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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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August 2nd, 2006 - Probe backs
allegations against Marines News article by the Associated Press |
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Probe backs allegations
against Marines By Robert Burns, AP Military Writer The Associated Press August 2, 2006 Washington - An initial U.S.
military probe supports allegations that American Marines deliberately shot 24
Iraqi civilians in Haditha last November, a Pentagon official said Wednesday. The Marine Corps and Navy
prosecutors are now reviewing the evidence to determine whether to recommend
criminal charges. That decision may be weeks away, and the lawyers may ask
investigators to probe further, two officials said. They discussed the matter on
condition they not be identified because the case - among the most
sensational of several involving Iraqi civilian deaths - has not yet produced
charges. "It's fair to say that
the majority of the work has been done," said a third official, Ed
Buice, spokesman for the Naval Criminal Investigation Service that is leading
the probe. "But it's impossible to predict how much longer the
investigation will take. It is very much open and ongoing." The case is open because
prosecutors and officers in the chain of command of the Marines being
investigated may consult with the naval investigation service even after any
charges are brought. A decision on whether to
press charges ultimately will be made by the commander of the Marines' parent
unit, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif. That
currently is Lt. Gen. John Sattler, but he is to move to a Pentagon
assignment soon. His successor will be Lt. Gen. James Mattis. Investigators conducted a
wide range of interviews with Marines in Iraq and with Iraqis in Haditha, but
they failed to obtain permission to exhume the bodies of the 24 who were
killed, two officials said. Nonetheless the probe did collect evidence from
the Marines and from the scene of the killings. The case is one of several
involving allegations of unjustified killings of Iraqi civilians that have
emerged this year, damaging the U.S. image abroad and triggering calls by some
Iraqi leaders to end the arrangement under which U.S. troops are immune from
prosecution by Iraqi authorities. The Marines initially
reported after the Nov. 19, 2005, killings at Haditha that 15 Iraqi civilians
had been killed by a makeshift roadside bomb and in crossfire between Marines
and insurgent attackers. Based on accounts from survivors and human rights
groups, Time magazine reported in March that the killings were deliberate
acts by the Marines. A criminal investigation was
then ordered by the top Marine commander in Iraq, Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer. A parallel investigation is
examining whether officers in the Marines' chain of command tried to cover up
the events. That probe, which has not been made public, faults some officers
for failing to pursue discrepancies in the initial reports about what
happened in Haditha and for not launching an early investigation. When asked about the matter
at a news conference Wednesday, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, said the cover-up probe's report was 3,000-4,000 pages long
and being reviewed by Army Gen. George Casey, the top commander in Iraq. Regarding the criminal
investigation, Pace described it as "ongoing" and said it would
remain so until military authorities have reviewed its results as well as the
findings and recommendations of the cover-up probe, "to make sure that
every single possible cross-thread has been looked at." Public attention on the
Haditha case grew after Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a former Marine, asserted on
May 17 that he had learned from Marine Corps officials that innocent Iraqis
had been killed "in cold blood." Lawyers for Staff Sgt. Frank
D. Wuterich, one of the Marines under investigation, argued in a lawsuit
filed Wednesday in federal court that Murtha falsely accused Wuterich of
murder and war crimes. The lawsuit maintains that Pentagon officials
"who have briefed or leaked information to Mr. Murtha deliberately
provided him with inaccurate and false information" and that the congressman
subsequently "has made repeated statements ... that are
defamatory." Murtha said Wednesday he
does not blame Wuterich for "lashing out." "When I spoke up about
Haditha, my intention was to draw attention to the horrendous pressure put on
our troops in Iraq and to the cover-up of the incident," Murtha said. Among the other recent cases
of alleged deliberate killings of Iraqi civilians, seven Marines and one Navy
corpsman have been charged with premeditated murder and other criminal acts
in connection with the killing of an Iraqi man in Hamdania on April 26. Also,
five soldiers and a former soldier have been charged in the alleged March 12
rape-slaying of a young Iraqi woman and the killings of her relatives in
Mahmoudiya. © Copyright 2006 Associated
Press. All rights reserved. External link: Marine Names Murtha in
Defamation Suit Congressman Discussed Killings Involving Serviceman's Squad in
Haditha, Iraq By Josh White Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, August 2, 2006; A05 A Marine Corps staff
sergeant who led the squad accused of killing two dozen civilians in Haditha,
Iraq, will file a lawsuit today in federal court in Washington claiming that
Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) defamed him when the congressman made public
comments about the incident earlier this year. Attorneys for Frank D.
Wuterich, 26, argue in court papers that Murtha tarnished the Marine's
reputation by telling news organizations in May that the Marine unit cracked
after a roadside bomb killed one of its members and that the troops
"killed innocent civilians in cold blood." Murtha also said
repeatedly that the incident was covered up. Murtha argued that the
questionable deaths of 24 civilians were indicative of the difficulties and
overpowering stress that U.S. troops are facing. The congressman, a former
Marine, has been a leading advocate for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq. In the court filing,
obtained by The Washington Post, the lawyers say that Murtha made the comments
after being briefed by Defense Department officials who "deliberately
provided him with inaccurate and false information." Neal A. Puckett and
Mark S. Zaid, suing for libel and invasion of privacy, also wrote that Murtha
made the comments outside of his official scope as a congressman. Telephone calls yesterday to
Murtha's office in Washington were referred to his district office in
Pennsylvania, and calls there were not returned. A Marine Corps spokesman
declined to comment yesterday on the Haditha investigation or the lawsuit. The suit could have
interesting legal ramifications because Wuterich and the other members of his
squad have not been charged and have not received any official investigative
documentation about the Nov. 19 incident. A Naval Criminal Investigative
Service investigation is expected to determine possible charges this summer,
said officials familiar with the case. Zaid said the filing is
designed partly to force Murtha to disclose what information he received from
the Defense Department and the Marine Corps commandant to form his opinion,
essentially trying to speed up the discovery process in a potential criminal
trial. "This case is not about
money; it's about clearing Frank Wuterich's name, and part of that is to
identify where these leaks are coming from," Zaid said in an interview.
"Congressman Murtha has created this atmosphere that has already
concluded guilt. He's created this environment that really smells, and he's
the only one who has done that." The move by Wuterich is
rare, as statements made by members of Congress generally are protected under
the "speech or debate" clause in Article I, Section 6, of the
Constitution. But legal experts said the clause grants immunity only for what
lawmakers say in legislative proceedings and does not apply to news releases,
speeches and other public comments. Rodney A. Smolla, dean of
the University of Richmond Law School and a libel expert, said yesterday that
Wuterich would have the burden of proving that he is innocent and that
Murtha's statements were false, but he added that the quotations appear to be
actionable in court. He said the suit shows that Wuterich probably thinks he
did nothing wrong. "Part of the subtext of
this is it's a showing of confidence and a preemptive strike of sorts,"
Smolla said. "The congressman's statement does not sound as if it is
merely hyperbole or opinion or name-calling. Instead, it conveys the idea
that the Marines violated professional standards and perhaps the law." Wuterich, through his
attorneys, has maintained his innocence and has said that the Marines killed
two dozen people that day because they were engaged in a firefight with
suspected insurgents. He told his lawyers that he and other Marines used
grenades and rifles to clear two houses they thought were hostile. Another
Marine's detailed account of the incident, obtained by The Post, corroborates
Wuterich's version. Donald Ritchie, associate
historian in the Senate Historical Office, said that such defamation suits
happen from time to time but that they tend not to go anywhere because of the
constitutional protections members have. He said the most famous case was in
1979, when the Supreme Court ruled that Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wis.) was
not protected when he made defamatory statements to constituents in a
newsletter. "The Supreme Court has
suggested that speech and debate has limits to it, and that makes people
vulnerable in certain areas," Ritchie said. Researcher Julie Tate
contributed to this report. © 2006 The Washington Post
Company External
link : http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/01/AR2006080101345.html |