Dealing with Haditha

[Sarajevo071]

I don't think this qualifies as a lack of accountability. Several issues have thrown the case in doubt, although I think it is still very likely that Sgt. Frank Wuterich and some of the squad in question will not see their charges dismissed. There was the UAV video (just declassified) of insurgents leaving the scene right at the time the shooting started, and continued questioning of witness statement discrepencies.

My response to those who want to hang these guys from the nearest tree and those who don't want them tried for anything is the same. Wait and see; have faith in the military justice system. A general is not just going to dismiss charges if the charge is legitimate, especially not in a case as major as this with a general like Mattis.

Matt

Hi,

First, just to be clear, I am not one of those "who want to hang these guys from the nearest tree" but one who would like to see UNIVERSAL rules on crimes, war crimes, murder on every single individual... Being treated same, equal, it's basic human right and pillar of democracy. Right? Or I miss that class in school!?

Anyways, "wait and see" policy is great also when you apply that on everyone and not when one side do something wrong you go and accuse and punish them right away but when other side do that (one close to your heart) rules are completely different. Or some time there is not even "wait and see". Crimes are ignored and push under the carpet. They are bunch of jihadi towel heads anyways, right?

I know, I will get the heat soon I post this but for me murder is murder. Simple.

Like ACLU said, there are many crimes committed by U.S. Soldiers against civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan that "detail a troubling pattern of troops failing to understand and follow the rules that govern interrogations and deadly actions." Troops and their officers being let go, not punished for murders or rapes putting bad stain on all US military and what they trying to do and for what they stand for. And that is bad and wrong message to everyone else.

But, that's just my humble (non-american) opinion.

[tequila]

MattC86, I think the defense argument regarding the UAV footage is not that insurgents were "leaving the scene" but rather that the Marines were engaged in several firefights that day and CAS was used to destroy several houses without positive ID of all people within the house --- and thus Marines clearing houses without positively ID'ing their targets was within the ROE.

The video appears to show that, throughout that day, Marines engaged in fierce firefights and called in air strikes to level buildings -- often with no definitive idea of who was inside.

That could buttress defense arguments that Marines clearing buildings on the ground with guns and grenades were just following rules of engagement.

"The defense can say, 'Hey, look, you had to do this later in the day, what's the difference between what happened later in the day and what our guys did earlier in the day?' " asked retired Marine Lt. Col. Gary Solis, a former prosecutor and military judge who teaches law at Georgetown University and West Point.

The UAV footage has always been there and is in fact detailed in the Harpers writeup of the incident by William Langiewiesche, where he makes much the same point.

... The men in the car on the palm-grove trail were in no particular hurry. They stopped beside other cars on the trail, presumably to coordinate future attacks. Eventually they came to River Road, not far south of Route Chestnut, where they parked the car and entered two houses. McConnell called the houses "safe houses," perhaps because the men calmly entered them. There was little doubt that all seven men were insurgents, but it was impossible to tell who else was in the houses, and specifically whether families were sheltering inside. Force-protection standards precluded the possibility of checking, and since the rules of engagement sanctioned collateral casualties with the enemy so near, a flight of Cobra helicopters arrived and fired two AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, one into each house, to soften things up. Kilo Company Marines then rushed forward to clear the rooms as required. The first house was empty, but as they approached the second one they were greeted by small-arms fire and grenades. The Marines pulled back—way back—and called in an AV-8B Harrier jet to drop a guided 500-pound GBU-12 Paveway bomb. The bomb crashed into the house with impressive precision, but did not explode.

At this point the drone saw two MAMs leave through the back door and run into a little palm-grove patch to hide. The Marines brought the Harrier around to pink-mist these guys with a second 500-pound bomb—this one guided into the patch—but it, too, turned out to be a dud. Undaunted, the troops switched weapons and hit the patch with a $180,000 air-launched AGM-65 Maverick missile. The strike resulted in one E.K.I.A. The surviving MAM egressed the patch and ingressed the house again. It was ridiculous. The Harrier came back around and dropped a third 500-pound bomb directly through the roof, blowing the whole house and everyone in it to bloody shreds.

This was McConnell's reality as Haditha settled down for the night. He gave a talk at Sparta Base, in which for once he did not overstretch. He said: Men, we've had a tough day, it's sad about Terrazas, but everyone functioned pretty well, so good job and keep at it. He did not mention—and apparently did not much think about—all the noncombatants who had died. Look, this was Iraq. The clearing operations on Route Chestnut did not stand out as being significantly different from the other main act of the day, the use of missiles and bombs against a house that may well have contained a family. God knows there were enough body parts now scattered through the ruins. Killing face-to-face with an M16 allows you at least some chance to desist from slaughtering women and children, which is not true once a bomb is called down on a house ...