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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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December 4th,
2008 - Detainee Killings Were for Revenge, Witnesses Testify |
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Detainee Killings
Were for Revenge, Witnesses Testify Statements allege link between deaths of 4 Iraqis to U.S. soldiers By Seth Robson Stars and Stripes December 4, 2008 Vilseck, Germany - A company
first sergeant told his men that four Iraqi detainees were killed to avenge
the deaths of three members of his unit, according to soldiers who testified
at an Article 32 hearing Wednesday. It was Sgt. Joseph P. Mayo
of the 172nd Infantry Brigade, who appeared at the Rose Barracks courthouse
on Wednesday on charges of premeditated murder. But it was 1st Sgt. John E.
Hatley who was the subject of much of the testimony. Mayo, Hatley and Sgt.
Michael P. Leahy Jr. - then members of Company A, 1st Battalion, 18th
Infantry Regiment - allegedly shot the detainees before dumping their bodies
in a Baghdad canal in March or April 2007. Several members of the
company who were at the canal when the killings occurred testified during the
hearing after making deals with the government that grant them immunity from
prosecution. Pfc. Joshua Hupp said he was
at the canal but didn’t see who pulled the trigger because he was on a
security detail. When the soldiers returned
to their combat outpost, Hatley approached them and said: "This was for
a few of our comrades who have fallen," he said. Sgt. Daniel Evoy, who
witnessed the execution of one of the Iraqis through the hatch of his Bradley
fighting vehicle, said three Company A soldiers - Sgt. Mario Kawika De Leon,
Spc. Marieo Guerrero, and Staff Sgt. Karl O. Soto-Pinedo - were killed in
action near the time of the incident. "I think the first
sergeant got hit hard by Staff Sgt. Soto being killed. He was pretty much his
go-to guy. I think Hatley had resentment towards those guys (the
detainees)," he said. Hupp said Hatley told him to
get rid of evidence in the back of the Bradley. "There were zip cuffs
and pieces of cloth in the back. I threw them in a burn barrel. I was scared.
I was in Iraq. You didn’t know how high it went," he said, adding that
he was afraid of Hatley, the most powerful person at the combat outpost. In a statement investigators
read to the court Hupp said he was scared and afraid that Hatley would
"[expletive] me up." Spc. Justin Lamanna, who
also heard the execution shots, said Hatley later asked him if he had a
problem with what happened. "I told him ‘no.’ I’m
not sure I grasped the situation at the time. I went back to see if Hupp
needed help getting the stuff out of the back of the Bradley. There were
drops and splatters of blood on the ramp. I cleaned it up," he said. Lamanna said he talked about
the incident with Evoy during guard duty months later. "We talked about the
moral issues and whether we saw anything wrong. I personally believe there
are certain things that are reserved for war that may not be good in peaceful
times. We are trained to stay alive and the way you do that is to kill before
being killed," he said. Mayo’s Article 32 hearing is
scheduled to continue on Thursday. External link: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59199 |