Marine Charged With 13 Civilian Murder Counts (Haditha)

MSNBC ^ | 12/21/06

[areafiftyone]

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A Marine Corps squad leader was charged Thursday with 13 murder counts stemming from the killings of 24 civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha last year, his attorney said.

Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich was charged with 12 counts of murdering individuals and one count of murdering six people by ordering Marines under his charge to "shoot first and ask questions later" when they entered a house, according to charging sheets released by defense attorney Neal Puckett.

As many as eight Marines could be charged in the case, the biggest U.S. criminal case to emerge from the war in Iraq in terms of people killed.

The deaths occurred on Nov. 19, 2005.

Lawyers for two Marines already have said they expect their clients will be charged and it’s believed up to six others could join them.

[RedRover]

The Moonbats are Barking!

Think leftwingers are happy about the charges against our Marines? Nah! The commies want more!

According to the moonbats, Iraq was a land of peaceful human rights activists until we came along and removed their beloved leader.

I'm posting this piece for whatever insight or unintentional humor it may offer: Human Rights Advocates Not Satisfied with Haditha Charges

Aaron Glantz
OneWorld US
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 22

(OneWorld) - Human rights groups reacted with skepticism Thursday after military prosecutors charged eight Marines in the November 2005 killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in the western Iraqi town of Haditha.

The squad leader, Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, was among four Marines charged with murder. The other four soldiers charged were not believed to be present during the killings but were accused of failures in investigating and reporting the deaths.

"In these [U.S. military] courts, there is no voice for the victims," said Dr. Salam Ishmael. The Baghdad-based head of Doctors for Iraq was in Haditha last November when American soldiers allegedly went house-to-house killing two dozen civilians, including a 66-year-old woman and a 4-year-old boy.

"Not one of the victims' families is represented," he added. "No lawyer from the victims' families is represented. So you can see the basic idea of justice and fairness is actually not available."

Dr. Salam Ismael says many Iraqis would like to see the American soldiers brought to trial in Iraqi courts--a position shared by the country's elected prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has demanded an end to the immunity U.S. soldiers currently enjoy under Iraqi law.

"Why are you afraid of being ruled by the law of the country that you're supposedly trying to liberate?" he asked rhetorically. "That's the question--it's a simple question I would like to ask the American people."

International human rights groups have a different concern. They note that since the September 11th attacks five years ago, no officer above the rank of major has been charged in connection with torture or the abuse of detainees in U.S. custody.

In the Haditha case, the highest-ranking officer charged is a lieutenant colonel, who faces the relatively minor charge of dereliction of duty.

"Why isn't he being charged as a principal in the murder that the enlisted personnel are being charged for?" asked Human Rights Watch's John Sifton.

"The issue here is preventing future abuse from occurring and the best way to do that isn't to go after low-level enlisted personnel," Sifton said. "It's by sending a message to the officer corps that they need to prevent [abuses] and that's not going to happen if you just give officers a slap on the wrist."

Dr. Salam Ismael says the military needs to investigate more than the specific events that occurred in Haditha. He points to the current situation in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, where locals have asked the U.S. military to move their posts outside the city limits.

"There are three check points and nobody can go around them. It makes lots of people more miserable," he said. "Fighting is continuous. For about two weeks there were attacks near the hospital in the city itself and many of our doctors said they could not get their patients--many of them women and children--out of the city."

The Pentagon did commission a separate investigation into how the military command structure allowed the Haditha massacre to occur and go unpunished until it was revealed by a Time Magazine article months later.

The details of that investigation, headed by Army Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell, remain secret. But Bargewell told reporters earlier this year that while there appeared to be no cover up, senior Marine commanders failed to investigate when confronted with conflicting information.

According to journalist and foreign policy analyst Rahul Mahajan, "the entire ambiance in al-Anbar province was and still is such that this kind of atrocity was quite likely to happen--and when it did happen it could easily be ignored."

"Those kinds of things can't happen at low levels of the military," he said. "You're talking about large numbers of troops and so you're talking about command level staff."

[smoothsailing]

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE SURRENDER

Tip o' the hat to Impeach98. :-)

[pinkpanther111]

Uncle Jimbo's comments on intent;

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2006/12/haditha_revisit.html#comments

[pinkpanther111]

Wow Great Job on this!!!

[smoothsailing]

Good catch.

Of those charged, it is odd that officers not present and so therefore not shooters, are equal in number to the enlisted. It's just too neat. 4 officers, 4 enlisted.

Something is wrong with this picture.

[freema]

Summary Ping! Post #351 explains there are now hundreds of stories on the Haditha Marines. 99% of them are retreads of each other. It’s hard to keep up with the posts on this thread, let alone the news. So RedRover, jazusamo, pinkpanther111, smoothsailing, and I have a plan.

Rather than posting new threads that aren’t front page worthy, we’re going to use this as a main thread and post new information here.

If something big breaks, naturally that’ll get posted as an entirely new thread. Otherwise, we’ll send out Summary Pings like this one every couple/few days.
Some of the recently posted highlights on this thread you might otherwise miss are at #351.

That’s it for now. Please keep the posts and bumps coming. The families know we’re here.

[freema]

Summary Ping! Post #351 explains there are now hundreds of stories on the Haditha Marines. 99% of them are retreads of each other. It’s hard to keep up with the posts on this thread, let alone the news. So RedRover, jazusamo, pinkpanther111, smoothsailing, and I have a plan.

Rather than posting new threads that aren’t front page worthy, we’re going to use this as a main thread and post new information here.

If something big breaks, naturally that’ll get posted as an entirely new thread. Otherwise, we’ll send out Summary Pings like this one every couple/few days.
Some of the recently posted highlights on this thread you might otherwise miss are at #351.

That’s it for now. Please keep the posts and bumps coming. The families know we’re here.

[RedRover]

Not to mention that the only officer on the scene that morning is not being charged at all.

[smoothsailing]

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

[freema]

Dr. Salam Ismael says many Iraqis would like to see the American soldiers brought to trial in Iraqi courts--a position shared by the country's elected prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has demanded an end to the immunity U.S. soldiers currently enjoy under Iraqi law.

"Why are you afraid of being ruled by the law of the country that you're supposedly trying to liberate?" he asked rhetorically. "That's the question--it's a simple question I would like to ask the American people." I'll be happy to give an answer. The only thing I'm afraid of is that the good doctor will be insulted by it.

[freema]

Give the Mrs. a big hug and a big kiss : )

[freema]

This just in from Scrappleface (the link is at Red's Post #346): Marines ‘Massacre’ Trial Inspires Qaeda, Sadr

(2006-12-22) — A day after eight U.S. Marines were charged in connection with the killing of 20 Iraqi civilians in Haditha last November, al Qaeda and Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr announced they would begin prosecuting their own fighters who “inadvertently cause civilian deaths” in a series of “jihadi atrocity trials.” On the morning of November 19, 2005, Marines in a convoy responded to an ambush that killed a member of their unit by conducting a house-to-house search for enemy fighters, who often hide among women and children, and always dress as civilians. If convicted by a military tribunal of unpremeditated murder, four of the Marines charged could face life in prison.

In a joint statement, Mr. al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army and al-Qaeda in Iraq said, “If the Great Satan can bring its troops to justice for violating rules of engagement, then so can we. It’s against our rules and our religion to inadvertently kill innocent civilians in war time.”

“We will prosecute any suicide bomber who accidentally, rather than intentionally, kills civilians,” the statement said. “We have sent them to commit premeditated atrocity and massacre and we expect them to operate according to those rules of engagement.”

The terror groups acknowledged they may have to conduct some of the trials posthumously, “but if any of our martyrs are found guilty, we can always execute justice on their surviving relatives.”

[pinkpanther111]

I just read something on why these officers were charged, I am trying to find the link, I will post as soon as I find it again :(

[RedRover]

Sorry, did you say something smooth?

I went to the link at pink's post 363 and got a little distracted by their pro-military t-shirt ad:

Ranger Up Pro-Military T-Shirts
T-shirts designed by Army Rangers

[pinkpanther111]

LOL!

[pinkpanther111]

Here it is.

http://www.playfuls.com/news_10_6091-Haditha-Charges-Raise-Liability-Questions.html

[RedRover]

Wait a minute...was there a blog there, too?

[RedRover]

You got it, ma! Lord knows the missus deserves some attention. She's a good un.

[antiunion person]

One, in response to your brilliant response, I never mentioned the Marine Corp brass or the Defense Department as out to get the "heroes" being thrown to the wolves. I mentioned the Clinton leftovers in the State Department are the ones no one can trust. When the MSM say they have an "unnamed source" in the White House or where ever, it's most probably someone in State leaking information to make Pres. Bush look bad or to screw up plans in the making. Pres. Bush doesn't need any help looking bad, he does that fine without anyone else's help.

Two, I may be an armchair warrior now, but for over a decade during the Jimmah Carter and (my hero) President Reagan's administration, I served this country faithfully and without question. Just like 99.9% of the troops in the military now. I did my part and if you're thinking like a lib (sKerry), I can criticize what I see and hear from the government because I served.

Not everyone served, could have served or wanted to serve like I and thousands of others have. But I refuse to hold that detail against them. Everyone has an opinion and everyone has the right to voice it. My biggest issue is about people who are just flat out whiners and complainers who never take the time to talk to or research what they are commented on. If I had my way, everyone in our great country, who vote, would have to at least take a little time reading the booklets we ALL get from the election boards, just to get a tiny thought about what they are voting on. Listen to talk radio, watch MSM and hear their slant on the points, talk with people they know about the issues. Not just go to the voting booth and vote straight line either party or closed their eyes and point and vote that way. Voting is a privilege and civic duty. People from foreign country under the thumb of such dictators like Castro, etc.... would love to vote. Look at the percentage of people in Iraq that voted for the first time in decades. They had to travel miles and miles to get to a voting booth and face intimidation from the terrorists, but they still voted.

Overall and finally, as I have strayed from my main points, military personnel are trained to kill, not be policemen or referees. They kill and destroy. They are trained to react without thinking. Thinking will get you killed in warfare. The MSM, libs, and our enemies want the troops to flinch or think twice, so they will die or get wounded and eventually lose. We, as people thousands of miles away, should not Monday morning quarterback their every action and reaction.

[pinkpanther111]

Notice it is a PINK t-shirt.