"Marine won’t serve jail time"
Not to minimize the grunts on-the-ground slaughter, but when are Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, et al, going to face charges for setting the stage that led to these atrocities?
Hello?
"Marine’s trial in ’05 Iraq deaths begins" Associated Press, January 10, 2012
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A Marine sergeant charged in the biggest criminal case against US troops in the Iraq war made a series of fatal assumptions and lost control of himself when he and his squad killed 24 Iraqis, including unarmed women and children, a military prosecutor said yesterday.
Also see: The Lone Gunman of Afghanistan
You know what they say: once is a mistake, twice....
Major Nicholas Gannon made the accusations to a jury of battle-hardened Marines hearing the case against Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich more than six years after the squad committed the killings in the town of Haditha while clearing homes....
The killings are considered among the war’s defining moments, further tainting America’s reputation when it was already at a low point after the release of photos of prisoner abuse by US soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison.
Yeah, sleeping women and children being slaughtered in their sleep on top of torture will tend to do that to an image.
As for the reputation, if I'm so down on my lying, war-criminal government when I am steeped in the mouthpiece media propaganda imagine how the rest of the world reads this, 'murkn!
Wuterich’s lawyer, Haytham Faraj, told jurors that Navy investigators, under pressure to show the Marine Corps was not covering up the massacre, brutally interrogated the other Marines in the squad for up to 14 hours and offered to drop charges against them if they testified against their squad leader.
That's a switch, huh?
“We don’t believe there was a crime committed here,’’ said Faraj, a retired Marine. “It was the unfortunate result of an attempt to do the right thing.’’
I'm sorry, the blood-soaked bodies in the beds had me confused.
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At least Iraqis will get justice from the AmeriKan system -- so unlike what they had, right?
"Plea deal in Iraqi civilian deaths; Marine convicted of minor charges in killing of 24" by Julie Watson | Associated Press, January 24, 2012
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A Marine accused of killing unarmed Iraqi women and children pleaded guilty yesterday to negligent dereliction of duty in a deal that will end the largest and longest-running criminal case against US troops to emerge from the Iraq War.
Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, 31, of Meriden, Conn., led the Marine squad in 2005 that killed 24 Iraqis in the town of Haditha in a series of raids on homes after a roadside bomb exploded near a Marine convoy, killing one Marine and wounding two others.
It was a stunning and muted end to the case once described as the Iraq War’s version of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.
It's what empires do.
The government failed to get one manslaughter conviction in the case that involved eight Marines.
The Haditha incident is considered among the war’s defining moments, further tainting America’s reputation when it was already at a low point after the release of photos of prisoner abuse by US soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison.
Yeah, I think I read that somewhere before.
It's what empires do.
The government failed to get one manslaughter conviction in the case that involved eight Marines.
The Haditha incident is considered among the war’s defining moments, further tainting America’s reputation when it was already at a low point after the release of photos of prisoner abuse by US soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison.
Yeah, I think I read that somewhere before.
“The case doesn’t end with a bang, it ends with a whimper and a pretty weak whimper at that,’’ said Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor and judge. “When you have 24 dead bodies and you get dereliction of duty, that’s pretty good defense work.’’
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After pleading guilty to the minor charge, Wuterich now faces a maximum of three months in confinement, two-thirds forfeiture of pay, and a rank demotion to private when he’s sentenced, which will happen this morning. The plea agreement calls for manslaughter charges to be dropped.
Seven other Marines in his squad were acquitted or had charges dismissed.
The killings still fuel anger in Iraq after becoming the primary reason behind demands that US troops not be given immunity from their court system.
Kamil al-Dulaimi, a Sunni lawmaker from the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi, called the plea deal a travesty of justice for the victims and their families.
It's AmeriKan justice, all right!
“It’s just another barbaric act of Americans against Iraqis,’’ Dulaimi said. “They spill the blood of Iraqis and get this worthless sentence for the savage crime against innocent civilians.’’
I can't say I blame him for feeling that way, and no apology I can offer (although I objected to this whole thing all along) will suffice at this point.
News of the plea agreement came late in the evening in Iraq just hours before the curfew most cities still impose, producing no noticeable public reaction. Government officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment....
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"Marine won’t serve jail time for killings in Iraq; Plea deal in Haditha case stirs outrage" by Julie Watson | Associated Press, January 25, 2012
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - The lone Marine convicted in his squad’s killing of two dozen unarmed civilians in one of the Iraq war’s defining moments escaped jail time yesterday after defending his order to raid homes in Haditha as a necessary act “to keep the rest of my Marines alive.’’
Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich’s sentence ends a six-year prosecution for the 2005 attack that failed to win any manslaughter convictions. Eight Marines were initially charged; one was acquitted and six others had their cases dropped.
Wuterich, who admitted ordering his squad to “shoot first, ask questions later’’ after a roadside bomb killed a fellow Marine, ended his manslaughter trial by pleading guilty Monday to a single count of negligent dereliction of duty.
They NEVER DO because that would MAKE THEM ACCOUNTABLE!
“I was expecting that the American judiciary would sentence this person to life in prison and that he would appear and confess in front of the whole world that he committed this crime, so that America could show itself as democratic and fair,’’ said survivor Awis Fahmi Hussein, showing his scars from a bullet wound to the back.
I was expecting what happened.
Military judge Lieutenant Colonel David Jones initially recommended the maximum sentence of three months for Wuterich, saying: “It’s difficult for the court to fathom negligent dereliction of duty worse than the facts in this case.’’
But after opening an envelope to look at the terms of the plea agreement as is procedure in military court, Jones announced the deal prevented any jail time for the Marine.
Jones did recommend that the sergeant’s rank be reduced to private, but decided not to cut two-thirds of his pay because the divorced father has sole custody of his three daughters. The rank reduction has to be approved by a Marine general, who already signed off on the plea deal.
Wuterich read a statement apologizing to the victims’ families and said he never fired on or intended to harm innocent women and children. But he said his plea should not be seen as a statement that he believes his squad dishonored their country.
“When my Marines and I cleared those houses that day, I responded to what I perceived as a threat and my intention was to eliminate that threat in order to keep the rest of my Marines alive,’’ he said. “So when I told my team to shoot first and ask questions later, the intent wasn’t that they would shoot civilians, it was that they would not hesitate in the face of the enemy.’’
I saw you on the street and perceived a threat so I decided to.... oh, right, that's a big issue back here.
“The truth is I never fired my weapon at any women or children that day,’’ Wuterich told Jones.
Well, someone killed all those people.
The contention by Wuterich, 31, of Meriden, Conn., contradicts prosecutors and counters testimony from a former squad mate who said he joined Wuterich in firing in a dark back bedroom where a woman and children were killed.
Prosecutors argued that Wuterich’s knee-jerk reaction of sending the squad to assault nearby homes without positively identifying a threat went against his training and caused needless deaths of 10 women and children on Nov. 19, 2005....
When you think about it, EVERY SINGLE DEATH SINCE THE INVASION were NEEDLESS because THERE WERE NO NUKES or WMD or TERRORISTS (they came later after AmeriKa occupied the place) or any of the other lies the criminal collaborators of the AmeriKan media spoon fed the people!!
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Yeah, that's them.
