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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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April 7th,
2007 - Marine with Local Ties Faces Hearing |
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Marine with Local Ties Faces
Hearing By Cindi Lash Pittsburgh Post-Gazette April 7, 2007 A U.S. Marine with ties to
Western Pennsylvania will be the first of eight Marines to have a hearing on
charges filed after an incident in which 24 Iraqi civilians were killed in
the town of Haditha. The military hearing for
Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt, who is charged with three counts of
unpremeditated murder, is scheduled for April 17 at Camp Pendleton, Calif.,
said his mother, Theresa Sharratt of Canonsburg. Known as an Article 32
hearing, the proceeding is similar to a preliminary hearing and is held to
determine if sufficient evidence exists to warrant a court-martial. In December, Cpl. Sharratt,
22, of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, was accused of fatally shooting three
Iraqi men with a service pistol after a Marine in his convoy was killed
during an ambush on Nov. 19, 2005. He was one of four Marines charged with
unpremeditated murder in the biggest U.S. criminal case involving civilian
deaths in the Iraq war. His squad leader was charged
with 12 counts of murder and a separate count of ordering other civilians
killed. Four officers also were charged with failing to investigate and
report the killings. If found guilty, Cpl.
Sharratt could face up to life in prison. The Marine Corps is not seeking the
death penalty in any of the cases. He remains at Camp Pendleton, where his
mother said he is working and his movements are not restricted. Cpl. Sharratt, whose parents
are natives of Washington County, was born in Washington and lived as a child
in North Huntingdon. His family later moved to Granger, Ind., where he
graduated from high school and joined the Marines in 2003. He has declined to comment
on the charges. His family has maintained he "followed the rules of
engagement" and did nothing wrong in Haditha. An investigation of the
Haditha incident became public last year after Time magazine conducted
interviews in Iraq and reported that the killings were deliberate attacks and
not unintended casualties, as the Marines originally contended. The incident
attracted further attention when U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, said
Marines in Haditha killed civilians "in cold blood" and tried to
cover up those actions. External link: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07097/776025-84.stm |