Posted on 06/10/2006 7:14:36 PM PDT by saquin
A sergeant who led a squad of Marines during the incident in Haditha, Iraq, that left as many as 24 civilians dead said his unit did not intentionally target any civilians, followed military rules of engagement and never tried to cover up the shootings, his lawyer said.
Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, 26, told his attorney that several civilians were killed Nov. 19 when his squad went after insurgents who were firing at them from inside a house.
[...]
A corporal with the unit leaned over to Wuterich and said he saw the shots coming from a specific house, and after a discussion with the platoon leader, they decided to clear the house, according to Wuterich's account.
"There's a threat, and they went to eliminate the threat," Puckett said.
[...]
Although it was almost immediately apparent to the Marines that the people dead in the room were men, women and children -- most likely civilians -- they also noticed a back door ajar and believed that insurgents had slipped through to a house nearby, Puckett said.
[...]
At one point, they saw a man in all-black clothing running from one of the houses they had searched. The Marines killed him, Puckett said.
They then noticed another man in all black scurrying between two houses across the street. When they went to investigate, the Marines found a courtyard filled with women and children and asked where the man was, Puckett said.
When the civilians pointed to a third house, the Marines attempted to enter and found a man with an AK-47 inside, flanked by three other men; the first Marine to enter tried to fire his weapon, but it jammed, Puckett said. The Marines then killed those four men.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Why, TERRORISTS of course. They are a breed all their own, doncha know.
LOL!!!
I feel like I am riding a surfboard over the waves of the Media...We get good news about Iraq, I'm flying. then comes the MSM and Libs and Lefties..smash! my surfboard dips down!
Now again my surfboard is fling high!
That's exactly what he is for going off half cocked for political gain. He is the lowest of the low.
Youth are innocent, naive, easily persuaded or deceived.
Those adults in charge of the dem/lib/commie movement are deceitful, mendacious, scheming or treacherous.
Some children do grow up and abandon their false idealism. I did, now I'm here at FR.
This thing is unraveling - if the WaPo is running this...well, Murtha's 15 minutes of fame is over.
Glad you made and are here with us now. ;*)
Personally, I reserve judgment until all the facts are in - but the allegations are quite serious and, while there are disparate strands of evidence, much of the evidence lends credence to the allegations.
Let the system work - but let's not pretend that the self-serving, exculpatory statement made by a defendant through his lawyer carries much weight.
The Marines are innocent.
I've seen no evidence to the contrary.
Details are coming out from a variety of sources.
Do you know the difference between concealment and cover, and why that difference makes a huge difference?
So you see it speaks to the shrillness and deperation to capture power through the naivete of youth, and indeed those who never grew up, and yet vote.
Scary, huh?
I'm hoping the investigators and officers conducting this thing do not give in to the pressure from the DemocRATS and the MSM for "heads to roll." The 'RATS and the "media" are having a feeding frenzy. They are demanding American blood.
Anything these Marines will have to say carries A LOT more weight with me than anything al-Murtha or the jihad-journalists may say. Yes, of course, we have to see where the investigation goes and what facts emerge, but the statements in this article are not insignificant.
I am a female civilian and would appreciate knowing the difference between concealment and cover and how that makes a huge difference in this instance.
Any explaination of how the UCMJ and the ROE fit in here would also be appreciated.
While I believe the Marines and find the self-service to be obviously on the part of the Iraqis presenting the video and in the various coached and formulaic responses from the so-called witnesses, I have found the reports that the troops are kept shackled very disturbing. If you can explain that, I would appreciate it, also.
Thanks.
I think "shackled" is a figure of speech. I suspect a few of the accused troops might be detained. I wouldn't agree even with that.
Concealment means that you're hidden from a bullet. Cover means that you're protected from a bullet by some type of obstacle.
A house is concealment and not cover. Bullets go right through walls....contrary to every cop, cowboy, and war movie you've ever seen.
If the firefight was against terrorists using someone's house to fire from, then the death of occupants in that house, other than the terrorists, should not be at all surprising.
The soldiers, as defendants, are interested witnesses. That calls their credibility into question.
Wait till all the evidence is in - and let's not jump to conclusions based upon the statements of the defense. Just as Murtha's agenda calls into question the veracity of his assertions, so does the defense's agenda (keeping their butts out of jail) call into question their credibility.
The JAGs will sort this out. In the interim, the USMC has done exactly what they should do - acting as though the allegations are true, they are shoring up their training to reiterate rules of engagement and counter-insurgency behavior. The USMC has acted responsibly here.
Me too. That tells me the USMC brass takes these allegations seriously, and this is not just media hype.
A. Concealment means you are not in sight-but open to bullets
Cover means something between you and the shooter that will stop bullets.
If the Media bothered to learn anything about how the UCMJ works, they would understand that once the Article 32 is requested, NOBODY can say anything. Especially senior generals because it would taint the investigation and the technical term is "undue command influence." Of course, they don't care about the rights of Marines. They just care about he terrorists right in Gitmo.
ROE-basically, our no-spined Administration has the Marines and our military following rules that Police officers here have to obey: You can not use deadly force unless you are able to articulate that you perceive deadly force is about to be applied to you.
Unfortunately, the allegations are of a door-to-door roundup where women, children, and elderly were deliberately killed - NOT of cross-fire.
While I agree that the MC has acted properly so far, I also think these Marines are innocent.
Any Marine Corps member who thinks otherwise is not eligible to sit on the Court Martial.
ALLEGATIONS--From Who? Not our side.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.