Investigators interview Marine about shootings (Followup article to possible war crime)

Las Vegas Review Journal ^ | 4/29/03 | Frank Curreri

[wimpycat]

A Las Vegas Marine has been interviewed about his claim that he hunted down and killed two Iraqi soldiers, but no decision has been made about whether he should be criminally investigated for a war crime, a Pentagon official said Monday.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is handling the preliminary inquiry into the actions of Gunnery Sgt. Gus Covarrubias, a 20-year Marine Corps veteran. Officials with the NCIS were unavailable for comment Monday.

Covarrubias, 38, was part of a firefight in Baghdad that injured him and eight others from Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines.

During an interview last week, he told the Review-Journal that after the April 8 battle had ceased, he left his unit on his own and searched for the source of a grenade attack.

Covarrubias, who had suffered a concussion from one of the blasts, said he found a soldier in a nearby home with a grenade launcher next to him.

Covarrubias said he ordered the man to stop, he said, and to turn around.

"I went behind him and shot him in the back of the head," Covarrubias said. "Twice."

Covarrubias said he noticed another Iraqi soldier trying to escape and shot him, too. Then, he grabbed their identifications, a rifle and one of their berets for souvenirs.

Marine Corps Lt. Col. Stephen Kay, stationed at the Pentagon, said military officials who have interviewed Covarrubias will try to "get him to clarify" his comments "and explain exactly what he meant. ... We can't go on a news article."

Some war veterans said they would be outraged if Covarrubias faced criminal charges for the killings he described, which they said are relatively common under war conditions.

"Anybody that has ever been in a combat situation is certainly going to be supportive of this guy," said Tom Willis, a Navy SEAL who fought in the Vietnam War and earned a Purple Heart.

"The rules of war? Come on, what are you talking about? ... You've got to blow these suckers away before they kill you," Willis said. "That's a horrible fact. You've got to kill them before they come back to kill you. ... It's just the way it is."

But Willis was irked that Covarrubias went into detail about his conduct.

"He should have kept his mouth shut about it," said Willis, a Las Vegan.

Troops who fought alongside Covarrubias in Iraq also will be questioned as part of the inquiry, which could take several weeks.

"There's always a chance an individual could have embellished something, or he may have been running off at the mouth," Kay said of Covarrubias' account.

"Now, we don't assume that. We're making sure no stone is unturned."

[wimpycat]

This is a followup to a story that has been running around FR for a few days. The last thread is HERE.

I did a title search under "Marine" and "investigators" and this article didn't show up, so...hopefully, it isn't a duplicate.

[wimpycat]

.

[Paul Ross]

He made the fatal mistake...he failed in his debrief to mention that he read the perps their Miranda rights.

[wimpycat]

"There's always a chance an individual could have embellished something, or he may have been running off at the mouth," Kay said of Covarrubias' account. "Now, we don't assume that. We're making sure no stone is unturned."

They're hoping he's telling a big fat one, too.

[Poohbah]

No, he said he took the guy's beret off before shooting him.

Maybe he just didn't want to mess up his souvenir.

[Arkinsaw]

"The rules of war? Come on, what are you talking about? ... You've got to blow these suckers away before they kill you,"

Either obey the orders and rules of engagement or don't join the service. There is still an oath before God and still the concept of honor.

[samuel_adams_us]

There is no honor in war. If you don't cheat, and do everything to kill the enemy you can, you will come home in a box, if you are lucky.

[Arkinsaw]

There is no honor in war. If you don't cheat, and do everything to kill the enemy you can, you will come home in a box, if you are lucky.

BS....the vast majority of our troops in this war obeyed their orders and obeyed the rules of engagement and are going to come home just fine. Fact.

Typically, Marines, soldiers, sailors, and airmen behave honorably. To not do so is to become thugs just like the Iraqi Fedayeen.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Think I'll wait for the facts. Right now this sounds like the grade school excercise where the teacher whispers something to the student on the front corner who passes to the next who passes it and on.

[MEG33]

I've heard other vets on previous threads who did not approve of the action as describrd by the paper.I shall wait on the inquiry. We don't execute prisoners under our control.That is yet to be investigated.

[samuel_adams_us]

I am sure you were there the entire time and therefore you know right? Most of the men and women there didn't see hot action and since you and I weren't there we cannot speak to what really happened can we? I respect your opinion but I doubt it's based in fact.

[samuel_adams_us]

Did the iraqi surrender? If not he wasn't a prisoner.

[TexasRepublic]

Nice sentiments, but fighting from a politically correct posture may get you killed. Much of the world (many of our enemies) doesn't observe notions of "rules", "fair play", "morality", "God", "Genenva Convention", etc. -- they are like thugs that would mug and kill you in the back alley -- they fight dirty and fight for keeps. War is ugly business, and I would rather be alive and feared, instead of respected. My 2 cent's worth.

[gitmogrunt]

Good Job Gunny Covarubbias, you saved many AMERICAN MARINES, by waxing these scumbags.

The parents of the Marines you Lead and many Americans thank you.

[Arkinsaw]

I am sure you were there the entire time and therefore you know right? Most of the men and women there didn't see hot action and since you and I weren't there we cannot speak to what really happened can we? I respect your opinion but I doubt it's based in fact

You doubt that the vast majority of our Marines, sailors, soldiers and airmen obeyed their orders and obeyed the rules of engagement? You have a low opinion of their integrity apparently. I'd ask you to provide proof of this and until I get it I suspect I will give them the benefit of the doubt.

[Arkinsaw]

Nice sentiments, but fighting from a politically correct posture may get you killed.

Obeying orders and following the rules of engagement is not a "politically correct" posture. Its doing what you swore an oath to do. Most of our armed forces members do take that seriously.

[samuel_adams_us]

I agree with you that they followed orders, that's not what I said, I said that you would be surprised what happens in the heat of battle and that rules written in books about engagement of the enemy are only followed by those wanting to come home in a box. I guess if an Iraqi soldier was firing on your position and your C/O told you to wait until you could see the whites of your eyes you would sit there like a stump and eat lead? Are you that dumb?

[wimpycat]

Most of the men and women there didn't see hot action and since you and I weren't there we cannot speak to what really happened can we? I respect your opinion but I doubt it's based in fact.

What isn't factual about this statement?

...the vast majority of our troops in this war obeyed their orders and obeyed the rules of engagement and are going to come home just fine. Fact.

The vast majority of our troops do obey the rules of engagement. I know stuff happens. I've heard stuff about the first Gulf War from men who were there. But the fact remains that the vast majority of US troops stick to the rules. And if you don't like the concept of "rules" in war, then let's say they follow orders. They are given orders on how to deal with the enemy in certain situations and they carry them out. Gunny Sergeants also don't routinely leave their platoon without telling anyone where they are going, like this Marine said he did.

[Arkinsaw]

I guess if an Iraqi soldier was firing on your position and your C/O told you to wait until you could see the whites of your eyes you would sit there like a stump and eat lead? Are you that dumb?

And what if you disobeyed that order and caused a friendly fire incident because your commander knew that friendlies were behind the enemy position but you did not? If your sole overriding goal is personal survival then I would stay at home.

[wimpycat]

So you have no problem with this Gunny Sergeant leaving his platoon without telling anyone where he was going, without sharing with his Lieutenant his hunch about the source of the RPG fire, as he was required to do?