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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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March 18th,
2008 - Marine Charged with Murder over Fallujah Death: Military News article by Agence France
Presse |
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Marine Charged with Murder
over Fallujah Death: Military By Agence France Presse March 18, 2008 Los Angeles - A third US Marine
has been charged with murdering a prisoner during fierce fighting in the
Iraqi town of Fallujah four years ago, military officials said Tuesday. Sergeant Ryan Weemer has
been charged with murder and dereliction of duty following a report by the
Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the US Marines announced from their
base at Camp Pendleton near San Diego, California. The charges relate to
Weemer's alleged involvement in the death of a detainee in Fallujah on
November 9, 2004. Another Marine from Weemer's
unit, Sergeant Jermaine Nelson, was charged with murder last year in
connection with the death of a detainee. A third soldier, Jose
Nazario, is being tried in civilian courts in California on manslaughter
charges in connection with the shooting deaths of two Iraqi prisoners.
Nazario, who denies the charges, is awaiting trial. While few details about the
Fallujah case have been revealed by the military, media reports said Marines
shot dead several Iraqi prisoners during the battle for the city. Newspaper reports have said
as many as eight insurgents were shot dead after being captured. Under
military law, the killing of a captured enemy combatant who does not pose a
threat is treated as murder. The probe is the third
high-profile war crimes case involving Marines from the corps' Camp Pendleton
base. Four Marines face charges
ranging from manslaughter to dereliction of duty in connection with the
killing of 24 Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha in November 2005. In a separate investigation,
seven Marines and a Navy medic have faced charges over the murder of an Iraqi
in the town of Hamdania in April 2006. Copyright © 2008 AFP. All
rights reserved. External link: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jJf7GPGmS9lYUF-wTHCNI4_t3NGQ Marine charged in 2004
insurgent killings He’s the third man accused in shooting of unarmed detainees Mark Walker North County Times March 18, 2008 Camp Pendleton - A reservist
who told the Secret Service that he knew of unlawful killings during a fight
for the city of Fallujah in 2004 has been charged with murdering an insurgent
detainee, the Marine Corps announced Tuesday. Sgt. Ryan Weemer is the
third man facing homicide charges in the incident that allegedly occurred
during the height of the battle for the insurgent-held city on Nov. 9, 2004. Weemer, an Illinois native,
was recalled to duty earlier this month and served with the charges on
Monday, officials said. Already facing charges in
the case are Marine Sgt. Jermaine Nelson and former Marine Sgt. Jose Nazario
Jr. Nazario's attorney, Kevin
McDermott, said he believed recalling Weemer from reserve status and charging
him with murder was an attempt to get Weemer to testify against his client
and Nelson in exchange for having the charges against him dropped. "They're trying to
squeeze a deal out of him," McDermott said of Marine Corps prosecutors
during a telephone interview Tuesday. "They don't have any forensic
evidence whatsoever, so they have to do something that will make their case
look halfway credible and convincing." Efforts to reach Weemer's
attorney, Paul Hackett of Ohio, were not immediately successful. The case emerged last year
after Weemer made his comments to a Secret Service interviewer during a job
interview, authorities have confirmed. The Secret Service reported what
Weemer said to the Justice Department, which in turn notified the Department
of the Navy. In August, the U.S. attorney
in Riverside County filed two counts of involuntary manslaughter against
Nazario for allegedly killing two of the detainees his Camp Pendleton squad
had captured. Nazario is being prosecuted
as a civilian under a little-used federal statute. The case is being handled
in civilian court because he was no longer subject to being recalled to
active duty as was Weemer. Nazario, who faces up to 10 years in prison if
convicted, is slated to go on trial in July. One month after Nazario was
charged, Sgt. Jermaine Nelson was charged with unpremeditated murder. Nelson
faces a hearing at Camp Pendleton within a few weeks to determine if the case
against him will move ahead to court-martial. In a heavily redacted
affidavit released last summer, Naval Criminal Investigative Service Special
Agent Mark Fox wrote that the investigation showed Nazario and other Marines
from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment's Kilo Company captured the
insurgents during house-to-house fighting. Fox alleged that Nazario
shot two insurgents in the head and directed Marines under his command to
shoot two other Iraqis. "Who else wants to kill
these guys, because I don't want to do it all myself," Nazario is quoted
as telling his Marines, according to the Fox affidavit. The affidavit also states
that Nazario told an unidentified Marine the squad needed "to take care
of them" so the unit could complete its assignment of moving to the city
center. "We can't be here all
day," he allegedly said. "You know what has to be done." A Marine Corps spokesman,
Lt. Col. Sean Gibson, said Tuesday the incident remains under investigation.
Neither Weemer nor Nelson is in custody and each must report for daily duty
at the Camp Pendleton, Gibson said. McDermott said prosecuting
the killing of unknown insurgents on the basis of a statement of one man
sends a dangerous message. "You would think in
this day and age of a 'CSI' nation that a statement alone would be
insufficient," he said, refererring to the popular TV crime drama.
"Since there is no statute of limitations, a grandfather could be
sitting around in 2028 talking about what his experiences were in Afghanistan
or Iraq in 2008 and wind up facing charges." Fallujah became a flash
point after insurgents ambushed and killed three Blackwater Security civilian
contractors, later hanging their corpses from a bridge in March 2004. U.S.
forces left the city shortly thereafter at the request of the Iraqi
government. Six months later, U.S.
troops returned and launched a massive fight to retake the city. The
resistance was overcome by late December and several Camp Pendleton Marines
were later honored with awards, including two Navy Cross citations for
valorous actions during the fighting. Ninety-five U.S. servicemen
were killed and more than 600 were wounded. An estimated 1,350 insurgents
were killed and 1,000 captured. While the military's rules
of engagement were loosened during the battle, the law of armed conflict
makes it a crime to kill captured enemy combatants. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/03/19/news/top_stories/14_29_963_18_08.txt |