MILITARY: Closing the Book on a Dark Chapter in Iraq

North County Times ^ | September 13, 2009 | MARK WALKER

[Lancey Howard]

When the murder trial of Sgt. Jermaine Nelson unfolds in a Camp Pendleton courtroom later this month, a dark chapter of the Marine Corps' legacy in Iraq will near an end.

Nelson is the last of three men accused of killing four captive insurgents during a 2004 battle for Fallujah to go to trial.

Two co-defendants were acquitted, one in a federal civilian trial last year and one at Camp Pendleton earlier this year.

When the Nelson trial is over, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich will be the last of two dozen Camp Pendleton troops accused of various unlawful killings in Iraq whose fate remains undecided.

Wuterich is the sole remaining defendant among eight Pendleton Marines charged with wrongdoing in the slaying of 24 Iraqis in the city of Haditha in November 2005 following a roadside bombing. Seven of the accused have been exonerated, either through trial or dismissal of charges.

Wuterich, who is accused of multiple counts of manslaughter, still does not have a trial date because of an ongoing battle by prosecutors to gain access to unaired portions of a CBS' "60 Minutes" interview he gave prior to being charged.

Nelson's trial is scheduled to start Sept. 28 and will once again test whether prosecutors can prove that murder happened during the opening hours of the largest urban battle of the Iraq war.

He and two squad mates from Camp Pendleton were charged with capturing four suspected insurgents inside a Fallujah home and executing them following a reported radio call to a still unidentified Marine.

[Lancey Howard]

Everybody so far has been acquitted or exonerated, but to Mark Walker it’s all “a dark chapter of the Marine Corps’ legacy”. Sometimes I would like to punch Mark Walker in the face.

[eclecticEel]

The only “darkness” about this whole incident is that these Marines are still being prosecuted for their service to the country.

[Lancey Howard]

The only “darkness” about this whole incident is that these Marines are still being prosecuted for their service to the country.

It is a disgrace that makes me throw up in my mouth a little.

[xzins]

He and two squad mates from Camp Pendleton were charged with capturing four suspected insurgents inside a Fallujah home and executing them following a reported radio call to a still unidentified Marine.

It's not a "reported" radio call. It's a "supposed" radio call.

No proof of anything ever happening. No bodies, no blood, no consistency in stories, one guy claiming none of it ever happened, and NO RADIO.

I continue to believe it was just a hashed, rehashed, and re-rehashed story told around the coffee pot that just grew and grew as the PTSD and combat fatigue affecting these guys got worse and worse.

[4woodenboats]

It's a sad commentary, that no other paper in the Camp Pendleton area could have taken an interest in our Defenders.

Walker started off presenting a facade of unbiased reporting in these cases, but when he kept repeating falsehood after sensationalist falsehood, literally years after his ankle biting had been debunked, it became apparent he wants a roll in writing the 3/1's legacy, while his own roll has been written and largely forgotten, one tissue at a time.

[Girlene]

Well, Lancey, Walker is correct in that it was a “dark chapter of the Marine Corps’ legacy”. The Haditha charges seem to be an overreaction by the Marine Corps to a reporter’s and eventually a congressman’s accusations of murder and cover-up. The Fallujah charges are mind-boggling. This was a bloody battle with terrorists, not some innocent Iraqis who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.