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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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August 16th,
2007 - Mattis’ Actions Highlight Power of General to Decide War-Crime Cases News article by the Associated
Press |
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Mattis’ Actions
Highlight Power of General to Decide War-Crime Cases By Thomas Watkins Associated Press August 16, 2007 Los Anglees – In recent
months, the senior Marine commander on the West Coast has dismissed charges
against three troops implicated in the deaths of 24 Iraqis and reduced the
sentences of three others in the kidnapping and murder of an Iraqi man. Lt. Gen. James Mattis'
actions in two of the war's highest-profile criminal cases underscore one of
the wildcards in the military justice system: the sweeping powers of a
commanding general to decide the fate of those accused of war crimes. Mattis, who commands the 1st
Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton in Southern California, decided
who was charged, who got immunity, who will stand trial and, in the case of
convictions, whether clemency should be granted. His decisions were cheered
by those who believe the troops were pursued unfairly by overzealous military
prosecutors. But critics said the moves reflected how the justice system is
tilted toward the accused, particularly in cases arising from battlefield
actions. Tom Donnelly, a security
analyst specializing in defense issues at the conservative American
Enterprise Institute, said Mattis' rulings are rooted in his wartime
experience, which includes back-to-back visits to Afghanistan and Iraq. “He's a Marine's Marine,”
Donnelly said. “He would well understand the individual pressures that any
soldier or Marine would be subject to in fighting in an irregular conflict.” Mattis' spokesman, Lt. Col.
Chris Hughes, said the general had spent many months in Iraq's Al Anbar
province since 2003. “This (war) is tough and he
recognizes that,” Hughes said. Mattis is currently in Iraq and was
unavailable for comment. Mattis' combat views have
pushed him into the public eye before. In 2005, speaking in San Diego, he
said: “It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right upfront with you, I like
brawling.” He was told by the
commandant of the Marine Corps to choose his words more carefully, but was
not disciplined. Gary Solis, a former Marine
Corps prosecutor and judge who teaches law of war at Georgetown University
Law Center, said the general is uniquely positioned to understand Marines
accused of crimes. “Of course he has sympathy
for them,” Solis said. “The question is whether that sympathy extends to
being a critical factor in releasing them.” In the first case, eight men
were charged with murder or dereliction of duty in the deaths of 24 civilians
in Haditha. In the other case, seven Marines and a Navy corpsman were accused
of kidnapping and murdering an Iraqi man in Hamdania. The Haditha victims died
when a Marine squad launched a house-to-house assault following a roadside
bomb blast that killed a Marine driver. Of four enlisted Marines
accused of murder, Mattis let prosecutors drop charges against Sgt. Sanick
Dela Cruz and give him immunity to testify. Mattis last week dismissed
charges against another rifleman, Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, and a Marine
lawyer, Capt. Randy Stone, after officers who reviewed evidence recommended
against sending them to courts-martial. In his decision to dismiss
charges against Sharratt, Mattis acknowledged the challenges faced by Marines
in Iraq. “Our nation is fighting a
shadowy enemy who hides among the innocent people, does not comply with any
aspect of the law of war and routinely draws fire toward civilians,” Mattis wrote. In the Hamdania case, seven
Marines and a Navy corpsman were accused of kidnapping the Iraqi man,
marching him to a ditch and fatally shooting him. Five of them pleaded guilty
to reduced charges; the others were convicted. Mattis last week freed three
junior squad members. He said in a statement that he did so out of a sense of
fairness – two corporals who were convicted at courts-martial were given no
extra prison time and freed by military juries. Only the squad leader, Sgt.
Lawrence G. Hutchins III, who was convicted of unpremeditated murder, remains
in prison. Mattis met with him last week but took no action to reduce his
15-year sentence. Hutchins' congressman, Rep.
William Delahunt, D-Mass., recently appealed to Mattis for clemency. Spokesman Hughes described
Mattis as a scholar who has “more books than furniture,” many of which deal
with warfare, history and Middle Eastern culture. Mattis was born in Seattle
in 1950 and joined the Marines in 1972. Solis described Mattis as
“one of the finest combat leaders” in the U.S. military but said the
general's recent actions could send a mixed message. “On the one hand, he has
been aggressive in prosecuting, on the other, he has been merciful in
assessing the judgments that result from the prosecution,” Solis said. Generals frequently cut
sentences, Solis said. For instance, the general
overseeing the prosecution of Army Lt. William Calley, who in 1971 was
sentenced to life in prison for his role in the massacre of Vietnamese
civilians at My Lai, reduced Calley's sentence to 20 years. Calley ultimately served
only six weeks in the brig and three years under house arrest. The Marines who had their
sentences reduced were not pardoned. They will still have felony records. “That will follow them for
the rest of their lives,” Solis said. Tim Lynch, an attorney for
the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, said Mattis' actions might
reflect an institutional bias of Marines looking after their own. He said a
similar phenomenon is sometimes seen in police forces. “When there's an
officer-involved shooting, they bend over backward to give him the benefit of
all doubt,” Lynch said. “It is the same in the military.” External link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20070816-1402-ca-marines-powerfulgeneral.html |