Posted on 09/06/2007 9:39:08 PM PDT by brityank
Marine says he mourns the loss of civilians killed in Haditha
By: MARK WALKER -- Staff writerCAMP PENDLETON ---- Accused of leading his troops in what prosecutors contend was the wrongful killing of two dozen Iraqi civilians in the city of Haditha nearly two years ago, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich has served as symbol for U.S. military action in Iraq having gone awry.
On Thursday, a calm and clear-speaking Wuterich told investigative officer at Camp Pendleton that he will forever regret the loss of innocent life on that day."As a sergeant and a squad leader, I am responsible for the decisions made to employ the tactics we used that day," Wuterich told Lt. Col. Paul Ware, the Marine officer who presided over his four-day hearing and will recommend whether he face trial in the deaths of 17 of the 24 Iraqi civilians who died. "I will always mourn the unfortunate deaths of the innocent Iraqis who were killed during our response to that attack."
Wuterich led a squad from Camp Pendleton on a resupply mission the morning of Nov. 19, 2005, when a Humvee was destroyed by a roadside bomb, killing a lance corporal and injuring two other Marines.
Moments later, five men who emerged from a car that drove up were killed by Wuterich and another Marine. During his statement, Wuterich said those men were running away when he knelt and shot them in the belief they were insurgents responsible for the roadside bombing and possibly carrying a bomb in their car.
Nineteen other Iraqis would die in the next few hours as Wuterich and his Marines stormed four homes in search of the bomb triggerman and those they believed were using rifles to fire at them after the bombing.
Wuterich made most of his comments about the evens in Haditha while reading from a prepared text. He then answered several questions from his lead attorney, Neal Puckett, who asked how he felt about the events in Haditha.
"I will never be OK with what happened that day," Wuterich said in response to one of Puckett's questions. "One of my Marines got killed, two of them got seriously injured.
"Personally, I feel like there were certain decisions that I made then that I might have changed, such as taking a different route back."
He also said he was remorseful about the Iraqis killed that day.
"Families got killed that day and I know I can look at my family and I would not want that to happen to them. I will never be OK with how the events turned out that day."
Wuterich also denied saying a week prior to the incident that if his squad was ever attacked he would lead his men in killing everyone in the vicinity. One of the government witnesses against Wuterich, Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, made that accusation when he testified last week.
Dela Cruz also had testified that Wuterich told him on several occasions to lie to investigators and say the men from the car were shot by Iraqi army troops who were with the Marines that day.
Wuterich's comments were made in the form of an unsworn statement, meaning he could not be questioned by prosecutors.
Read more on this story in Friday's North County Times.
NCTimes story on SSgt. Wunterich’s statement.
I join you in that prayer.
As do I.
In our time, what this young warrior has done here far outshines the so-called leaders of our day. He says clearly, honestly, and with no pointing fingers at others, "I am responsible." The integrity of that statement should cause Marines through the centuries to salute this NCO. He's not hiding. He's standing up like a man.
He's not Senator Craig playing word games with undercover cops. He's not John Murtha, now hiding in his office and refusing to acknowledge he got Haditha wrong and leveled error-ridden charges in a situation on which he had no background. He's not Bill Clinton saying he doesn't know that woman.
He's a warrior and a leader. He owns up to his decisions.
Marine Corps, let me tell you this. If you injure this warrior, who simply did what you trained him to do in combat -- in order to bring his men home alive -- then you will commit an act that will injure the spirit of your entire Corps. The word of his integrity will spread in shops, motor pools, day rooms, chow halls, and jump off points around the world. Your warriors will know then that you are not serious. Thay will know that you don't have their back. They will know that when the shooting starts, the brass and the civilian leadership have not a warrior among them, none who abide by "Semper Fi."
I think Lt. Col. Ware has shown pretty good insight as to what is required to prove a crime and what the results of these proceedings mean to future of Marines on the ground in war zones. Let’s hope he continues to be a voice of sanity in the Haditha cases.
xzins, you comments were spot on.
Girlene -- your factual command and insights are spot on, and are a delight to read; thank you.
This statement by Sgt. Wuterich was probably well-advised, but I remain unconvinced that anybody "innocent" got killed that day. The occupants of those houses were either insurgents or collaborators. They were either "with us or against us". Clearly, they were not with us:
A 12-year old survivor of the alleged massacre of innocent civilians by U.S. Marines patrolling Haditha has admitted she had prior knowledge of the plot to detonate an IED as their convoy was passing by her house on the morning of Nov. 19, 2005.
In a CNN interview broadcast Wednesday, Safa Younis - who says eight members of her family were killed by U.S. troops - recalled that she was getting ready for school as the Marine Humvee approached.
"I was planning to go to school. I was about to go out of bed. I knew the bomb would explode so I covered my ears," the youngster said, according to a CNN translator. "The bomb [then] exploded," she explained. "The bomb struck an armored vehicle. I don't know if it was a Humvee or an armored vehicle. When the bomb exploded, they came straight to my house."
In that society, I would not classify all of the women and children so. That Safa said that she knew does show that the adults were complicit, but we can still regret that necessary actions taken to secure the freedom of the rest of the town. JMHO.
well said sir.
Very well said, Chaplin. Post of the day.
That deserves a BUMP.
Wuterich says he mourns Iraqi deaths; Hearing ends for Marine sergeant at center of Haditha killings
By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON -- Accused of leading his troops in what prosecutors say was the wrongful killing of two dozen Iraqi civilians in the city of Haditha nearly two years ago, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich has served as a symbol for U.S. military action in Iraq having gone awry.
On Thursday, a calm and clear-speaking Wuterich said in a military courtroom that he followed his training after his squad was attacked by a roadside bomb and that he will forever regret the loss of innocent life.
"As a sergeant and a squad leader, I am responsible for the decisions made to employ the tactics we used that day," Wuterich told Lt. Col. Paul Ware, the Marine officer who presided over a four-day hearing for the accused Marine. Ware will recommend whether Wuterich should face trial in the deaths of 17 of the 24 Iraqi civilians.
"I will always mourn the unfortunate deaths of the innocent Iraqis who were killed during our response to that attack,"
Wuterich was leading a squad from Camp Pendleton on a resupply mission the morning of Nov. 19, 2005, when a Humvee was destroyed by a roadside bomb, killing a lance corporal and injuring two other Marines.
Moments later, five men who emerged from a car that drove up were killed by Wuterich and another Marine. Wuterich said those men were running away when he knelt and shot them in the belief they were insurgents responsible for the roadside bombing and possibly carrying a bomb in their car.
"The threat had to be neutralized," he said.
Nineteen other Iraqis, including six children and two women, would die in the next few hours as Wuterich and his Marines stormed four homes. According to testimony, they were in search of the bomb's triggerman and those they believed were shooting at them.
Most of the 27-year-old Marine's comments came as he read from a prepared statement. He then answered several questions from his lead attorney, Neal Puckett, who asked how he felt about the incident, which would draw international attention to Wuterich and the Marines.
"I will never be OK with what happened that day," Wuterich said. "One of my Marines got killed, two of them got seriously injured.
"Personally, I feel like there were certain decisions that I made then that I might have changed, such as taking a different route back."
As his wife and parents watched him speak from the gallery of a base courtroom, the married father of three daughters also expressed remorse.
"Families got killed that day, and I know I can look at my family and I would not want that to happen to them," he said. "I will never be OK with how the events turned out that day."
Wuterich also denied saying a week prior to the incident that if his squad was ever attacked he would lead his men in killing everyone in the vicinity. A witness against Wuterich, squad member Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, testified last week that Wuterich made that statement.
Wuterich also rejected Dela Cruz's testimony that Wuterich told him to say the men from the car were shot by Iraqi army troops with the Marines that day.
Investigating officer's work
Ware now has to weigh often contradictory testimony of government witnesses and the rules of engagement in place in 2005 as he decides whether there is sufficient evidence to recommend that Wuterich face a court-martial.
Ware may have tipped his hand in remarks at the close of the hearing. He told prosecutors he wanted them to explain in writing why Wuterich should be held accountable for the deaths of six Iraqis inside a bedroom of the first home they stormed.
In his statement, Wuterich acknowledged leading the assault on the homes, an action that he said came from an order issued by Kilo Company platoon Lt. William Kallop. Wuterich said he never shot anyone inside the first two homes.
Of the four men originally charged with the Haditha killings, prosecutors later dropped five homicide counts against Dela Cruz in exchange for his testimony.
Earlier this summer, Ware recommended dropping the charges against squad member Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, and last month made a similar recommendation in the case against Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum. Camp Pendleton's Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the authority over the case, agreed to drop the charges against Sharratt. Mattis has not yet ruled on whether to drop the charges against Tatum.
Officers also charged
The Haditha killings prompted a worldwide outcry when reported by Time magazine in March 2006. Included in the criticism leveled at the Marines was a statement from Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., who said the troops were overstressed and had "killed in cold blood."
That comment set off a political firestorm and re-energized the debate over the Iraq war.
When the killings occurred, Marine commanders in Iraq initially decided the deaths were "collateral damage" from combat.
That was the official line until two months after the killings, when a Time correspondent who had spoken with survivors asked questions about it. By March of last year, the military ordered a full-scale investigation into the killings and how commanders handled the incident.
In December, the results of those inquiries were murder charges for Wuterich, Dela Cruz, Sharratt and Tatum. Four officers from their unit, Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, were charged with dereliction of duty for failing to fully investigate the case.
Charges against one of those officers, Capt. Randy Stone, have since been dropped. The battalion commander at the time, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, has been recommended to face court-martial.
Hearings for the other officers, 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson and Capt. Lucas McConnell, are pending. Grayson's attorney Joseph Casas said Thursday that he has asked the hearing for his client to take place in November.
On Wednesday, the Marine Corps announced it had censured three other Marine officers for failing to order an investigation, including former 2nd Marine Division commander Maj. Gen. Richard Huck.
SSgt. Wunterich, by standing tall, accepting his position as the team leader, shows that he is a Man among men; his actions that day served his command and the Corps to the fullest measure of "Duty, Honour, Country".
We now know that the Scan-Eagle drone that was above the actions showed the insurgents creating the videos that McGirk, TIME, and Murtha used to vilify these men; that JAG and NCIS tried to withhold that information, and the actions taken during the various A32's -- all speak to the truth that Command Influence is rife.
SSgt. Wuterich exemplifies “Semper Fidelis”.
He is a Marine’s Marine.
Joke of the Day:
Only in Texas my friends.... Only in Texas .... Too bad.....
A lawyer runs a stop sign and gets pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy. He thinks that he is smarter than the deputy because he is a lawyer from New York and is certain that he has a better education then any cop from Crawford, Texas . He decides to prove this to himself and have some fun at the Texas deputy’s expense.
The deputy says,” License and registration, please.”
“What for?” says the lawyer.
The deputy says, “You didn’t come to a complete stop at the stop sign.”
Then the lawyer says, “I slowed down, and no one was coming.”
“You still didn’t come to a complete stop”, Says the deputy. “License and registration, please.”
The lawyer says, “What’s the difference?”
“The difference is you have to come to complete stop, that’s the law. License and registration, please!” the Deputy says.
Lawyer says, “If you can show me the legal difference between slow down and stop, I’ll give you my license and registration; and you give me the ticket. If not, you let me go and don’t give me the ticket.”
“That sounds fair. Please exit your vehicle, sir,” the deputy says.
At this point, the deputy takes out his nightstick and starts beating the ever-loving s—t out of the lawyer and says, “Do you want me to stop, or just slow down?”
LOL! I wonder what he said?
Excellent post! Thank you.
SSgt. Wuterich exemplifies “Semper Fidelis”. He is a Marine’s Marine.-Lancey Howard
Agreed.
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