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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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September 18th,
2007 - Charges Against Marine in Haditha Case Dropped News article by Agence
France Presse |
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Charges Against
Marine in Haditha Case Dropped By Agence France Presse September 18, 2007 Los Angeles - A Marine Corps
officer accused of failing to properly investigate the alleged massacre of 24
Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha has been cleared of wrongdoing, the
military said Tuesday. A statement released from
the Marines Camp Pendleton base in southern California said all charges
against Captain Lucas McConnell stemming from the Haditha investigation had
been dropped. The charges against
McConnell had been dropped following a ruling by Lieutenant-General James
Mattis, commander of the US Marine Corps Forces, who was last week named by
the Pentagon as head of the US Joint Forces Command. "(Mattis) determined
that administrative measures are the appropriate response for any errors or
omissions allegedly committed by McConnell," the statement said. McConnell was one of eight
Marines facing charges in connection with the Haditha killings in November
2005, the most serious allegations of war crimes against US troops serving in
Iraq. Four Marines were initially
charged with murder, while McConnell and three other officers were charged
with failing to properly investigate or report the circumstances surrounding
the killings. Prosecutors have alleged
that Marines went on a killing spree in the town west of Baghdad, shooting
unarmed men, women and children in retaliation for the death of a comrade in
a roadside bomb on November 19 2005. An initial press release
from Marines concerning the incident said that 15 civilians had been killed
in the bomb blast. However an investigation published by Time Magazine in
March 2006 reported that many of the civilian dead had died after being shot
at close range. As a result the Marines
launched two parallel investigations into the allegations - one focusing on
the circumstances surrounding the deaths, the other looking at how the
incident was investigated. Charges against eight
servicemen were announced last December. The various prosecutions of Marines
involved in the case have slowly unraveled however. McConnell and another
officer, Captain Randy Stone, have both had charges of failing to investigate
the killing withdrawn. Two soldiers originally
charged with murder in the case have also been cleared, while an
investigating officer has recommended that charges against a third soldier
are also dropped. That would leave only one
soldier, Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, facing murder charges in connection
with the deaths. In a separate development
earlier this month, a two star general and two other officers have been
sanctioned for laxness in investigating Haditha but were cleared of a
cover-up. The Marines said
"letters of censure" had been issued to the former commanding
general of the 2nd Marine Division, Major General Richard Huck, and two
colonels. Marine Commandant General
James Conway said the officers' "actions, their inactions, and decisions
in the aftermath of the Haditha incident did not meet the high standards we
expect of Marine senior officer leadership." External link: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iEfNN-eZ6Cd9KfTmUP4Pr0C0U4_Q Charges
dropped against officer in civilian slayings By Mark Walker North County Times September 18, 2007 Camp Pendleton - Charges
have been dropped against a Marine captain accused by prosecutors last year
of failing to investigate the deaths of two dozen civilians in the city of
Haditha in November 2005. The move leaves just two
officers and two enlisted men facing charges in the case. McConnell was charged with
two counts of dereliction and could have faced six months confinement and dismissal
from the service if he had been ordered to trial and convicted of the
charges, which were dereliction of duty charges. In dismissing the charges,
Lt. Gen. James Mattis approved a decision granting McConnell testimonial
immunity, meaning testimony at later trials for the other accused men cannot
be used against him. McConnell's attorney, Kevin
McDermott, confirmed the charges have been withdrawn but declined comment. In a statement issued this
afternoon, The Marine Corps said unspecified "administrative measures
are the appropriate response for any errors or omissions allegedly committed
by McConnell." The Haditha case caused an
international uproar when it became public in March of last year. A
subsequent investigation into how the civilians died following a roadside
bombing that killed a lance corporal and injured two other Marines led to
dereliction and related charges against four officers and murder charges
against four enlisted men. Hearings conducted at Camp
Pendleton this year led to dismissal of charges against one of the officers,
Capt. Randy Stone, and one of the enlisted men, Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt. Lt. Col. Paul Ware, the
investigating officer who presided over Sharratt's hearing also oversaw the
hearing for a second enlisted man, Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum. Ware has
recommended murder charges against Tatum also be dropped. A decision on that
recommendation is pending. Ware said there was
convincing evidence for each of those men to believe they were confronting
armed insurgents. Ware's recommendation in the
Sharratt case was upheld by Mattis, who presides over the Haditha prosecution
in his role as commander of Camp Pendleton's I Marine Expeditionary Force and
head of Marine Corps forces throughout the Middle East. Ware also presided over a
hearing for Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, the Kilo Company squad leader from
Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. That hearing concluded
earlier this month with Wuterich saying he did not believe he or his squad
did anything wrong in Haditha but that he mourned the civilian deaths. Wuterich, who faces 17
counts of murder, was leading his men squad on a resupply mission in Haditha
on the morning of Nov. 19, 2005, when one of four Humvees in their convoy was
destroyed by a roadside bomb, killing Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas and injuring
the two other Marines. Moments later, five men who
emerged from a car that drove up were killed by Wuterich and another Marine.
Wuterich said those men were running away when he knelt and shot them in the
belief they were insurgents responsible for the roadside bombing and possibly
carrying a bomb in their car. "The threat had to be
neutralized," he said during his hearing. Nineteen other Iraqis,
including six children and two women, would die in the next few hours as
Wuterich and his Marines stormed four homes after being order to take that
action by a Marine captain who was never charged in the case. According to
testimony during the hearings, the men were in search of the bomb triggerman
and those they believed were shooting at them. The man who commanded the
battalion in Haditha, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, is awaiting word on whether
he will face trial. The investigating officer who presided over his hearing
has recommended he face court-martial, finding that Chessani failed to
recognize that the large number of civilian deaths required more than a
cursory investigation. The fourth officer charged
in the case, 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson, is scheduled to have his hearing
sometime next month. The fourth enlisted man
charged with murder, Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, had five murder counts against
him dismissed in exchange for his testimony. Earlier this month, the
Secretary of the Navy issued letters of censure to three Marine officers who
weren't charged with wrongdoing at Haditha but were in the chain of command.
The letters that went to Maj. Gen. Richard Huck and Cols. Stephen Davis and
Robert Sokolosk said they had failed to carry out their duties. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/09/18/news/top_stories/1_1_000_15_07.txt |