Haditha Massacre charges dropped

[#juan]

Charges dropped in Haditha trial

Col Chessani is the sixth marine to have charges dropped

A US military judge has dropped charges against a marine officer accused of failing to investigate the 2005 killing of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha.
Lt Col Jeffrey Chessani, 44, was the highest-ranked soldier to have been accused of involvement in the incident.
Prosecutors say that US marines indiscriminately killed 24 unarmed Iraqis, including women and children.
Seven of the eight men initially accused have now had all charges dismissed or been acquitted.
The charges against Mr Chessani were thrown out after the judge ruled that a four-star general who oversaw the investigation was improperly influenced by an investigator who later became his adviser.
The judge has indicated that prosecutors can refile the case, but they did not immediately announce an intention to do so.
"We are grateful for the judge's ruling today. He was truly the last sentinel to guard against unlawful command influence," said Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, which represented Mr Chessani.
Gunfight
The case stemmed from a roadside bombing in Haditha on 19 November 2005 which killed one marine, L/Cpl Miguel Terrazas, an...cont.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7460234.stm

 

[#juan]

All charges are dropped except for Sgt Wuterichwho is going to be the scapegoat in all of this. 24 civilians shot dead and only one man will be charged.........Interesting eh?

 

[#juan]

This is the story from almost two years ago:

Four marines, including a squad leader, were charged with murder Thursday in the slaughter of 24 Iraqi civilians — in the biggest American criminal case involving civilian deaths to arise from the Iraqi war.
Military officials charged four other marines for alleged failures in investigating and reporting the slayings in the Iraqi town of Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005, a Marine Corps spokesman said.

Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, shown here in a 2005 photo, has been charged with unpremeditated murder involving 18 civilians in Haditha.
(Mark S. Zaid/Associated Press) ​

The marines will not face the death penalty because they have not been charged with premeditated murder, CBC News correspondent Steve Futterman reported from Camp Pendleton, Calif., where all of those charged are based.
Seven of the eight marines have also been charged with either falsifying reports or obstruction of justice in what authorities allege was a deliberate attempt to cover up the killings.
Victims initially described as insurgents

In the incident, two dozen unarmed men, women and children were shot to death in Haditha, about 95 kilometres north of Baghdad.

Hours before the shootings, a roadside bomb exploded under a vehicle in a U.S. military convoy travelling through the city, killing a marine, Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas.

Iraqi witnesses, who described the slayings as a massacre, have alleged the marines gunned the civilians down in their homes to avenge the marine's death.
The U.S. military initially reported that a bomb planted by insurgents killed the marine and 15 Iraqi civilians.
It also said that after the blast, the insurgents opened fire on the convoy, and in the resulting firefight eight insurgents were killed and one was wounded.
No hostile fire, all civilians

A U.S. military investigation, prompted by a report in Time magazine, found the civilians had been killed by the marines and not in the initial explosion as had been reported.
It also found that some of the Iraqis had been shot at close range.

The investigation decided 15 of the dead Iraqis were civilians, while the other nine were insurgents.

The U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service launched two investigations to probe the incident further.
The first looked at whether the marines broke the laws of war by targeting civilians, while the second looked at whether there had been an attempt to cover up the incident.

Investigators concluded the marines did not come under hostile fire that day and all of the victims were civilians.
Squad leader charged with 18 murders

The charges laid on Thursday include:

• Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, with unpremeditated murder of 18 civilians, including six people inside a house that members of his squad cleared with deadly force. Wuterich, of Meriden, Conn., also faces one count of murdering six people by issuing a command for his subordinates to "shoot first and ask questions later." Among the charges considered to be less serious against Wuterich are that he told a staff sergeant and a corporal to lie in official statements.
• Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz, with the unpremeditated murders of five people and making a false official statement with intent to deceive.
• Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, 22, of Carbondale, Pa., with the unpremeditated murder of three Iraqis.
• Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum, 25, of Edmund, Okla., with the unpremeditated murders of two Iraqis, negligent homicide of four Iraqi civilians and assault upon two Iraqis.

 

[Zzarchov]

they were all charged, charges have been dropped.

You mean 1 man will be punished. Thats because he's probably the only one with enough evidence to convict.

It happens, sometimes people get away with crimes due to lack of evidence.

 

[#juan]

they were all charged, charges have been dropped.

You mean 1 man will be punished. Thats because he's probably the only one with enough evidence to convict.

It happens, sometimes people get away with crimes due to lack of evidence.

That is a little generous. In fact it is BS. This was a bloody whitewash. 24 civilians were shot dead, including women and children. Now, after generals and Colonels have been stripped of their command, one non-com is left to face charges alone. As they say, " Semper fidelis".

 

[Zzarchov]

You act like this isn't how courts normally operate.

Perhaps its news to you how the legal system works regarding people you "know are guilty" but you don't have any actual proof.

Homolka sure as hell should still be in Jail, OJ should be in Jail, I can go on and on (more so if I don't go for celebrities) with people who we all know did it but for various legal reasons (including stupid plea bargains) don't go to jail.

 

[Praxius]

seems like more of the same if you ask me.... nothing changes and it's nobody's fault.... they just simply all died on their own apparently.

But they know they'll lose even more support then they already have if they don't string up one person, so this guy got the short straw in the bunch.

 

[Praxius]

You act like this isn't how courts normally operate.

Perhaps its news to you how the legal system works regarding people you "know are guilty" but you don't have any actual proof.

Homolka sure as hell should still be in Jail, OJ should be in Jail, I can go on and on (more so if I don't go for celebrities) with people who we all know did it but for various legal reasons (including stupid plea bargains) don't go to jail.

Which to me spells out a justice system that needs to be re-invented.

 

[Zzarchov]

not really, forensics is coming along by leaps and bounds.

Part of the problem in Iraq is that its a warzone. Think about how hard it is to get uncontaminated evidence?

The fall guy explanation is also apt, though not in the way mentioned.

You can't blanket punish everyone who may have been there. Do you charge the private who claims he was in a different house and had nothing to do with the massacre and obeyed every legal and moral rule? What if he is telling the truth?

 

[Praxius]

not really, forensics is coming along by leaps and bounds.

Part of the problem in Iraq is that its a warzone. Think about how hard it is to get uncontaminated evidence?

The fall guy explanation is also apt, though not in the way mentioned.

You can't blanket punish everyone who may have been there. Do you charge the private who claims he was in a different house and had nothing to do with the massacre and obeyed every legal and moral rule? What if he is telling the truth?

I would charge the officer in command for not keeping proper control of his/her soldiers, I would charge each soldier who fired a bullet, I would charge each soldier who assaulted or harmed those civilians, and I would charge this idiot who's only getting a few months, for his involvement in "Guarding" while they shot and dumped the civilians..... he knew about it, he and everybody else knew it was wrong, nobody seemed to have protested, so in my books, if it's not the entire unit that is guilty, then it's a good chunk of that unit.

 

[earth_as_one]

It may be par for the course for the US and Israel... as Z well knows. But Canada has and does hold its soldiers accountable:

The Somalia Affair

...On March 16, 1993 the Airborne captured a Somali teenager, Shidane Arone, who had sneaked into the camp. He was placed in an empty bunker, that had often been used as a cell, under the guard of Master Corporal Clayton Matchee and Trooper (Private) Kyle Brown. Matchee, who had been drinking heavily, almost immediately began severely beating Arone, punching him in the ribs, hitting him in the head with his baton, and putting out cigarettes on his foot. Brown participated somewhat in this abuse, but was mostly an observer. He took sixteen photos of the beating, when these trophy like pictures became public they would create a considerable furor. During the several hours the beating went on several other soldiers visited the bunker and observed the events; many others were within earshot of the bunker and could hear what was going on.

Matchee and Brown left the unconscious Arone after several hours of this torture. When an officer returning from patrol checked on Arone he found that he had no pulse, and base medics confirmed that the boy was dead. A death in custody automatically triggers an investigation, and two days later Matchee and Brown were arrested and charged with the murder and National Defence Headquarters was advised. Master Corporal Matchee later attempted suicide; the attempt failed but caused massive brain damage, making him unfit to stand trial. Brown was found guilty of manslaughter.

Brown claimed in his defence that he informed every officer he could find of the happenings in the bunker, and requested that they intervene. Brown stated that when the officers declined to stop the torture, he began documenting the event with photographs. Brown later published a book in which he presented a case wherein he had been made the scapegoat for the incident and the officers who had not intervened were not brought to justice.

Charges subsequently laid against members of the Canadian Airborne Regiment suggested that sixteen people had passed through the area where Arone was tortured and that, during the night, his screams could be heard throughout the surrounding area. The commander of 2 Commando and a number of his subordinate supervisors were court-martialed and found guilty under article 124 of the National Defence Act (Negligent Performance of Duties). The Commanding Officer of the Airborne, Lieutenant Colonel Mathieu, was tried twice by courts-martial acquitted of wrong-doing both times. Soon after the death of Shidane Arone came to public attention, other actions by the Airborne also began to be scrutinized. Days earlier, a patrol from the Reconnaissance Platoon had shot and killed a young Somali night-time infiltrator and seriously injured another. A temporarily attached Air Force flight surgeon, Major Barry Armstrong, stated in letters home which he subsequently leaked to the press, that he judged, after seeing the body, that the death of one of the Somalis was an "execution". He subsequently accused the Reconnaissance Platoon commander, Captain Michel Rainville, of destroying his photographic evidence, but these accusations were never proven and the officer was tried and acquitted. Captain Rainville would later be charged with torturing one of his own soldiers in a mock-exercise, that included anal-rape and psychological torture....

...As the inquiry unfolded, home videos of initiation rites in the CAR's French-speaking commando found their way into the media. The new Minister of National Defence David Collenette argued that the videos were disgusting, demeaning and racist. With the continued accumulation of such politically damaging visibility, the Minister of National Defence ordered the Canadian Airborne Regiment disbanded in 1995...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_Affair#Somalia_Inquiry

 

[JBeee]

I will understand...even applaud, when the next Iraqi suicide bomber takes out a dozen or two US troops in one bang....and so should we all.

 

[darkbeaver]

not really, forensics is coming along by leaps and bounds.

Part of the problem in Iraq is that its a warzone. Think about how hard it is to get uncontaminated evidence?

The fall guy explanation is also apt, though not in the way mentioned.

You can't blanket punish everyone who may have been there. Do you charge the private who claims he was in a different house and had nothing to do with the massacre and obeyed every legal and moral rule? What if he is telling the truth?

You don't believe in fate do you Zzarchov? I can see you in the future maybe wanting justice but being given serpintine legalities. It will be a bitter quaff eh.

 

[darkbeaver]

I will understand...even applaud, when the next Iraqi suicide bomber takes out a dozen or two US troops in one bang....and so should we all.

It isn't hard to pick out the terrorists anymore is it? I wish the freedom fighters victory, **** the ugly coalition of the rotten.

 

[#juan]

not really, forensics is coming along by leaps and bounds.

Part of the problem in Iraq is that its a warzone. Think about how hard it is to get uncontaminated evidence?

The fall guy explanation is also apt, though not in the way mentioned.

You can't blanket punish everyone who may have been there. Do you charge the private who claims he was in a different house and had nothing to do with the massacre and obeyed every legal and moral rule? What if he is telling the truth?

What you don't seem to grasp Zzarchov , is that the original four who were charged were the only marines there. They all had a hand in the killings. In interviews at the time they all admitted their part in the killings. The problem was that eventually, they all lawyered up separately. I can only assume that Sgt Wuterich had the worst lawyer.

 

[Just the Facts]

From what I recall reading, the claim that there was no hostile fire is not accurate. Where does that information come from #juan?

In fact I believe there are recordings of the marines communication their tactical situation with the base (i.e. taking fire) and an aerial drone actually videotaped everything beyond an hour after the ied exploded.

I suspect these charges are being dropped due to the evidence.

 

[JBeee]

From what I recall reading, the claim that there was no hostile fire is not accurate. Where does that information come from #juan?

In fact I believe there are recordings of the marines communication their tactical situation with the base (i.e. taking fire) and an aerial drone actually videotaped everything beyond an hour after the ied exploded.

I suspect these charges are being dropped due to the evidence.

Since when does `evidence` count , in this un-just invasion?

 

[earth_as_one]

I will understand...even applaud, when the next Iraqi suicide bomber takes out a dozen or two US troops in one bang....and so should we all.

Crimes like Hadtha are no reason to support America's violent adversaries. They are just the other side of the same coin.

Also, most soldiers don't commit atrocities. Most deserve our respect. I'm sure many soldiers disagree with fellow soldiers getting away with crimes like this. Soldiers who commit atrocities like Haditha are the exception, not the rule.

The soldiers who committed this atrocity probably joined the services with good intentions. At one time they may have been idealistic people motivated by a sense of adventure, a way to serve their country, make the world a better place, a chance to better themselves...

Over time, war takes its toll on people. Some people will become desensitized to violence, addicted to power, prejudiced, shell shocked... Its not unusual for veteran soldiers to see their situation as a battle between "us" (their buddies) and them (everyone else). Something went seriously wrong in Haditha.

These soldiers should have been held accountable for their actions even if they were suffering from post tramatic stress. They lost control of themselves, and allowed themselves to murder innocent bystanders in a fit of rage. Soldiers who loose discipline are not fit to soldier. Allowing them to get away with murder sends the wrong message to other soldiers who might find themselves in a similar situation.

Iraqis are also aware of what happened. Incidents like Haditha probably did wonders for insurgent recruitment. Another issue is that soldiers who can get away with murder over there are coming home sooner or later. Do you want them moving into your neighborhood?

From what I recall reading, the claim that there was no hostile fire is not accurate. Where does that information come from #juan?

In fact I believe there are recordings of the marines communication their tactical situation with the base (i.e. taking fire) and an aerial drone actually videotaped everything beyond an hour after the ied exploded.

I suspect these charges are being dropped due to the evidence.

Hardly. Its been buried because people like JTF have selective outrage and short memories and because the US government is led by war criminals.

The evidence is overwhelming:

The Haditha Massacre
By Marjorie Cohn
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Tuesday 30 May 2006

They ranged from little babies to adult males and females. I'll never be able to get that out of my head. I can still smell the blood. This left something in my head and heart.
- Observations of Lance Cpl. Roel Ryan Briones after the Haditha Massacre

On November 19, 2005, Marines from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division based at Camp Pendleton allegedly killed 24 unarmed civilians in Haditha, Iraq, in a three to five hour rampage. One victim was a 76-year-old amputee in a wheelchair holding a Koran. A mother and child bent over as if in prayer were also among the fallen. "I pretended that I was dead when my brother's body fell on me, and he was bleeding like a faucet," said Safa Younis Salim, a 13-year-old girl who survived by faking her death.

Other victims included girls and boys ages 14, 10, 5, 4, 3 and 1. The Washington Post reported, "Most of the shots ... were fired at such close range that they went through the bodies of the family members and plowed into walls or the floor, doctors at Haditha's hospital said."

The executions of 24 unarmed civilians were conducted in apparent 0aretaliation for the death of Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas when a small 0aMarine convoy hit a roadside bomb earlier that day.

A statement issued by a US Marine Corps spokesman the next day claimed: "A US Marine and 15 civilians were killed yesterday from the blast of a roadside bomb in Haditha. Immediately following the bombing, gunmen attacked the convoy with small-arms fire. Iraqi army soldiers and Marines returned fire, killing eight insurgents and wounding another."

A subsequent Marine version of the events said the victims were killed inadvertently in a running gun battle with insurgents.

Both of these stories were false and the Marines knew it. They were blatant attempts to cover up the atrocity, disguised as "collateral damage."

The Marine Corps paid $38,000 in compensation to relatives of the victims, according to a report in the Denver Post. These types of payments are made only to compensate for accidental deaths inflicted by US troops. This was a relatively large amount, indicating the Marines knew something was not right during that operation, according to Mike Coffman, the Colorado state treasurer who served in Iraq recently as a Marine reservist.

Congressman John Murtha, D-Pa., a former Marine, was briefed on the Haditha investigation by Marine Corps Commandant Michael Hagee. Murtha said Sunday, "The reports I have from the highest level: No firing at all. No interaction. No military action at all in this particular incident. It was an explosive device, which killed a Marine. From then on, it was purely shooting people."

The Haditha massacre did not become public until Time Magazine ran a story about it in March of this year. Time had turned over the results of its investigation, including a videotape, to the US military in January. Only then did the military launch an investigation.

These Marines "suffered a total breakdown in morality and leadership, with tragic results," a US official told the Los Angeles Times...

http://www.truthout.org/article/the-haditha-massacre

Change must come from the top. The American government is rotten to the core. Most Americans are decent moral people. But that's not who runs the US right now.

 

[Zzarchov]

I find it hard Juan, that you don't grasp how the legal system works.

If you gripe is that the legal system lets guilty people go free too much, I can understand that and agree to a certain extant (That wanes and grows)

But if Im going to accept the legal system as fair, I can understan why charges are being dropped.

 

[#juan]

I don't think this was any kind of legal system failure. This was political cover up, pure and simple. The powers that be didn't want it to come out that these four young American men murdered 24 men, women, and children in cold blood. By the time they got a handle on it, it was already out and too many people knew about it.