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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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May 9th,
2007 - Officer Says Civilian Toll in Haditha Was a Shock |
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Officer Says Civilian Toll
in Haditha Was a Shock By Paul von Zielbauer New York Times May 9, 2007 Camp Pendleton, Calif. - The
only Marine Corps officer who was in Haditha, Iraq, when American troops
killed 19 civilians in their homes in 2005 testified at a military hearing on
Tuesday that he was “shocked” to find only unarmed people, including women
and children, among the dead. But he said the marines had not violated any
law of war. The officer, First Lt.
William T. Kallop, said that soon after the killings, he inspected one of the
homes with a Marine corporal, Hector Salinas, and found women, children and
older men who had been killed when marines threw a grenade into the room. “What the hell happened, why
aren’t there any insurgents here?” Lieutenant Kallop testified that he asked
aloud. “I looked at Corporal Salinas, and he looked just as shocked as I
did.” Lieutenant Kallop, a platoon
leader, was the first witness called by lawyers for Capt. Randy W. Stone, one
of four Marine officers charged with dereliction of duty for failing to
properly investigate the deaths of two dozen civilians in Haditha on Nov. 19,
2005. The hearing, in a Marine Corps courtroom here, is meant to determine
whether there is sufficient evidence against Captain Stone to refer the
charges to a general court-martial. As Captain Stone and his
three lawyers sat quietly at the defense table, a Marine prosecutor spent
most of the day cross-examining Lieutenant Kallop about the actions of Staff
Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, the Marine squad leader whom Lieutenant Kallop had
ordered to “clear” an Iraqi home in Haditha after a roadside bomb had killed
a Marine lance corporal earlier that morning. Sergeant Wuterich is charged
with multiple counts of murder in connection with the killing of the
civilians that day. “Did he tell you that he had
left two wounded children in that house?” the prosecutor, Lt. Col. Sean
Sullivan, asked Lieutenant Kallop, referring to Sergeant Wuterich. “Did he
tell you that he had killed a child? Did he tell you that there was a woman
at the bottom of the stairs that they had killed?” Lieutenant Kallop, who is
not charged in the case and testified after being given immunity from
prosecution, replied to each question with a firm “No, sir.” “Did he say anything,”
Colonel Sullivan later asked, “about the five children in the back bedroom
being killed on the bed” in the second house? Lieutenant Kallop again
answered no. A hearing for Sergeant
Wuterich, who was not present, is more than a month away. In addition to Captain
Stone, the other Marine officers charged in the case are Capt. Lucas M.
McConnell, the company commander; First Lt. Andrew A. Grayson, a Marine
intelligence officer who inspected the scene of killings; and Lt. Col.
Jeffrey R. Chessani, the battalion commander, who sent an electronic slide
show presentation of the killings to his superiors. None of the four officers
was present during the explosion of the roadside bomb and the subsequent
civilian killings by marines. Despite the number of
civilians killed by marines that morning in Haditha - five men who ran from a
car, and then another 19 people in their homes after Lieutenant Kallop
arrived - he testified Tuesday that he believed his men had acted
appropriately and according to their training. He said Sergeant Wuterich
had told him that they had killed people in one house after approaching a
door to it and hearing the distinct metallic sound of an AK-47 being prepared
to fire. “I thought that was within
the rules of engagement because the squad leader thought that he was about to
kick in the door and walk into a machine gun,” Lieutenant Kallop said.
“Corporal Salinas told me the same thing.” Later he added, “I had no
doubt in my mind that they were telling the truth.” Moreover, Lieutenant Kallop,
who arrived in the town after the roadside bomb had killed Lance Cpl. Miguel
Terrazas, said his platoon had been told that Haditha was “an
insurgent-controlled-and-occupied city.” External link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/world/middleeast/09haditha.html Marine says had sought probe
of Haditha killings By Marty Graham Reuters 9 May 2007 Camp Pendleton, Calif., - A
U.S. Marine sergeant who pressed for a probe almost immediately after U.S.
forces killed 24 Iraqi civilians in November 2005 testified on Wednesday that
he was "frustrated" by the apparent indifference of his commanding
officers. "We deserve an answer
to what happened and I wasn't happy with the answers I was getting," 1st
Sgt. Albert Espinosa told a military court. "That's why I kept going
back to Capts. (Lucas) McConnell and (Randy) Stone." Espinosa testified at U.S.
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, where a military tribunal is examining
evidence against one of the seven Marines facing charges related to the
killings at Haditha in the Anbar province. Three Marines have been
charged with murder, and four officers with dereliction of duty and
obstructing the investigation. The Marine Corps initially
said the deaths came from a firefight with insurgents. Reporting by Time
magazine in January 2006 prompted the Marine Corps to investigate the
killings. Wednesday's hearing reviewed
evidence against Capt. Randy Stone, 34, who served as the legal advisor for
the Kilo Company. Stone is charged with violating an order and two counts of
dereliction of duty in connection with the killings. A few months before the 2005
killings, Bush singled out Stone for praise in a speech marking the 60th
anniversary of the victory over Japan in World War Two. Stone, 34, now faces
a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a dishonorable discharge. On Nov. 19, a convoy of
Marines from the Kilo Company was traveling through the town of Haditha when
a roadside bomb detonated, killing one Marine and injuring two others.
Surviving Marines stopped a car and shot its five occupants, then swept
through two houses, killing the people within. Prosecutors contend it was
revenge for the death of the popular Marine, while the Marines involved say
it was a clearing operation, conducted under lawful orders that had
disastrous results. On Tuesday, Lt. William
Kallop, who led the first rescue team to come to the aid of the Marines after
the bombing, testified he told Sgt. Frank Wuterich to clear two houses near
the bomb site because the Marines suspected the bomb had been triggered from
the houses and that insurgents were hiding within. External link:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N09297512.htm |