Marines Facing Charges For Haditha Deaths

As many as eight Marines could be charged in the biggest U.S. criminal case to emerge from the war in Iraq in terms of Iraqis killed.

Camp Pendleton officials scheduled a briefing Thursday to announce charges in the shooting deaths of 24 civilians on Nov. 19, 2005, in the Iraqi town of Haditha.

It is unclear how many troops will be named. Lawyers for two Marines already have said they expect their clients will be charged and it is believed up to six others could join them.

The case focuses on motive. What is unclear is whether the civilians were victims of wanton killing by troops angered by the death of a comrade, or people caught in a hellish battle and killed as the Marines attempted to defend themselves from a perceived threat.

The shootings occurred after a roadside bomb killed one Marine from a squad on patrol. In the aftermath of the blast, five Iraqi men were shot as they approached the scene in a taxi and others — including women and children — died as Marines opened fire on a cluster of houses in the area.

Because multiple troops are involved, it is likely prosecutors will seek to offer plea deals to some in return for testimony against the others.

That is what happened in the case of seven Pendleton Marines and a Navy corpsman charged six months ago with kidnapping and murdering an Iraqi civilian in the town of Hamdania. That case still is playing out in military courtrooms on the base, located on the coast between San Diego and Los Angeles and home to some 45,000 troops.

Four of the Marines are about to stand trial after four of their comrades, in return for reduced charges and prison sentences of less than two years, accepted plea deals to testify against them.

Prosecutors might be hoping for a similar development in the Haditha case, but some legal experts believe it is less likely any of the troops involved in that incident will cooperate.

In the Hamdania case, the troops are accused of hatching an elaborate plan to kill a man. In Haditha, the killings came as a reaction to a bomb blast.

Prosecutors had stronger evidence in the Hamdania case, said Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor and judge who teaches law of war at Georgetown University Law Center.

In that case, all but one of the eight accused men gave incriminating statements to investigators soon after the incident, and those documents formed the crux of the prosecution's case. Defense lawyers say the statements were coerced and should be disregarded.

No statements were given by the Marines following the Haditha killings, which were investigated months later, after a Time magazine story picked holes in the Marine Corps' account that 15 Iraqis died in a roadside bomb blast and Marines killed eight insurgents in an ensuing firefight. Later reports put the number of dead Iraqis at 24.

None of the bodies was exhumed, and collecting forensic evidence in a war zone is tough. In the Hamdania case, the victim was disinterred and analyzed by U.S. pathologists.

"In Hamdania, the situation was so much more stark," Solis said. "You had individuals who allegedly planned and executed in cold blood a homicide, whereas in Haditha the situation is not nearly so clear. It's going to be a much tougher case to prove."

Still, because there are multiple defendants, there is always the chance somebody will agree to a plea bargain, he said.

Former Army prosecutor Tom Umberg thinks it is likely someone will accept a deal and testify against the others.

"I would expect because of the pressure of very long prison sentences, you will see some of those of lesser culpability providing evidence," he said.

Neal Puckett, the attorney for the squad leader in the Haditha case, Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, 26, from Meriden, Connecticut, said his client has no plans to cooperate because "he didn't do anything wrong."

Puckett said all the Marines involved in the incident agree that the killings were a highly unfortunate result of a lawful response to a perceived threat.

Defense lawyers have said that under military rules of engagement, it can be allowable for Marines to clear houses with fragmentation grenades and machine guns if they believe the occupants are threatening their lives.

Iraqis Call For Trial To Be Held In Iraq

Some Iraqis said Thursday that U.S. military plans to charge Marines were a sham, and that the American troops should face justice in their country.

"The trial they are talking about is fake. The American troops should be brought here, in front of an Iraqi court," Naji al-Ani, a 36-year-old laborer, said by telephone from Haditha. "They committed a horrible crime against innocents."

Other residents of Haditha agreed, saying they believed the servicemen were guilty and should face the death penalty.

"Are they terrorists or are they fighting terrorism?" said Jamal al-Obaidi, a 40-year-old teacher. "The trial is not fair because it is taking place in America. Executing them is the minimum penalty."

A spokesman for the Iraqi Defense Ministry said the Iraqi government supports the decision of the U.S. military to prosecute the troops.

"We respect and appreciate their interest in holding this trial," spokesman Mohammed Al-Askari said.

But Dr. Jabir al-Jabiri, an Iraqi political analyst, said the fact that the trial was being held in the United States amounted to a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.

"This is an insult to the Iraqi people," he said. "We hope the Iraqi judicial system and government can be independent enough to fulfill their duties in a proper way."

Karim al-Hayani, a 46-year-old Haditha resident, said he had a question for President Bush.

"I ask Bush: 'Is this the democracy that you promised to bring to the Iraqis?'" he said.