|
The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
|
July 15th,
2007 - Marine Says Beatings Urged in Iraq |
|
Marine Says Beatings Urged
in Iraq Witness testifies that officers told troops to ‘crank up the violence
level’ before the slaying of a civilian in Hamandiya. By Tony Perry Los Angeles Times July 15, 2007 Camp Pendleton - A Marine
corporal, testifying Saturday at the murder trial of a buddy, said that
Marines in his unit began routinely beating Iraqis after being ordered by
officers to "crank up the violence level." Cpl. Saul H. Lopezromo said
Marines in his platoon, including the defendant, Cpl. Trent D. Thomas, were
angry when officers criticized them as not being as tough as other Marine
platoons. "We're all
hard-chargers, we're not there to mess around, so we took it as an
insult," Lopezromo said. Within weeks of allegedly
being scolded, seven Marines and a Navy corpsman went out late one night to
find and kill a suspected insurgent in the village of Hamandiya near the Abu
Ghraib prison. The Marines and corpsman were from 2nd Platoon, Kilo Company,
3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment. Lopezromo said their target
was known to his neighbors as the "prince of jihad" and had been
arrested several times, only to be released by the Iraqi legal system. Unable to find their target,
the Marines and corpsman dragged another man from his house, fatally shot
him, and then planted an AK-47 assault rifle near the body to make it look
like he had been killed in a shootout, according to court testimony. Four Marines and the
corpsman, initially charged with murder in the April 2006 killing, have
pleaded guilty to reduced charges and been given jail sentences ranging from
10 months to eight years. Thomas, 25, from St. Louis, pleaded guilty but
withdrew his plea and is the first defendant to go to court-martial. "We were told to crank
up the violence level," said Lopezromo, who testified for the defense.
He indicated that during daily patrols the Marines became much rougher with
Iraqis. Asked by a juror to explain, he said, "We beat people,
sir." Lopezromo said he believed
that officers knew of the beatings, and he suggested that the order to get
tough soured him on the Marine Corps. Lopezromo, who was not part
of the squad on its late-night mission, said he saw nothing wrong in what
Thomas and the others did. "I don't see it as an
execution, sir," he told the judge. "I see it as killing the
enemy." He added that Marines, in
effect, consider all Iraqi men as part of the insurgency. "Because of
the way they live, the clans, they're all in it together," he said. In August, Lopezromo and two
other Marines were charged with assaulting an Iraqi two weeks before the
killing that led to charges against Thomas and the others. Charges against
all three were dropped. Thomas' attorneys have
portrayed him as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic
brain injury from his combat duty in Fallouja in 2004. Also, they have sought
to convince the jury that Thomas believed he was following a lawful order to
get tougher with suspected insurgents. Prosecution witnesses
testified that Thomas shot the 52-year-old Iraq at point-blank range after he
had already been shot by other Marines and was lying on the ground. Lopezromo said a procedure
called "dead-checking" was routine. If Marines entered a house
where a man was wounded, instead of checking to see whether he needed medical
aid, they shot him to make sure he was dead, he testified. "If somebody is worth
shooting once, they're worth shooting twice," he said. Marines are taught
"dead-checking" in boot camp, the School of Infantry at Camp
Pendleton, and the pre-deployment training at Twentynine Palms called Mojave
Viper, he said. Other Marines testified that
Thomas was emotionally shaken by the deaths of Marines during the fighting in
Fallouja in late 2004. After the death of Lance Cpl. George Payton, "he
broke down and cried, he was angry, the usual effect when you lose a
friend," Staff Sgt. Gage Coduto said. Coduto said many Marines had
difficulty adjusting to a change in the of rules of engagement from the
Fallouja battle to places such as Hamandiya. "It took a lot of
patience for guys to bring it down a notch," he said. The jury comprises three
officers and six enlisted personnel, all of whom have served in Iraq. The
trial resumes Monday. External link: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-marines15jul15,1,1868662.story |