Marines’ Trials in Iraq Killings Are Withering (no convictions for Haditha?)

[Barrett808]

Source: The New York Times

Marines’ Trials in Iraq Killings Are Withering
By PAUL von ZIELBAUER
Published: August 30, 2007

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., Aug. 29 — Last December, when the Marine Corps charged four infantrymen with killing Iraqi civilians in Haditha, Iraq, in 2005, the allegation was as dark as it was devastating: after a roadside bomb had killed their buddy, a group of marines rampaged through nearby homes, massacring 24 innocent people.

In Iraq and in the United States, the killings were viewed as cold-blooded vengeance. After a perfunctory military investigation, Haditha was brushed aside, but once the details were disclosed, the killings became an ugly symbol of a difficult, demoralizing war. After a fuller investigation, the Marines promised to punish the guilty.

But now, the prosecutions have faltered. Since May, charges against two infantrymen and a Marine officer have been dismissed, and dismissal has been recommended for murder charges against a third infantryman. Prosecutors were not able to prove even that the killings violated the American military code of justice.

Now their final attempt to get a murder conviction is set to begin, with a military court hearing on Thursday for Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, the last marine still facing that charge. He is accused of killing 18 Iraqis, including several women and children, after the attack on his convoy.

If the legal problems that have thwarted the prosecutors in other cases are repeated this time, there is a possibility that no marine will be convicted for what happened in Haditha.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/30/world/middleeast/30haditha.html

[saigon68]

1. Why bother

They are only islamics anyway

</sarcasm>

[KansDem]

2. I heard this on NPR this morning...

NPR's report on this massacre sounded like a Barbara Walters interview. They played excerpts from a "60 Minutes" program where Sgt. Wuterich "explained" why he killed the Iraqi civilians. It sounded like a therapy session.

I got the impression the Corporate Media is downplaying this incident as a kind of "good men put in bad situation" moment.

[frylock]

3. my heart wells with pride..

I don't know how much more disgusted I can become with this fucking country.