Called to the stand as a character witness on Tuesday, Jeffrey Dinsmore, an intelligence officer with Wuterich’s battalion at the time of the killings, said “insurgent groups ... had complete control over the city (of Haditha) at the time” and the unit had received word that an ambush was likely.
He also said insurgents were known to commandeer homes as places to launch attacks and to deliberately use civilians as human shields.
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In his statement on Tuesday, Wuterich, directed an apology to family members of those killed in Iraq, he said, “words cannot express my sorrow for the loss of your loved ones.” But he insisted civilians were not singled out for attack.
“The truth is, I don’t believe anyone in my squad ... behaved in any way that was dishonorable or contrary to the highest ideals that we all live by as Marines,” he said. “But even with the best intentions, sometimes combat actions can cause tragic results.”
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In a final plea for leniency, his civilian defense lawyer, Neal Puckett, said his client “is not evil.”
“He is decent and moral, and his integrity is unfaltering,” Puckett said. “He knows that his Marine Corps career has come to an end.”
A few other careers likewise came to an end thanks to the cowardice of the scumbag Pentagon and the scumbag political whores, all of whom ran like scared bunny rabbits from a slimy propaganda piece slopped together by a worm named Tim McGirk and published in a dying, liberal magazine. Wow.
In this way, those scum handed the enemy a victory on a silver platter.