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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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May 28th,
2008 - Marine Heads to Trial on Obstruction Charges News article by the Associated
Press |
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Marine Heads
to Trial on Obstruction Charges By Chelsea J. Carter Associated Press May 28, 2008 Camp Pendleton, Calif. - A
court-martial has started in California for a Marine intelligence officer on
charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements in the killings
of 24 Iraqis. A closed-door hearing on
motions kicked off the proceeding for 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson. Jury selection
was to begin later Wednesday. Authorities maintain that
eight Marines killed the Iraqis shortly after a roadside bomb hit a convoy,
killing the driver of a Humvee and wounding two Marines. Grayson says he did nothing
wrong. He wasn't present for the 2005 killings in Haditha but is accused of
telling a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead from his digital camera. External link: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hNUaTPsL6OBHarjCDUGxJ0EYsm9AD90UQQ3G6 Court-martial
begins for Marine in Haditha case By Rick Rogers San Diego Union-Tribune May 28, 2008 Camp Pendleton –
Court-martial started Wednesday at Camp Pendleton for a lieutenant accused of
obstructing justice and making false statements after a squad of Marines
killed 24 people in Haditha, Iraq. Jury selection is taking
place in the trial for 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson, 27, who faces up to 25 years
in prison and dismissal from the Marine Corps if he is convicted. Grayson was an intelligence
officer with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment at the time of the
Haditha incident, which took place Nov. 19, 2005. A roadside bomb struck a
convoy from the battalion that day, killing a Marine and injuring two others.
Afterward, a squad led by Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich killed 24 men, women and
children in the vicinity of the blast. Wuterich is slated to be
court-martialed on charges such as murder and making false official
statements. Prosecutors said he and other Marines killed the Iraqis out of
revenge, while the troops have maintained that they were engaged in combat
and couldn't avoid killing some civilians. Grayson and Lt. Col. Jeffrey
Chessani, commander of the battalion, allegedly failed to properly
investigate the Haditha deaths. They have said there was no reason to doubt
what Wuterich and his men described as a legitimate battle in Haditha, long
known to be an insurgent-filled town. In particular, Grayson is
accused of ordering a Marine to destroy evidence showing that women and
children were among the Iraqis killed by troops Nov. 19, 2005, in Haditha. He
also is charged with trying to fraudulently leave the military once the
government started investigating the Haditha incident in 2006. External link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20080528-1332-bn28grayson.html |