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According to the latest Associated Press report, a military prosecutor is accusing a Marine sergeant of making fatal assumptions and losing control of himself when he and his squad killed 24 Iraqis, including unarmed women and children, in the town of Haditha.
"The evidence will show that none of the victims were a threat," Maj. Nicholas Gannon told jurors in his opening statements on Monday, AP reported.
Prosecutors told the jury of four officers and four enlisted Marines that Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich shot and did not ask questions.
Gannon said the sergeant also stood at the foot of a bed in a back bedroom, spraying a woman and children with bullets, AP reported.
Wuterich is charged with voluntary manslaughter in nine of the deaths and with other crimes. He is the last of the eight Marines initially accused of murder or failure to investigate the killings to face trial.
Six had charges dropped or dismissed, and one was acquitted.
Earlier:
Opening statements are set to be delivered Monday at Camp Pendleton in the trial of the last defendant in the biggest and longest criminal case against U.S. troops to arise from the Iraq war.
Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich is going on trial more than six years after he led a Marine squad that killed 24 Iraqis, including unarmed women and children, in the town of Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005.
Wuterich has said he regretted the loss of civilian lives but believed he was operating within military combat rules.
Wuterich's lawyer says the 31-year-old Marine is confident the all-military jury will acquit him.
The massacre further tainted America's reputation when it was already at a low point after the release of photos of prisoner abuse by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison.
Check back for further developments.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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I still want to know when Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et. al. will go on trial!
Yes, as soon as I saw this, I thought "This should never have happened - he should not have been in Iraq! Those master war criminals are still walking free!"
If you want real Justice, give his and the other troops asses to the Iraqi's! I believe they are the ones offended and should apply their Justice because the crime happened in their land.
Ron, the answer to your question is; just as soon as the war crimes trial wraps up for the Kennedy/Johnson Administration and their little forray into Vietnam and just before the war crimes trial for the Obama/Biden Administration for their roles in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and Libya. Oh, and the trial for the internal domestic war being waged against America by Barry and the boys!
I agree, but while we're at it, how about charging Bill Clinton for failing to respond after the Cole/African embassy bombings... their weak response to the original threats posed by Al-Qaeda is as as much a criminal failure as anything done by GWB/Cheney/Rumsfeld after 9/11.
Interesting, as these dead civilians would have been termed "collateral damage" by the US if a bomb, explosive device, or other similar mishap killing took based on incorrect intel or information, so why is it murder when an armed soldier who is trained and ordered to kill its enemy, namely Iraqi's, who would be residents of the country called IRAQ, that BUSH told him and all the other soldiers to wage war with!?!
Here's another perfect example of the double standard that continues to plague the US military, wheras majority who are tried and go to prison are the young enlisted troops while their commanders and all the other higher ups who are directly responsible for training them to kill, telling them who to kill (in this case Iraqi's), and issuing them a weapon to do it----get off scott free and go on with their lives without suffereing any of the reprocussions or consequences for their decisions and actions!
Like they say "the first casualty of war is the truth". This is one of many consequences our soldiers and taxpayers are paying because of the lies told by politicians just so they could capture Iraq's oiland squander their resources to enrich themselves and their campaign donors! Let's be honest, the only reason Bin Laden wasn't caught early on is because it would have interfered with their war preparations and its continuation...the longer he's alive the longer they can keep it going! War is a very lucrative venture for companies who aren't making as much here at home and need to steal it from others...so they get our soldiers and taxpaers citizens to fund it and do all the dirty work for them. Read up on the speech by Major General Smedley Butler, USMC...he knew wars were a corporate racket over 80 years ago, and it hasn't changed!
The whole country of Iraq wasn't a threat but we went to war with them anyway.
American Justice. Blame the guy taking orders and put in a F#$$ed up situation. Kind of like blaming the poor and unions for the state of our economy. Or maybe like blaming obama for not making miracles happen, as he drags an ignorant right half of the country kicking and screaming, and not expanding the gap of wealth 'enough' to bypass his race.
GOP - 2012. Don't Blame Us, Obama is president..
Hey fadman if obummas race want's to get ahead mayby they should go back to the jungle and try it with the lions etc; The europeans that got them on the plantations down south tryed to teach them about work but i don't think it worked. After all they have only been out of the jungle for about 350 years .
Due to uranium salts in the ground water, evolution progresses more quickly in Africa. So they would be more advanced than those of us who left the jungle 40 thousand years ago. That's why I have pale pink skin like when you shave your cat, my ancestors split the jungle when they had barely lost their fur.
Exellent post fadman!
The Iraqi war has/had a 90% civilian casualty rate, 680,000 Iraqis dead; 680,000 x 90%= 612,000 dead just like these people. This is a single War Crime trial for 24 of those 612,000. I'm with RonInColorado, when will the Four Horsemen/One Horsewoman (Bush/Cheney/Rumsfield/Rove - Rice) be tried for Crimes Against Humanity? Cheney/Rove are running 2012 GOP money machine (Crossroads GPS) of dissinformation even after the false WMD story was tracked back to both of them by Joe Wilson and they repaid that with with outting of his wife, CIA Agent Valerie Plume. Treasonous actions still unprosecuted here in the US. Note that none of these 5 criminals leave the country (publically) since their frontman lost office. The world is just waiting for them to show up where they can be arrested and brought before the ICC. Barb Bush's banking family did the same thing during the Nuremburg Trials, they were eventually convicted and fined, in absenteeism, for 'financial' crimes including funding and contributing to Hitler's Party rise to power, propganda, munitions, purchasing, receiving and laundering war booty, i.e. works of Art, Money and Precious Metals, spying, creating and funding 'skirmishes' in outlying areas of concentrated wealth plus a few others. Really no different then what they did in Iraq during that first 3 months of looting when Bush announced that the 'Mission was Accomplished,' those of us that remember the Bush history knew exactly what mission he was talking about, everything after that was profit and the loss of life is factored as 'Human Resources' when it's the 1% we're fighting for. Yep, they keep those 1% GOP alcolytes running up there between K Street and the Fools on the Hill while spouting 'In God We Trust' and their new mantra 'Don't Piss Off Our Job Creators' or you'll get more laws against the 99%. And that's the way it is......
Yep, I'd like to know what the average profit margin on a dead iraqi civilian is? Is it higher for little boys or little girls? Surely the 5 must have those metrics.
"The Iraqi war has/had a 90% civilian casualty rate..." Your opening statement is so ignorant that the remaining post can safely be ignored....
..It is really your contention that 90% of Iraqis died during the war? Really?...
You forgot the most important Evil King, John Ashcroft. Without that treasonous Missourian Bastard, torture would still be ILLEGAL!
i'd like to know why the epa is involved at all, this should be a local issue. period.
Can you not just say it sucked, and it was a bad decision that we got in this war. I love my country, and I dislike our government. I am glad I am not one to have taken part in their bad decisions, but I am sad that I didn't have the power alone to prevent these horrible atrocities. Thank our government for getting the other countries whom used to be only interested in protecting themselves, now looking to expand their militarise to go beyond their borders. Our GOV. is trying to start another world war. The reason being. It will wipe out the debt they have created. It's not Dem. or Rep., It's GOVERNMENT, and the lack there of. Fight and beat the ones you owe money to, and they will not pursue your debt.
Eric..Not on the topic of this cold blooded evil, killer. Whether I agree with you or not isn't the point.
Life (Iraqi) was cheap during the Bush/Cheney War it appears. Mowing down unarmed women and children in their own homes as ''performed'' by' Hauptscharfuhrer ' Weutrich should merit Oak Leaves to his Ritterkreuz for his outstanding bravery much like the CONVICTED Army PFC Steven Green for his contributions to the war effort in Iraq by raping, murdering and mutilating a 14 y.o. Iraqi girl in her own home.
Lost control my A#*. He is nothing but a COLD BLOODED MURDERER! Lock him for the rest of his life and throw the key away. Never let him see freedom again!
Yeah send him away!!!! The next time we invade a country and need someone to kick in doors to flush out the enemy send Bobl.. He will show how it is supposed to be done.. I bet he could have cleared all of Iraq without a single gunshot or loss of life..
I got your back Bobl, I'll just be sitting here on my computer while you do all the dirty work, while you and your friends get shot at and killed.. I am sure you will keep a totally different mindset than these cowardly men.
Armchair quarterbacks like yourself who know better than those who are on the field... Lock them up and send in those who think they can and would do better.
My attention was drawn to the other cases that were dropped or where there was acquittal. Without prejudging guilt, it does seem like there was excessive and indiscriminate killing of people who posed no actual threat.
The problem I see is that the military is the legitimized entity for the use of lethal force, but the civilians have no say in whether that force is being used within reasonable bounds. The "jury" is made up of military officers and enlisted men. The officers are part of a brotherhood who are most inclined to circle the wagons behind a code of protection and cover up. The enlisted men know that if they vote to convict, they will be watched and any chance of career advancement is lost. I think it is chauvinistic to assume that civilians cannot understand the fact that battle conditions are extreme and that killing may be appropriate in defensive responses. But they can also understand that marauding homes and killing defenseless women and children goes beyond any sense of logic, necessity or humanity. These cases should involve military prosecutors and defense counsel who can explain the military context and civilian juries who can apply reasonable standards outside the pressures of conformity or coercion that these military juries now have.
I do agree, however, that if the soldier is found guilty, then the higher officials who fraudulently placed the soldier in such situations and removed the clarity of the rules of engagement by authorizing murder and torture should be held accountable. That includes the former President, Vice President and Secretary of Defense.
As Marine combat veteran, I can tell you that we are trained to minimize civilian casualties and try to be certain of who we fire at. If he indeed stood at the foot of a bed and sprayed a woman and children. Then he was aware they were not combatants. And should be punished accordingly, I am willing to admit that this may have been an intentional act by a angry marine full of rage. But how many of you liberals spouting off at the mouth are willing to admit that you have never been in combat and don't know a damn thing about the phsycological effects of sustained long term exposure to intense combat. I am not defending this particular individual. But how many of you know what it is like to watch your friends die in front of you and then have to kick that next door in! Neither you nor I have all the facts. Let the jury hearing this case decide it!
Oorah!
If they are going to try this soldier and the eight others then they had better bring Blackwater Contractors up on charges with what they were doing... They slaughtered and killed more innocent Iraqi civilians indiscriminately than anyone. They were bold in their killings and didn't try to hide it.. It was all in the name of security and their protocol.
We went into Iraq to free Iraqi women and children as the Moslems are quite oppressive to the women and children. In addition the the Iraqis were sitting over our oilfields. Now the Iraqi women are free (under $10/night) and the oil fields are almost free.
I think the Iraq war was quite successful and the Islamists hate us for our success.
Fallujah children full of cancer from US depleted Uranium
It is my diplomatic opinion that our invasion of Iran will be just as successful.
shalom dr.k.
drkissinger.wordpress.com
SEMPER FI. never were in combat??? Shut the hell up.