[Girlene]

Jude24, Good to see you here again!

I would say the taxi occupants would definitely be perceived as a threat, given:

a. A huge IED (rattled windows/walls 2-3 km away at their FOB)had just blown a vehicle apart killing one and wounding two

b. All occupants were military aged males

c. They stopped between the IED and where shots were thought to be coming from.

d. They exited the car

e. What happened after this depends on whether one believes Wuterich or Dela Cruz. Wuterich says he shot them after ordering them to stop, but they ran instead. Dela Cruz says they were shot after surrendering. Dela Cruz has given a variety of stories about the taxi incident. Wuterich has given one that we know of, and has not been cross-examined in a hearing as of yet.

Proving they were insurgents would just be the nail in the coffin at this point. I agree with Just a Nobody, if our Marines are going to be called cold-blooded murderers, I say we call these guys insurgents. Just seems fair. :-)

[jude24]

There have been more than a few cases where soldiers manning checkpoints shot at cars that were perceived as threats, but turned out to have innocent civilians who tragically misunderstood the soldiers' instructions. Apparently there is a big problem with the language barrier (most soldiers don't speak Arabic, and a small number of Iraqis speak English) and the fact that the gesture of an outstretched hand to Westerners means "Stop," but to Iraqis means "Welcome." Took a while for the Army to learn that lesson. As far as I am aware, no serviceman has been prosecuted for a checkpoint homicide, because they were reasonable at the time.

I would have to infer, based upon that information, that had the Haditha Marines only shot the occupants of the vehicle, suspecting them to be insurgents, they would not be facing prosecution. What caught the eye of the NCIS, the JAGs, and (most unfortunately) Congressman Murtha, was the homicides in the houses. The Marines will have to convince a jury that those killings were reasonable. They face an uphill battle on that argument. It's winnable, but going to be tough.