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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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April 29th,
2007 - General’s Testimony Sought at First Haditha Hearing |
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General’s Testimony
Sought at First Haditha Hearing By Mark Walker North County Times April 29, 2007 8:24 PM PDT North County - A Marine
general who was in Iraq when two dozen civilians were killed in Haditha in
2005 has been asked to testify at a hearing next week for an officer accused
of failing to properly investigate the incident. Maj. Gen. Richard Huck,
commanding general of the 2nd Marine Division based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.,
was in charge of troops in Haditha when the civilians died during an assault
by a group of Camp Pendleton Marines. Huck has been asked by the
defense to appear during an Article 32 hearing for Capt. Randy W. Stone, 34,
who was charged on Dec. 21 with two counts of dereliction of duty and
violation of a lawful order. Huck's appearance is
expected but has not officially been confirmed. Stone's lead attorney, Charles
Gittins of Middletown, Va., has said Stone should not have been charged with
any wrongdoing. "General Huck did not
believe there should have been an investigation, nor did the staff judge
advocate for the regiment," Gittins said during a telephone interview
from his office in Virginia. "My client was the lowest-level guy, and he
reported everything that he had been told." Gary Solis, a former Marine
legal officer who teaches military law at Georgetown University, said Sunday
that testimony from Huck could be critical to Stone's case. "If Gen. Huck explains
why he didn't order an investigation, it should help explain why Capt. Stone
took the actions he did," Solis said during a telephone interview.
"Any time a general is testifying, the hearing officer will pay close
attention, particularly because a general seldom appears in court cases for
either side." Stone's hearing will be the
first for the four officers and three enlisted men facing criminal charges in
the Haditha killings that took place following a roadside bombing that killed
a lance corporal the morning of Nov. 19, 2005. The other officers facing
charges similar to those of Stone are Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, Capt. Lucas
McConnell and 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson. The three enlisted defendants
who face homicide charges are Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich and Lance Cpls.
Justin Sharratt and Stephen Tatum. All the defendants are from Camp
Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment and were serving under Huck's
command. Gittins said Stone's hearing,
which starts a week from Tuesday in a Camp Pendleton courtroom, will last at
least four days and will include witnesses he believes will show Stone
followed proper procedures. "There was no
requirement that he should have done more," Gittins said. "I don't
think the people who made the charging decision thought it through - it seems
like they just threw everything at a dartboard." Marine prosecutors are
forbidden from commenting on pending cases. Stone was the battalion's
top legal adviser and the charges against him represent the first time a
legal officer has been accused of a crime arising out of his handling of a
battlefield report. Presiding over his hearing
will be Lt. Col. William Pigott, the top legal affairs officer at the Marine
Corps base in Yuma, Ariz. In addition to Huck, two
other Marine officers who were in Iraq when the killings took place are
expected to testify. Also expected to testify is Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, who
was among those charged by the Marine Corps on Dec. 21 but has since been
granted immunity. Dela Cruz was accused of
five counts of unpremeditated murder, but those charges were dropped earlier
this month in exchange for his testimony about the incident. At least eight Marines who
were part of the assault team or in the chain of command have been granted
immunity in the case, a step by prosecutors to ensure their testimony at the
upcoming hearings. An Army general who headed
an exhaustive review of the actions of Marine commanders in the wake of the
Haditha killings faulted Huck and others. "All levels of command
tended to view civilian casualties, even in significant numbers, as routine
and as the natural and intended result of insurgent tactics," the report
from Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell said. "Statements made by the chain of
command during interviews for this investigation, taken as a whole, suggest
that Iraqi civilian lives are not as important as U.S. lives, their deaths
are just the cost of doing business, and that the Marines need to get 'the
job done' no matter what it takes." On the day in question,
according to reports, five men emerged from a car that drove up minutes after
the bomb killed Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas. They were shot by the enlisted
men, who subsequently targeted a series of homes from which they believed insurgents
were firing. That action resulted in 19 additional deaths, including several
women and children. Stone, a native of Dunkirk,
Md., is currently assigned to work on manpower reserve issues for Marine
Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C. He has two appointed military
attorneys in addition to Gittins, who is a former Marine Corps legal officer. At the conclusion of his
hearing, Pigott will write a report to Lt. Gen. James Mattis on whether he
believes Stone should be ordered to court-martial or subject to some other
action which could include dismissal. Mattis is the convening
authority over the case as head of Marine Corps forces in the Middle East. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/04/30/news/top_stories/42907192637.txt |