Marines may drop Haditha murder counts

[Gunny]

By ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press Writer

SAN DIEGO - An investigating officer has recommended that a Marine who led his squad in an assault that killed 24 Iraqi men, women and children should not be tried for murder, a defense attorney said Thursday.

If that recommendation and an earlier one made by the same officer is accepted by the general overseeing the case, which is likely based on past practice, no one will face murder charges in the biggest case involving civilian deaths in Iraq.

Lt. Col. Paul Ware recommended that Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, charged with the unpremeditated murder of 17 Iraqis, should be tried instead for negligent homicide in the deaths of five children and two women in the Iraqi town of Haditha, Wuterich's attorney Neal Puckett said.

Wuterich, 27, of Meriden, Conn., has said he regrets the deaths but had operated within combat rules and "made the best decisions I could have at the time."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071005/ap_on_re_us/marines_haditha

I'll be interested to see how this plays out.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

You are aware I linked to that in the "where is Murtha " thread? )

 

[Gunny]

You are aware I linked to that in the "where is Murtha " thread? )

No I wasn't. I thought about doing exactly that, but decided it deserved its own light to ensure all the fingerpointers got a chance to call Marines babykillers yet another time.

 

[maineman]

so...gunny...do they give medals for negligent homocide in the USMC these days?

 

[Gunny]

so...gunny...do they give medals for negligent homocide in the USMC these days?

No. But they DO give Purple Hearts posthumously for Marines who don't assess a situation to the best of their ability and act on it immediately.

It's easy to sit here and judge. Try walking a mile in that SSgt's boots. I have. It ain't a fun place to be.

 

[maineman]

No. But they DO give Purple Hearts posthumously for Marines who don't assess a situation to the best of their ability and act on it immediately.

It's easy to sit here and judge. Try walking a mile in that SSgt's boots. I have. It ain't a fun place to be.

I have no doubt..... but because it is difficult to judge him, are you suggesting we not try to do so?

 

[Gunny]

I have no doubt..... but because it is difficult to judge him, are you suggesting we not try to do so?

I don't see that the general public has any business judging him at all. He's being judged by a military court martial.

I think the biggest problem we've had in the past few wars are armchair quarterbacks and couch potatoes who don't have a clue what it's like to have rounds striking all around them to Monday morning quarterback a 2 years olds decisions under extreme duress when he's just trying to do what we sent him to do and bring his and his Marines' asses back home in one piece.

If he gave the order to commit murder or participated in committing murder he should swing for it. If he didn't, I don't think he should be held accountable so the public can get their pound of flesh.

 

[maineman]

I don't see that the general public has any business judging him at all. He's being judged by a military court martial.

I think the biggest problem we've had in the past few wars are armchair quarterbacks and couch potatoes who don't have a clue what it's like to have rounds striking all around them to Monday morning quarterback a 2 years olds decisions under extreme duress when he's just trying to do what we sent him to do and bring his and his Marines' asses back home in one piece.

If he gave the order to commit murder or participated in committing murder he should swing for it. If he didn't, I don't think he should be held accountable so the public can get their pound of flesh.

I am not suggesting that the public judge him...the "we" was somewhat "imperial"..I think that he should be judged by a court martial and if he is found guilty of a crime - any crime - he should be punished.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

I am not suggesting that the public judge him...the "we" was somewhat "imperial"..I think that he should be judged by a court martial and if he is found guilty of a crime - any crime - he should be punished.

Which is what Murtha tried to bypass with his claim they murdered them, that no enemy fire occurred and that it was wanton cold blooded war crimes. All for political gain. All proven to be wrong since.

 

[Gunny]

I am not suggesting that the public judge him...the "we" was somewhat "imperial"..I think that he should be judged by a court martial and if he is found guilty of a crime - any crime - he should be punished.

I have no problem with that, and did not suggest otherwise. My stance on the matter is they should not be charged with a crime they did not commit to satisfy a false, sensationalist accusation made by a politician for the purpose of getting his name on Page One.

 

[red states rule]

I'll be interested to see how this plays out.

John (They Killed In Cold Blood) Murtha will not like this.

 

[doniston]

I don't see that the general public has any business judging him at all. He's being judged by a military court martial.

I think the biggest problem we've had in the past few wars are armchair quarterbacks and couch potatoes who don't have a clue what it's like to have rounds striking all around them to Monday morning quarterback a 2 years olds decisions under extreme duress when he's just trying to do what we sent him to do and bring his and his Marines' asses back home in one piece.

If he gave the order to commit murder or participated in committing murder he should swing for it. If he didn't, I don't think he should be held accountable so the public can get their pound of flesh.

Yeh, we civilians should be trying the President as accomplist and main agitator for putting them in a position to murder the people.

 

[doniston]

Which is what Murtha tried to bypass with his claim they murdered them, that no enemy fire occurred and that it was wanton cold blooded war crimes. All for political gain. All proven to be wrong since.

Look Jackass, where has it been proven that enemy fire occurred? Or that any of the rest is wrong??? The only thing proven is that people disagree. You can be as Gung-ho as you wish but that doesn't make you right.

 

[CSM]

Yeh, we civilians should be trying the President as accomplist and main agitator for putting them in a position to murder the people.

So what, exactly, is stopping folks from doing that? Where is the (as a bare minimum) the civil lawsuit for "wrongful death" being brought against the CIC?

We both know why there isn't one...just one of us, however, will state that there isn't a case that will stand up in court. What's your excuse?

 

[CSM]

Look Jackass, where has it been proven that enemy fire occurred? Or that any of the rest is wrong??? The only thing proven is that people disagree. You can be as Gung-ho as you wish but that doesn't make you right.

Where has it been proven that enemy fire DID NOT occur??? You can be as extremist as you like but that doesn't make it true.

 

[doniston]

So what, exactly, is stopping folks from doing that? Where is the (as a bare minimum) the civil lawsuit for "wrongful death" being brought against the CIC?

We both know why there isn't one...just one of us, however, will state that there isn't a case that will stand up in court. What's your excuse?

the legitimate reason, (you may call it an excuse if you want) is that there are not enough Republicans "YET" who are willing to stick their necks out and vote with the Democrats to impeach the bastard. It is slowly building. but If the house would impeach, the senate would have to do nothing because Bush would then resign.(and so would Chenny). There is plenty of "CASE" to do so.

 

[doniston]

Where has it been proven that enemy fire DID NOT occur??? You can be as extremist as you like but that doesn't make it true.

That would be the witnesses.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Where has it been proven that enemy fire DID NOT occur??? You can be as extremist as you like but that doesn't make it true.

The investigation has shown that 10 of the dead "civilians" were armed and firing on the Marines, as opposed to Murtha's claim no enemy fire occurred. The Investigation further has shown that the Marines were clearing buildings because the fire came from that area.

Hell the investigation teams couldn't finish their work in Haditha because of "gasp" enemy fire. So much for the peaceful civilian claim. There is a reason the men have been recommended to have murder charges dropped and all but one officer has had the charges dropped. What Murtha and the press claimed happened, DID NOT happen.

 

[Gunny]

the legitimate reason, (you may call it an excuse if you want) is that there are not enough Republicans "YET" who are willing to stick their necks out and vote with the Democrats to impeach the bastard. It is slowly building. but If the house would impeach, the senate would have to do nothing because Bush would then resign.(and so would Chenny). There is plenty of "CASE" to do so.

There is nowhere near enough evidence to even try or it would have been done.

 

[Gunny]

That would be the witnesses.

What witnesses? Iraqi insurgents who put away their weapons long enough to testify? Or perhaps Iraqis miles away in Baghdad who "heard?"