
to change their minds. External link:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1209345,00.html |