Does this sound like a "witch hunt"? From an earlier AP story, detailing the facts of the prosecution's case:
Quote:
Prosecutors said Corrales planned the killing from the time he received a phone call the night of June 22 ordering his platoon to go after the insurgents. They said he ordered his platoon to kill all military-age males in the target house.
The platoon met little resistance after breaking into the house with explosives. The soldiers quickly separated the men from the women and children, searched the house and found no weapons. They also started testing the men's hands for traces of explosives to find those who might have handled roadside bombs.
Government witnesses said Corrales grabbed Aswad [the deceased], who tested positive, pushed him outside to the yard of the house and tried to hand him an AK-47.
They said Corrales told Aswad to start running. When the Iraqi didn't, Corrales called the platoon's interpreter to ask him the word for "run" in Arabic and repeated the word in the man's native language.
No prosecution witness said they saw the man being shot.
One witness, platoon member Spc. Franklin Hambrick, testified he saw Corrales aim his M4 rifle at the man, but he turned around to go back inside and only heard shooting after entering the house.
Another witness, Pvt. Christopher Shore, who said he ran out to the yard after hearing shots fired, said Corrales told him to "finish" Aswad. Shore said he fired his weapon, but off to the side. Charged at the same time as Corrales, Shore was convicted of aggravated assault in a February court-martial and is serving a 120-day sentence.
Soldier’s court-martial in death of Iraqi goes to jury |
Though I disagree with Taoman's categorical description of soldiers as "thugs", there are thugs in uniform, and the prosecution had good reason to believe Corrales was one of them.