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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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July 24th,
2007 - Marine: “I didn't know there was women and children in that house” |
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Accused Marine: “I didn't
know there was women and children in that house” By Teri Figueroa North County Times July 24, 2007 2:01 PM PDT Camp Pendleton - With his
voice breaking as he spoke, a Marine accused of gunning down civilians in an
assault on a Haditha home said Tuesday he didn't know he was shooting at
women and young children. "I didn't know there
was women and children in that house until later," Lance Cpl. Stephen
Tatum said in a hushed courtroom. "Otherwise, I would have physically
stopped everybody in that room from shooting." Tatum, who is accused of
killing six Iraqis, said testimony that he knew his targets were children was
false. His unsworn statement was made on the final day of testimony in a
military hearing to determine if he should face trial for murder and other
charges. "I'm not comfortable
with the fact that I might have shot a child," Tatum said. "I don't
know if my rounds impacted anybody. That is a burden I will have to
bear." Tatum and two other enlisted
Marines - Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich and Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt - face
homicide charges in what has become the largest war crimes prosecution to
come out of Iraq since the U.S. invaded that country in 2003. Twenty-four Iraqis,
including children under five, died in the moments after a roadside bomb
shredded a Humvee in a convoy of Marines passing through a residential area
not long after sunrise on Nov. 19, 2005. The accused Marines said they were
the target of enemy gunfire from nearby homes right after the explosion, and
they entered homes in pursuit of their attackers. Prosecutors allege troops raided
the homes and killed civilians in retaliation for the explosion, which killed
a lance corporal and injured two other Marines. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/07/24/news/top_stories/1_10_217_24_07.txt |