Fri, Dec 22 17:11 PM EST
By Dan Whitcomb
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Attorneys defending the U.S. Marines charged with murder in Haditha, Iraq, do not dispute that 24 men, women and children were killed -- but are expected to argue that the defendants have been made scapegoats for a sad reality of war: civilians sometimes die.
It is a defense theme that first emerged earlier this year, months before four Marines were charged on Thursday with murder and four others with dereliction of duty for the November 2005 killings: that the civilians weren't shot in a "massacre," but in the confusion of a frenzied battle against insurgents.
Iraqi witnesses claim that a squad of Marines opened fire on the civilians in their homes after a popular comrade, Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, was ripped in half by a roadside bomb that exploded as his convoy rolled through Haditha, some 60 miles north of Baghdad.
Defense lawyers counter that the roadside bomb was only the beginning of a daylong battle against insurgents, who fired on the Marines in some cases from nearby houses -- possibly including one of the homes where the civilians died.
"After the (roadside bomb) went off they engaged the way they were supposed to, and unfortunately there were civilians there when they engaged," said Neal Puckett, an attorney for Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, the 26-year-old squad leader who is charged with the unpremeditated murder of 18 Iraqi civilians.
"We will be able to demonstrate that Staff Sgt. Wuterich followed the rules of engagement," Puckett said. "The tactics that were used, as the Marines understood them, were what they were authorized to use."
Attorneys for the accused Marines also will likely mount a defense based on the rules of engagement that they are required to follow in combat situations, arguing that the men were expected to "clear" the homes where the unarmed men, women and children were inside.
The Marines, who are fighting insurgents who do not wear uniforms and sometimes cannot be distinguished from civilians, must make split-second decisions on when to shoot and hesitating can cost them their lives, defense lawyers say.
"He's a Marine. They're in a war. That's what they are trained to do. He was following orders and following the rules of engagement," said Jaclyn Sharratt, sister of Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt.
Sharratt, a 22-year-old Pennsylvania native, is charged with the unpremeditated murder of three civilians who appear from prosecution documents to be from the same family. Also charged with unpremeditated murder are Lance Corporal Stephen Tatum, 25, and Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, 24.
All of the Marines who have been charged are entitled to an Article 32 hearing, at which a military judge would decide if there is enough evidence to convene a court martial. Those hearings have not yet been set.
The four defendants charged with murder could be sentenced to life prison terms if they are convicted at a court martial. None of the remaining four Marines facing dereliction of duty charges are accused of taking part in the shooting and are likely to argue that they reported the incident as best they understood it.
For now, this is the main Haditha thread on which updates of interest will be posted. We'll also ping you from here to new threads like this one (hat tip at BykrBayb for the suggestion!)