Report: Five Marines may face charges in Haditha killings

North County Times ^ | November 21, 2006 | William FInn Bennett

[RedRover]

Military authorities may soon charge five Camp Pendleton Marines in the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in the city of Haditha just over one year ago, according to a story Tuesday on National Public Radio that named the five men.

The radio network reported that prosecutors are weighing whether to file charges of negligent homicide or murder against the men. The five are identified in the story as Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who has since been promoted to the rank of staff sergeant, Cpls. Hector Salinas, Sanick De la Cruz and Lance Cpls. Stephen Tatum and Justin Sharratt.

Marine Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson said he could not confirm the radio report, which attributed its information to unnamed Pentagon sources.

snip

[Sgt.] Wuterich is stationed at Camp Pendleton, his attorney Mark Zaid said in a telephone interview Tuesday. While Zaid said he couldn't say for sure where the other four men are, he said Wuterich has told him that he frequently runs into several of the men on the Marine base. Zaid added that none of the men is or has been in custody nor have they been restricted to base.

snip

This summer, Wuterich made statements defending himself and the other Marines, saying the deaths occurred as the troops pursued what they believed to be enemy insurgents.

Wuterich's attorney Zaid said Tuesday that he was getting tired of unsubstantiated reports out of the Defense Department that his client and other Marines are "about" to be charged.

"The cowardly anonymous DOD sources have been saying for the last four months that charges were imminent -- so we have stopped trying to figure out when it is," Zaid said.

[RedRover]

Anonymous DOD sources are leaking information (including the names of the five Marines) to NPR. Might they be Clinton appointees, by chance?

Let me know if you'd like to be on the Haditha Marines Ping List.

[RedRover]

Ping!

We didn't know their names when Murtha called them killers. Now we do.

BTW, I've set up a new web page to try and get the word out about defending our Marines. You can see it here.

[silver charm]

Not just no! HELL NO!

[Eagles6]

This war would already be over if the msm was patriotic and actually wrote stories from a pro-American, pro-military point of view. How many stories on this incident, Hamandiyah, abu-ghraib? And yet yesterday's slaughter of 250 civilians by the enemy is forgotten before the smoke clears.

If the President had arrested the leakers and their conspirators in the media before the election, his party would have won hands down.

[AmeriBrit]

bttt

[jazusamo]

which attributed its information to unnamed Pentagon sources.

More of this Murtha crap, unnamed Pentagon sources. "If" they exist, they should be arrested and prosecuted for releasing confidential information.

If Murtha was a man of honor, which he is not, he would resign for going public with this information thereby denying these Marines their presumption of innocence.

[RedRover]

Murtha must be unfamiliar with this “…the accused must be presumed to be innocent until his guilt is established by legal and competent evidence beyond reasonable doubt.”-- Uniform Code of Military Justice, USC Title 10, Chapter 47, Subchapter VII, Article 51(c)(1)

I simply don't see how these Marines can be assured of a fair trial. And now (if NPR can be trusted) people in the DOD are working against them. I'm just shaking my head.

[RedRover]

And yet yesterday's slaughter of 250 civilians by the enemy is forgotten before the smoke clears.

Exactly. If it can't be blamed on America, President Bush, or Marine grunts then it didn't really happen.

[jazusamo]

For information on the Haditha Marines incident and the despicable behavior of Jack Murtha in denying them the presumption of innocence by going public last May and saying “…they killed innocent civilians in cold blood,” click on the links below.

DEFEND OUR MARINES….THE MURTHA FILE….DOG MURTHA

[montag813]

If these men go to jail I want Rumsfeld and the entire Joint Chiefs to go in the stripey hole with them. This constant persecution of our brave fighting men by the Pentagon pussies makes me sick.

[Marine_Uncle]

Thanks for the web site reference. I will visit it.

[RedRover]

This constant persecution of our brave fighting men by the Pentagon pussies makes me sick.

There are those in the defense biz who are adamantly against the war in Iraq. There's a lot more money to be passed around and kicked back in a cold war. In a hot war, money's spent on beans and bullets. Lots of DOD guys are angry because big ticket, next-generation weapon development is being delayed by Iraq. And of course Murtha is King Rat of the military-industrial complex so he's just looking after business when he says end the war. It all just makes me sick.

By the way, feel free to post your "IREY! IREY" picture anytime. I miss seeing it.

[RedRover]

Thanks, unc. And criticism is welcome.

I hope we can turn "Defend Our Marines" into something. The persecution of our Marines is based on political pressure. To me, that means we better press back!

[Marine_Uncle]

Doesn't appear there is any criticism required. You simply are providing a lot of thought provoking links that set the whole story straight.
I still hold out hope these guys will be freed from this nightmare they are enduring. If it turns out the soul reason for the damn hearings where to satisfy the Iraqi then shame on our JAG Corps., as well as high ranking military who even allowed it to proceed this far.
But I just repeat what so many of us have voice for some time.
The conditions they had to operate in continue to echo in my mind as a sound reason this fiasco should never had seen the light of day.
Heaven only knows how often similiar actions have had to be taken by our soldiers and Marines in Iraq. But again, I just echo what so many of us have voiced over the months.
It is like we are all talked out over the issue. The die was set. But will justice prevail in the end. And who's form of justice?

[montag813]

By the way, feel free to post your "IREY! IREY" picture anytime. I miss seeing it.

"I-REY I-REY I-REY!"

She fought the good fight and made us proud, God bless Ms. Irey and her supporters.

[W04Man]

http://DogMurtha.com

[RedRover]

I still hold out hope these guys will be freed from this nightmare they are enduring.

Amen. And I hope we can let them know that they haven't been abandoned by their nation.

[RedRover]

I'd love to see Murtha pushed into retirement and not run in '08. Regardless, lots of us on FR are ready to support Diana Irey again if she chooses to run.

[RedRover]

Check out the links jaz posted in post 9. I put up "The Murtha File" and "Defend Our Marines" and have links to DogMurtha on both.

[Live free or die]

I graduated Platt High School a year before Frank Wuterich. Could you let me on the list?