CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., Aug. 2, 2007
Marine Convicted Of Murdering Iraqi
Squad Leader Faces Life In Prison For Shooting Man During Unsuccessful Search For Insurgent
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(CBS/AP)
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Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III, 23, had been charged with premeditated murder but premeditation was stricken from the verdict that was returned by a military jury.
Hutchins was also convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, making a false official statement and larceny. He was acquitted of kidnapping, assault and housebreaking.
There is no mandatory minimum sentence for unpremeditated murder. The maximum is life in prison without parole.
Hutchins stood rigidly and stared straight ahead in the silent courtroom as the verdict was read.
The victim was pulled from his home in April 2006 and shot in a ditch, with an AK-47 and shovel placed nearby to make him look like an insurgent planting a bomb, according to the prosecution.
In another base courtroom, meanwhile, a sentencing hearing was under way for a member of the squad convicted on Wednesday of conspiracy and lesser crimes but acquitted of premeditated murder and kidnapping.
Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, 24, faced up to life in prison, but no mandatory minimum sentence. He was also found guilty of larceny and housebreaking, and cleared of making a false official statement.
Magincalda was not accused of firing any shots, but was charged with murder for participating in the plot.
All eight members of the squad were initially charged with murder and kidnapping.
Four lower-ranking Marines and a Navy corpsman cut deals with prosecutors in exchange for their testimony and received sentences ranging from one to eight years in prison.
A jury last month acquitted another corporal of murder but convicted him of conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping. According to testimony, Cpl. Trent Thomas had greater involvement in the killing than Magincalda. Thomas was sentenced to a reduction in rank and a bad-conduct discharge but no prison time.
The squad was pulled from the battlefield after the slaying in the Anbar province town.
Prosecutors said that during a nighttime patrol, the squad hatched a plan to kidnap a suspected insurgent from his house and kill him. When they could not find him, they instead kidnapped a man from a neighboring house, dragged him to a hole and shot him, the prosecution said.
Several witnesses testified the plot was born out of frustration after suspected insurgents kept evading prosecution.
Prosecutors singled out Hutchins as the ringleader, and testimony from the more junior troops seemed to focus on him and, to a lesser extent, his two corporals.
Magincalda was accused of being part of the four-man "snatch team" that seized the victim from his home. His attorneys contended he wanted no part in the conspiracy and told the squad he would not shoot anyone.
Hutchins' attorneys claimed he participated in the plot because his officers had set a poor leadership example and given approval for Marines to use violence in capturing and interrogating suspected insurgents.
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 36 CommentsHitler ? Come on, according to Ahmadinejad, Hitler didn't even kill the Jews. It was all a fake. Yeah Man, according to him, the Hollocaust didn't happen. So, if you are going to idolize OBL and try to fight his war for him - get with the rest of the facts.
And FeelFree1 swears it's all a fake - that the US and British governments are making this all up. Hey, he thinks the twin towers didn't happen, or something like that. Get all the facts, man.
Otherwise, prove yourself an idiot somewhere else. Get with the Fatwa, Man.
1. We have no problem with them dying like flies while promote our idea of a government and make them pay for it.
2. When an Iraqi is killed, the top "payment" for the family is 500.00 and that, only if proven that an American killed the person and that he/she was not an insurgent or sympathizer to them
3. When we plot to kill them, we can get time served, or 15 years at the most--because that is how much we DON't value their lives
4. We keep saying we would rather fight our war of terror there (so they can do the dying and crying) instead of fighting our war on our own turf
5. We have the gall to invade, bomb, occupy and torture, then proclaim ourselves, saviour, hero and good guys--and expect them to like and help us with our war. Even Hitler did not pretend that the people he invaded should be grateful and that he was anything other than a conqueror.
islam practices slavery on non muslims
islam practices apartheid on non muslims
islam practices rape on non muslims
islam practices rape on babies and animals
islam practices genocide on non muslims
all are violations of international law and are crimes against humanity
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/22/world/main2505445.shtml
Imam Khomeini - Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution
http://www.homa.org/Details.asp?ContentID=2137352826&TOCID=2083225445
Malaysia women 'suffer apartheid'
The daughter of Malaysia's former prime minister has launched a scathing attack on the roles and status of Muslim women in the country.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4784784.stm
A matter of tolerance
http://musingwithmarinamahathir.blogspot.com/2006/12/matter-of-tolerance.html
Marina Mahathir
http://musingwithmarinamahathir.blogspot.com/
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=slavery+islam&btnG=Search
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4795808.stm
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=apartheid islam
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=rape islam
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=rape islam babies&btnG=Search
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=genocide islam&btnG=Search
WHY IS IT NOT ONE MUSLIM COUNTRY GRANTS EQUAL RIGHTS TO NON MUSLIMS???
FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAM SAYS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATES ISLAM LAW...
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
For example, in 1981, the Iranian representative to the United Nations, Said Rajaie-Khorassani, articulated the position of his country regarding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by saying that the UDHR was "a secular understanding of the Judeo-Christian tradition", which could not be implemented by Muslims without trespassing the Islamic law.
http://www.un.org/terrorism/
http://www.un.org/terrorism/strategy-counter-terrorism.html
http://www.un.org/
But the accepted assumption in India is that most of India's Muslims were converted to Islam through the sword. Meaning the Indians were given an option between death or adopting Islam. The third option was getting examined in Islam religion along with heavy taxes- Jeziya (poll tax) and Kharaj (property tax).
http://adaniel.tripod.com/Islam.htm
this is what fascist nazi islam calls peace....
are you ready to live under islam rule as a non muslim???
apartheid fascist nazi islamic style
Rights of Non-Muslims in an Islamic State
http://www.sullivan-county.com/id3/islamic_state.htm
"I do not condone the actions of this Marine one bit as it is totally wrong and inhumane, but I'd sure like to know what you think of the radical Islamic jihadists who are blowing people up every day should be sentenced to."
I agree with the first part of the above but feel that once we had gotten rid of Saddem and found out that there were no WMD, we should have withdrawn. We would have lost face but all of the deaths, destruction, misery, etc that followed would have been avoided. Some strong SOB would have succeeded Saddam and Iraq would then have had peace and stability.
There would still be a war on terror but we would have fought it in a different way.
In 1786, Thomas Jefferson, then U.S. ambassador to France, and John Adams, then American Ambassador to Britain, met in London with Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja, the Dey%u2019s ambassador to Britain, in an attempt to negotiate a peace treaty based on Congress%u2019 vote of funding. To Congress, these two future presidents later reported the reasons for the Muslims%u2019 hostility towards America, a nation with which they had no previous contacts.
%u2026that it was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman (Muslim) who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise.
Sound familiar?
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison defeated the fascist nazi muslims 200 years ago
And again 100 years ago with Theodore Roosevelt
Tunisia in 1881 by France and Libya in 1911 by Italy. By then most of the Islamic world was under Christian domination. With the Ottoman Empire defeated in WW1, secularist Turkish rebels in 1923 overthrew the last Islamic Caliphate,
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?6bdec278-6a71-4436-bc4d-29d1c54b0ad7
non muslims of the world unite... fight against the tyranny of the fascist nazi terrorslam imperialist empire of the darkside...
Our Prophet commanded us to fight the kaafirs when we are able and to attack them in their homelands and to give them three choices before we enter their lands: either they become Muslim and be like us, sharing our rights and duties; or they pay the jizyah (poll tax) and feel themselves subdued; or they fight, in which case their wealth, women, children and homes become permissible as booty for the Muslims.
http://islamqa.com/index.php?ref=13759&ln=eng&txt=before%20islam%20arabia%20pagan
USA's PLEDGE 2 THE WORLD GIVEN BY JFK!!
"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty." - John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, Jan. 20, 1961
"Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." - John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, Jan. 20, 1961
One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Winston Churchill
"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." Albert Einstein
Edmund Burke: All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing.
"I do not condone the actions of this Marine one bit as it is totally wrong and inhumane, but I'd sure like to know what you think of the radical Islamic jihadists who are blowing people up every day should be sentenced to."
I wonder if singinrick appreciates the irony of his comment.
I'm not too sure about singinrick, but if someone - anyone - invaded my country and raided my house, abused my family, destroyed my furniture and desecrated my belongings, or killed my family members, I wouldn't be too happy - and I would fight back.
I wonder if he feels that the French Resistance during World War 2 should all have been executed?
"For all you whiners who are blaming Bush for what this Marine did.(Just like you blame Bush for everything that happens on this earth!)
Every man is responsible for his own actions, and every man also has a choice to join the military and serve his country as well."
Have you joined the military yet?
I know you keep claiming that you have, but then, you also claimed that your wife was in the military and that she was pregnant.
Were you lying then?
Is this you?
http://profielen1.****.nl/show.php?nick=lars008
Anyway, I think that you have made a wise shift of tactics, by delaring jihad against the jihadists that wage jihad against your jihad.
Good thinking.
"I do not condone the actions of this Marine one bit as it is totally wrong and inhumane, but I'd sure like to know what you think of the radical Islamic jihadists who are blowing people up every day should be sentenced to."
Sounds to me like you condone the murder of innocent Iraqis, regardless of what you have said above.
It doesn't matter what anyone thinks of "radical Islamic jihadist" murderers.
Answer this:
Do you support the murder of innocent Iraqis by Americans in uniform.
Some of these books detail horrendous crimes against Iraqi civilians - including the murder of children as young as 10, the murder of Iraqi adults (men and women), the beating of civilians (men, women and children), in many cases for no other reasons except they were Iraqis, looting, stealing money and jewelery from Iraqis as well as causing unnecessary destruction while conducting house searches - house searches that revealed nothing.
At one point, soldiers played soccer with the decapitated heads of Iraqis.
These crimes against Iraqis began occurring shortly after the invasion of Iraq - prior to any resistance that formed to fight back against the American "occupiers".
These are crimes that we don't want to hear about - that we don't think could be committed by decent Americans - but they did happen, and they continue to happen.
Bush through his lies and deception has turned good, honest Americans into murderers, rapists, thieves and criminals.
I'm not too sure about you, but if someone - anyone - invaded my country and raided my house, abused my family, destroyed my furniture and desecrated my belongings, or killed my family members, I wouldn't be too happy - and I would fight back.
Bush has done enough damage in Iraq.
If they can kill us, we can kill them
Qaeda warns of attacks 'worse than 9/11'
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070530102648.wuwa6k96&show_article=1
Hizbullah Deputy Sec-Gen Sheikh Naim Qassem: We Have Jurisprudent Permission to Carry Out 'Martyrdom' Operations, Fire Missiles on Israeli Civilians From Ayatollah Khomeini
http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD154907
Switching Sides: Inside The Enemy Camp
But then in 2000, well before his arrest, something happened which would make Abas question everything he believed in: a fatwa, a religious edict, was issued by Osama bin Laden.
"It should be understood that killing Americans and Jews anywhere found are the highest act of worship and the highest form of good deeds in the eyes of Allah," Simon quotes bin Laden.
Abas and his fellow commanders were ordered to read the fatwa to their men and make sure they carried it out. The others obeyed, but Abas refused. It was his moment of truth. He firmly believed that jihad was to be fought only on the battlefield in defense of Islam; he had always been taught that the killing of civilians had nothing to do with holy war and that it was forbidden.
The fatwa justified killing non-Muslim civilians everywhere.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/04/60minutes/main2761108.shtml?source=RSSattr=60Minutes_2761108
American Al Qaeda Member Threatens Attack
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/29/terror/main2865282.shtml
Re: "Isn't this starting to look a lot like Saigon before we left ??"
I am not that familiar with the conditions surrounding that period, but there do seem to be similarities.
Not to worry though. Cheney says that we are turning the corner.
Re: "He's Failed Our Nation Again"
I would have to disagree with this. The Bush regime is in the midst of actively attacking the people of the U.S. and the world, for their own gain.
I don't think that their plans are a failure. I think that they have been very successful in the eyes of those whom they serve.
For example, the "surge" is designed to prolong the illegal war against Iraq, in my opinion. It seems to be working just fine.
I feel like I'm Dorothy going to the Land of OZ ~
I'm with Cheney who needs a heart, Gonzales who needs some courage and Bush who needs a brain.
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