Posted on 12/21/2006 11:03:18 AM PST by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Bump, jaz.
You might want to try *spell check* but even that won't help you to make sense.
Better luck next time.
The Corps is truly a family, isn't it?
Thanks for the ping. I am following the 'story.'
Keep in mind that the truly evil New York Times wants us to hate Iraqis, to have Iraqis hate America, and for Americans to hate themselves. Then have a look at this piece of crap (the key line is "The interviews were conducted by an Iraqi employee of The New York Times."): Haditha Residents on Charged Marines: Let Us Have Them
Here are excerpts from interviews with residents of Haditha, Iraq, and two adjacent towns about the announcement of charges against four American marines in connection with the killings of two dozen Iraqi civilians there last year. Four other Marine officers were charged with failing to properly report information about the killings. The interviews were conducted by an Iraqi employee of The New York Times.
Dr. Waleed Al-Obeidi, 41, the director-general of Haditha hospital
“If they plan to implement justice, then we welcome this step to refer the eight marines to the court, but we have our doubts in American justice. The verdict will be life sentences for four of them and the other four will be released, according to what we heard in the media. They blamed one soldier in the killing of a whole family, while it was carnage. The Iraqi government should have summoned those soldiers and executed them.”
•
Tahseen Al-Hadithi, 51, cleric and imam of the Haditha mosque
“I prefer they won’t be executed, and to be handed over to Haditha people to get the punishment they deserve.”
Mr. Hadithi said this was not the only crime committed by American forces in Haditha, and noted that charges had been brought in similar incidents elsewhere in the country:
“This is the culture of the occupying marines in our country. If we go back and remember the funeral, and if President Bush could see the family, the children and the women and how the soldiers were moving from one house to another, killing them, what would his comment be? Execution is insufficient punishment to them, and I think they won’t be executed.”
•
Sheikh Bairam Affan, 69, leader of the Al-Mawali tribe in the nearby town of Barwana
“I went to the U.S. forces in my capacity as a tribal sheikh along with other sheikhs after the massacre and asked the Americans to leave because we can not stop the resistance from attacking them in this area. I said to one of the American commanders if you kill people the same way as you did whenever you are attacked then no one will remain in Haditha.’
“They should get the death sentence because they carried out planned executions.”
•
Abu Ali, 29, a shop owner in the nearby town of Haqlaniya
“We don’t want them executed in the U.S. Let them bring them here in Haditha and we will tear them apart.”
•
Noor Laeq, 34, a lawyer who owns a computer and stationary shop in Haqlaniya
“I believe that the sentence will be issued against four of the accused, only. They will cover for the others. The accused will get life sentences, and it is not enough. The whole unit should be put into trial. We expect the same thing that happened in Abu Ghraib, when they convicted low-ranking officers and the higher ones got away. We demand that George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and the Iraqi government should be tried.”
(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.”
I found it on the Government Forum of the website, Eye On Gambling (yes, they have a Government Forum). Here’s the blog entry, followed by the single reply in red:
Love it ... the MURTHA BASHERS have run for cover.
Screw every a$$hole that has trashed this guy on the Haditha incident....Screw every a$$hole that has trashed Murtha for saying this war was not winnable...Murthas was right about Haditha and Murtha is right about Iraq
Reply, from the Moderator:
Murtha is a prick a$$hole Commie like yourself...quit sucking his #*&^ long enough and you could see the truth
--------------
Freeper Interesting Times once told me that if you scratch any website Moderator, you'll find a Freeper. Guess he's right! There's clearly one at Eye on Gambling!
You know that's irrelevant.
Every member of the armed forces takes an oath that requires them to abstain from complying with an unlawful order, and that is exactly what he did.
There is no existing lawful means under which a member of our armed forces can serve under any uniform but that which is prescribed by thew Congress.
Typical NY Slimes, it's their version of being fair and balanced. They give the terrorist insurgents their chance to impugn our troops on our home soil.
There’s 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 freema, 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.
So here are some of the recently posted highlights on this thread you might otherwise miss.
Photo Gallery
Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas, post 316
Four Marines accused of murder, post 284
In the News
Charges, post 176
Press statement from the Corps, post 249
AP piece on the Sharratts, post 264
Murtha’s hometown paper reports at post 313
Financial Times, post 281
Reuters (Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has called the Haditha killings a "terrible crime"), post 100
BBC, post 79
Freepers Say
Why wasn’t the commanding officer at the scene charged?, post 306
Why wasn’t a corporal in the squad charged?, post 210
The Real Haditha, link at post 155
Politically Correct Rules of Engagement Endanger Troops, link to article at post 219
The ROE, post 104
ROE article, CS Monitor, post 182
Links to sites supporting the Pendleton 8 Marines, post 303
Humor & Weird Stuff
Scrappleface (thank God!) at at post 346
A Murtha lover blogs (and is flamed) at Eye on Gambling at post 347
Candidate for the Most Treasonous Coverage
New York Times sends an Iraqi to ask Iraqis what they think at post 345
Other Recent Threads
Sharratt charged in Haditha case (Father says accusations are politically motivated) here
That’s it for now. Please keep the posts and bumps coming. The families know we’re here.
Thank you RedRover and a big bump to you.
Bump back atcha, Star.
You should include the link to your Defend Our Marines site for everyone also. :-)
Note to all: Let jazusamo or me know if you want on the Haditha Marine Ping List!
Heartbreaking, smooth, and I'm not easily heartbroken.
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