Related: Haditha killings
Chilling new evidence of Haditha massacre
Well, government and MSM like to think of it as liberation, 'kay?
General denies being influenced; Testifies at hearing of last defendant in Iraq shootings" by Elliot Spagat, Associated Press | March 23, 2010
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — A four-star general said yesterday that he never received improper advice from an aide after bringing charges against a sergeant in the biggest criminal case against US troops stemming from the Iraq war.
General James Mattis testified for nearly two hours as the first witness at a hearing on a motion to dismiss charges against Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, the only remaining defendant in the case involving the killing of 24 Iraqis in Haditha in November 2005.
The pretrial hearing is scheduled to last up to one week. The judge, Lieutenant Colonel David Jones, said he expects to rule on the dismissal motion by the end of this week. He set a trial date for Sept. 13....
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CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — A military judge in California denied a motion yesterday to dismiss charges against a Marine sergeant whose squad killed 24 Iraqi men, women, and children after a bomb killed a Marine.
Marine Lieutenant Colonel David Jones ruled at Camp Pendleton on a defense motion claiming there was unlawful command influence while a general considered a court-martial for Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich.
The judge ruled there was no record of any “meaningful comment’’ between the general and an aide who had investigated the case as a military lawyer.
Wuterich is the only remaining defendant in the biggest criminal case against US troops to arise from the Iraq war.
He is facing trial on reduced charges of voluntary manslaughter and other crimes in the November 2005 attack in the town of Haditha.
Wuterich, seated in uniform, showed no emotion yesterday when the judge began by saying, “Motion is denied.’’
“The record is absent any meaningful comment’’ between the general and the aide, the judge said.
Wuterich, 30, of Meriden, Conn., is one of eight Marines originally charged with murder or failure to investigate the killings. Six have had charges dropped or dismissed, and one was acquitted. The end of the case would probably have sparked outcry in Iraq, where many see a lack of accountability for the actions of US troops through the seven years of war.
Wuterich is currently assigned to administrative work at First Marine Division headquarters at Camp Pendleton.
The deaths occurred after a Marine was killed by a roadside bomb in the town of Haditha.How come the "newspaper" never really tells you they gunned down mothers and children in their beds?
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The accountability AmeriKa so broadly demands of others will likely end in another acquittal.
Update:
Something I found hidden in the briefs.
"Missing contractor returns, US says
The United States says an Iraqi-American contractor said to have been kidnapped in Baghdad in January by Shi’ite militiamen is back in US hands. A Shi’ite extremist group claimed responsibility for the Jan. 23 kidnapping of Issa Salomi of El Cajon, Calif. A Pentagon statement yesterday said the case is under investigation. An Iraqi defense official said in February that Salomi was kidnapped by militiamen who offered to find relatives (AP)."
And I didn't even know he was gone.
