Posted on 09/01/2007 11:59:34 AM PDT by RedRover
Camp Pendleton -- A sergeant granted immunity from prosecution for allegedly murdering five Iraqi men in Haditha crumbled under hard questioning by a Marine Corps lawyer in the second day of Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich's Article 32 hearing.
Wuterich, 27, from Meriden, Connecticut is accused of murdering 17 Iraqi civilians following the ambush of his squad on November 19, 2005. During the daylong fight, 24 Iraqis were killed by Marines, dueling with several groups of insurgents hiding among the civilians cowering in their homes. When the fighting ended eight insurgents had been killed and at least two others were captured – one of them holding an infant he had grabbed from a nearby home. The Marine Corps has characterized the fight as a “city-wide, complex ambush” that left one Marine dead and 11 others wounded.
The witness, Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz, alternately seemed confused, mystified, and dumbfounded during his rambling testimony.
Government prosecutors hope Dela Cruz can convince Investigating Officer Lt. Col Paul J. Ware to recommend Wuterich stand general courts-martial for the alleged murders. If Wuterich is found guilty of the charges he faces a possible dishonorable discharge from the Marine Corps and life imprisonment for his role in the killings.
Sgt. Dela Cruz's testimony
During the proceedings Friday, while Dela Cruz stumbled through his testimony, Wuterich seemed calm and collected. Sitting behind him was his wife, mother and father, who have suffered both deep emotional and severe financial hardship finding the means to afford civilian defense attorneys to defend him.
The first two hours of testimony on Friday was driven by government prosecutor Lt. Col. Sean Sullivan, a Chicago lawyer and Marine Corps reservist prosecuting the case. Sullivan led Dela Cruz through the opening minutes of the day-long fight that began when an Improvised Explosive Device detonated next to a Humvee in a convoy of four vehicles, killing one Marine and wounding two others.
According to Dela Cruz, Wuterich gunned down five Iraqi men standing by a white sedan stopped adjacent to the ambush site seconds after the bomb exploded. Dela Cruz testified that Wuterich began shooting the men without provocation after they emerged from his vehicle.
Dela Cruz’s most damaging testimony came when he claimed that a week before the deadly ambush Wuterich told him that his squad should kill everyone in the area if they were ever attacked by a roadside bomb.
During four hours of cross examination by defense attorney Lt. Col. Colby C. Vokey, Dela Cruz was unable to clearly explain his previous testimony. At one point he simply stopped talking and stared into the distance, seemingly at a loss for words. At other times he simply rambled on until he was ordered to quit talking.
Vokey was particularly critical of Dela Cruz’s characterization of the attack on the five Iraqis he claims were standing by a white car that appeared at the ambush site almost simultaneously with the IED explosion. Vokey pointed out that Dela Cruz had offered government prosecutors at least three different versions of what happened during the episode.
Dela Cruz explained that he was lying during those statements to protect himself and his squad from possible retribution by investigators. He said he eventually decided to tell the truth after his battalion had redeployed back to its home base at Camp Pendleton without himself and four other Marines initially charged with murder.
“It was a false statement that I made to NCIS,” Dela Cruz said in response to Vokey’s question about why he had lied in two previous statements to investigators. “The whole battalion was gone and myself, Sharratt, Tatum, Salinas and Mendoza were the only ones left. I decided to tell the truth.”
A few minutes later Dela Cruz tried again to explain away the inconsistencies he made in his previous sworn statements to Army and NCIS investigators about his role in the alleged murders of the five Iraqi men standing by the white car.
“In the April 2nd statement - first of all I would like say that the statement I made on 18 March (2006) - was correct except for the white car.”
Vokey interrupts him.
“You lied because you were worried that you committed murder. You were worried that you committed murder. Just a few minutes ago you said you didn’t shoot them, that they were already dead. So why would you be worried about committing murder?” Vokey asked.
“I shot at them, I shot at them, sir,” Dela Cruz responded.
“Maybe you are worried that you committed murder because you were the first one to shoot.”
“No, sir,” Dela Cruz answered.
“If you say the Staff Sergeant Wuterich was the one firing and you didn’t perceive a threat from the white car, then why did you ever say that you fired - but you didn’t shoot them?" Vokey retorted. “So why were you worried about being charged with murder? If they were already dead you couldn’t murder them, could you?”
Dela Cruz didn’t answer.
Vokey’s challenge to Dela Cruz’s veracity over the “white car incident” was only the beginning of his confrontation with the prosecution’s star witness. About an hour later, Vokey took Dela Cruz to task again.
"[In your first two statements]…you said you were firing at the white car and that they were running and you yelled ‘kuff, kuff … stop, stop.’ How many seconds after the IED went off did they stop their vehicle? Vokey demanded.
“Maybe a second, sir", Dela Cruz responded.
“When they got out of their vehicle after an IED explosion you did not perceive them as a threat? On the...first NCIS statement you said it was you who fired first. You changed your answer to Sgt. Wuterich was the one who fired….”
“That is the truth, sir,” Dela Cruz answered.
“Then what were they doing?” Vokey demanded.
“They were being nosy. They had their hands up looking around, they were being nosy, being curious.… I did not see them as a threat, they were just standing there,” Dela Cruz explained.
“After he started firing first you preceded behind the vehicle and started shooting them on the ground?” Vokey demanded.
“After I saw Sgt. Wuterich shooting at them I thought they might be a threat.”
“You thought they might be dead – correct,” Vokey inquired.
“Yes, sir.”
So why did you shoot into the bodies? Vokey asked.
“Just to make sure they are dead,” Dela Cruz responded.
“If they are dead they are not a threat, are they?” Vokey continued.
“I just wanted to make sure they were dead,” Dela Cruz explained.
“You were pissing on his skull, weren’t you? His head was split open and you were urinating on his skull. Did someone see you do this? In your statement you said you might have seen [that] somebody had seen you. You were just pissing on a dead man’s skull.”
“Yes sir,” Dela Cruz responded.
And later:
“I know it was wrong, my emotions took over,” Dela Cruz explained. “I know it was the wrong thing to do and I wasn’t thinking right. T.J. [Miguel “T.J. Terrazas – killed in the IED explosion] was gone and two other Marines were hurt and my emotions took over.”
And later:
“Did you fail a polygraph?” Vokey demanded.
“Yes, sir.”
“No further questions.”
Charges coming in the Fallujah investigation
Meanwhile, the unrelated case against another group of Marines for an incident during the battle of Fallujah in November, 2004 continues to grind forward. Defend Our Marines has learned that in addition to former sergeant Jose Luis Nazario and Sergeant Jermaine Nelson, already charged in connection with the alleged murders, as many as five other Marines from the embattled 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, may be implicated in that alleged incident.
Kilo Company, 3/1 was lauded as one of the finest combat units in the United States Marines Corps when it returned from Iraq after its second deployment in March, 2005. Its ranks included two Navy Cross recipients and a platoon’s worth of Silver and Bronze Star recipients decorated for their heroic campaign in 2004. Two years later it would be recognized again – as the most disgraced unit in the entire Marine Corps.
Some of the men who fought at Fallujah, including former Corporal Ryan Weemer, who initially made the allegations, could be recalled to active duty so the government can pursue the investigation, sources said. Currently Weemer is a college student in Kentucky. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has been pursuing the investigation since Weemer revealed the alleged murders during a polygraph examination for a uniformed Secret Service job last year. Charges against at least one more Marine are expected to be announced Tuesday.
figured I’d post this here
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=21940
Marine says ordered to kill Iraqi women, children
US Corporal Mendoza says received orders to execute room full of terrified Iraqi women, children in Haditha.
By Rob Woollard - CAMP PENDLETON, California
A US Marine was ordered to execute a room full of terrified Iraqi women and children during an alleged massacre in Haditha that left 24 people dead, a military court heard Thursday.
The testimony came in the opening of a preliminary hearing for Marine Sergeant Frank Wuterich, who faces 17 counts of murder over the Haditha killings, the most serious war crimes allegations faced by US troops in Iraq.
-snip-
Not sure what you meant by that, but no more pings to you
You bring out excellent points and I agree with you wholeheartedly with your statement “These prosecutions from combat mistakes should never happen”. Who with good conscience could prosecute such cases based on minutiae of events not only clouded by time but also the adrenaline rush of the moment. I pray for our soldiers and it tears at my heart to see them put through such ordeals to satisfy the politics of the time. I hunger for a leader that would put himself between our soldiers and the tribunals. Sadly we do not have one of those.
we live in an era when real leaders are put down, marginalized and crucified. I’m thinking of recent events when miltary leaders have experienced all of the above for their honest and truthful remarks. But political leaders face the same.
I was hoping this FR site might be one such place, but alas, is just another bunch of gripers that need a “weeping wall.”
And, we the public sit on our hands afraid to sing out and say, “enough!!”
Fools, fool and idiots. They are going to get us all killed.
I agree with you in general, but just to stick up for my buddies...
The regulars on the Haditha Marine threads are more than gripers. We've helped raise a lot of money for the defense funds, helped arrange rallies, obtained documents and posted them online, given the families a place to find support, been a source of inspiration for defense lawyers, and generally have fought the good fight in the court of public opinion.
So I know FR has been, and can be, an effective forum to influence events--when people are willing to put themselves out and DO something. And it doesn't take more than a handful of people to make a big difference.
It would be a good project to identify those in the military and government, NGO's too, who are at the center of this anti-military crusade. Identify and spread their names and organizations in every newspaper and magazine - if only by writing letters to the editor. This must stop or no one will ever re-enlist, even with a $20M bonus. It is not the danger of being shot at over "there," but being crucified at home.
Thank you for posting your personal view on Vokey’s character. I am glad SSgt Wuterich is in good care.
WOW....WOW.....WEEEE!
I know I am late on posting, but thank you for the ping and the powerhouse read!
Yay!!!! Our wandering girl returns! Glad you’re back! Get ready to tell ALL about your trip home to Texas!
Saw the interview for the first time tonight -
Wuterich says there were 2 or 3 shots that sounded like they came for the South that made him decide that the house was a threat since it seemed to him that this was the only place around where they could have come from.
A Lt. who was not there at the time of these shots was supposed to have authorized the clearing of the house.
Is there anything regarding the conversation that must have taken place between them that resulted in this “authorization” ?
Anybody got a link ?
RS is pig ignorant about Haditha but comes on these threads to say the Marines are guilty.
Regarding his post above, anyone following this case knows that RS is wrong.
In fact, a lieutenant was on the scene and he gave the order to clear the houses. This has been established numerous times, including by the lieutenant's own testimony in the hearings.
All of the regulars on these threads strive to them informative, constructive, and cordial. Trolls aim to disrupt that. The best response is to ignore them and hope they'll go away. So, again, I ask...
“RS is pig ignorant about Haditha but comes on these threads to say the Marines are guilty.”
You are a liar - I have never said the Marines are guilty.
“In fact, a lieutenant was on the scene and he gave the order to clear the houses. “
According to Wuterich, during the 60 minutes interview I reviewed moments ago, The Lt. was NOT on scene during the “2 or 3 shots” that came “from the south”
The Lt. would have had NO first hand knowledge of the events that led to the authorization of the clearing of the house.
Since Wuterich is on trail, it would seem that the details of the converstaion in which he convinced the Lt. to authorize the clearing of the house might be of importance.
Time Magazine should share in that reimbursement.
“All of the regulars on these threads strive to them informative, constructive, and cordial.”
Well lets just see - After some digging I found YOUR post of the orignal 60 minute interview -
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1802939/posts?page=220#220
( and thanks for being so informative, constructive and cordial by directing me to it </sarcasm> )
You note Wuterich’s mention of the 2 or 3 sporadic shots that led him to believe that the house to the south “was only logical place the shots could have come from” BEFORE Kallop arrives on the scene. Wuterich also agreed that he NEVER saw any fire coming from the house.
Wuterich obviously filled in Kallop on the situation and Kallop gave the order to clear the house, with NOONE making a PID, as defined by Wuterich -”It means that you need to be able to positively identify your target before you shoot to kill”
Now turning to the Washington Post, which eveyone seems to hate since they have a copy of the reports -
“Kallop told investigators he began to receive enemy fire almost immediately.””Salinas then stated that he could see the enemy so Kallop told them to ‘take the house,’ “
So we have Wuterich’s own words, which appear to look badly for him vs. the MSM WashPost writings, which everyone hates, as giving him some cover.
??
One could also wonder why Wuterich put dots on different buildings as being the ones they cleared, although the one he put the first dot on IS closer to the road then the houses they cleared.
??
... and you wonder why people are seeking answers ?
This whole ordeal just makes me ill, I cannot imagine that any of my children could ever be in this position. I do pray for swift justice for whatever actually did happen and these that can/do lie to save their own backside will be first in line.
Unfortunately, none of the Marines will ever be exonerated in the court of public opinion (the recent death of Richard Jewel is a reminder of that). Soldiers and Marines are engaged in an unpopular war that the media, and certain politicians, will attempt to end by any means at their disposal--including creating a My Lai out of tragic deaths in Haditha.
If you're interested in what we've learned so far about what really happened in Haditha, I've posted the Investigating Officer's report on the LCpl Sharratt case and the LCpl Tatum case. The summary of facts and the conclusions are worth reading.
Like you, I hope all the facts will come out and that justice will be swift in coming.
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