Subscribe to Common Dreams News Updates
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
Marine Gets Light Sentence for Massacre of Iraqi Civilians
Plea deal gives Frank Wuterich 3-month confinement, pay cut
Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, accused of killing unarmed Iraqi women and children in 2005 in Haditha, Iraq, reached a plea deal on Monday, ending the prosecutions from that incident.
US marine Frank Wuterich arrives at Camp Pendleton with his lawyers. (Photograph: Gregory Bull/AP) Al Jazeera reports:
Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, 31, the commander of a marine unit whose other members have been exonerated, entered his plea as part of a deal with military prosecutors in which more serious charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault were dismissed.
Wuterich was initially charged with murder.
A sentencing hearing will be held on Tuesday, said a spokesman for Camp Pendleton, south of Los Angeles.
"Staff Sergeant Wuterich accepted responsibility ... and agreed and admits that he gave a verbal order to shoot first, ask questions later, or don't hesitate to shoot, and words to that effect," said spokesman Joe Koppel.
"That verbal instruction caused his marines to [not] positively identify targets in the two homes. And now, at the sentencing phase, he'll be held accountable for those actions."
The victims included 10 women and children killed at point-blank range. Six people were killed in one house, most shot in the head, including women and children huddled in a bedroom.
The other seven soldiers charged in the case had been exonerated through various legal rulings, fuelling anger in Iraq, where authorities had pushed for US troops to be subject to Iraqi justice before the US pullout in December.
RT notes:
Of the other seven Marines charged with the now-notorious massacre, one was acquitted and six had their charges dismissed. Wuterich’s attorneys have been confident throughout the ordeal that he would see a similar outcome. "He's going to be glad to have it over because he knows that he'll be exonerated," lawyer Neal Puckett told National Public Radio earlier this month.
On November 19, 2005, Wuterich led a squad of men into two separate homes in the town of Haditha and opened fire on everyone in sight. Prosecutors say that a roadside bomb exploded moments before the Marines stormed the home, and were brought into hysterics by seeing a fellow soldier die in the attack. In response, they went on a rampage and for 45 minutes raided the two homes and were never faced with gunfire. Wuterich later said he instructed his team to “shoot first and ask questions later.”
The Associated Press adds this telling piece:
After Haditha, US marine commanders ordered troops to try and distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Al Jazeera has video on the plea deal:
62 Comments so far
Show AllWhy does the US even bother pretending to have anything resembling laws anymore? The rich and powerful can rape, rob and murder whoever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want. The rest of the world is held to a standard the the US itself can't achieve, but doesn't even bother attempting to achieve.
All the smoke and fuss and bother over other nation's records on human rights and brutality pales in comparison with the documented evils the US has committed.
So the streets will be full of a bunch of pissed off trained killers. I wonder if this was a consideration when our cowardly congress and president passed the NDAA's indefinite detention without trial provision. If it was, its pretty hypocritical that it is contained in a bill that was meant to fund these same troops.
And frankly, while these shits are killers plain and simple, the people who turned them into killers from probably quite normal people should be punished before them. As long as the entire chain of command above them can hold their hands up and say "not my problem", punishing them doesn't have much point.
On New Year's Eve major legislation was signed into law by President Obama. This legislation is the death knell of our rights to a trial if you are suspected to be supporting actions against our government. You may be detained by the American military forces on American soil of SUSPICION of thinking bad thoughts about our federal government. That means you or I can end up in an over seas prison for enhanced interrogation. This vicious attack on our civil rights was passed by a large majority of both houses of Congress. How you like that? How did your 'rep' vote on NDAA 2012? Look up the voting record---and if you vote for that person's re election you will live under the continuing decline of our nation into fascism. So long Democracy. All HAIL to the Emperor!
When it comes to the pounding of the war drums that the US has become so noted for...and when it comes to the methods and human beings utilized to do the dirty work...there is much to be offended by and ashamed of.
What if the reality of war is..........with each violent act against an enemy a soldier's deepest inner self absolutely knows and recognizes this enemy as his or her brother, sister, mother, father, friend...but the training and the duty, the orders from the commander, the propaganda and conditioning that have enabled the soldier to see this other human being as a dangerous inhuman threat to everything she/he has been 'taught' to hold dear kicks in? And then you consider that the level of immorality rises with each engagement. Where will we end up?
What will be the final level of damage done to the young men and women following orders to visit hell on another human being they've been induced to see and hate as 'other' and non-human?
How many more and intense breaking points will be reached when these trained killers are returned and expected to resume where they left off...without benefit of an equally grueling and effective deprogramming to train them back into being carefree happy friends, lovers, skate-boarders, brothers, sisters, tv watchers, rock-skippers, employees, students, parents...just plain regular folks again?
There probably isn't a program in existence that could completely deprogram killer soldiers or free their minds and souls of the atrocities they've been witness to or have themselves committed.....especially when they begin to realize just how corrupt, unjustified, outright criminal and viciously orchestrated the wars they have helped wage truly are.
How could anyone live, love, work, play or interact with others normally after being physically and psychologically programmed, then directly ordered to invade a country and viciously attack the human beings who live there fully intending to maim, mutilate, murder and pridefully extoll the horrific deeds they've carried out as obedient brave patriotic warriors, in the name of and to preserve American freedom and exceptionalism?
I imagine this scenario would also apply to the video game soldiers being ordered to maim and kill from the comfort of their climate-controlled, well-lit, safe and secure work stations, sitting atop their cushioned ergonomically correct battle thrones unleashing death and destruction on the manufactured 'bad guys' via a joystick.
The organizers and wagers of war, American style, have got to be some of the most corrupt, evil and dangerous beings yet to walk the earth. That soldiers on the ground (blindly following orders) are merely the programmed, obedient strong arm of political/corporate thugs should not exempt them from appropriate justice and punishment for war crimes committed.
However, all that seems to happen in the US are token slaps on the hands of a few of the worst offenders (at least the ones caught red-handed engaging in inhuman violent acts that couldn't be covered up)...with exceptions like Bradley Manning, whose heroic act of patriotism as a non-violent exposer of truths about our real enemy made him the perfect soldier-turned-treasonous-coward scapegoat whose head has been called for by finger pointers everywhere.
And no accountability demanded from or punishment delivered to those deserving it most...the ruthless sociopaths who start the wars and the equally sadistic 'superiors' who give the orders for 'grunts' to commit murder and unspeakably violent acts against other human beings...men, women and children, innocent or not...deemed 'the enemy'.
It's doubtful the rest of the civilized world envies much about the United Stated or Americans right now, but I'll bet people everywhere recognize the hypocrisy of our leaders and resent the hell out of the self-righteous exceptionalism inspiring US foreign policy decisions which are so detrimental to the health and well-being of the entire planet.
Later, while working in US police departments, these men tried unsuccessfully to distinguish between 'domestic terrorists' and civilians.
""That verbal instruction caused his marines to [not] positively identify targets in the two homes... ""
Yeah, can you imagine the difficulty of recognizing noncombatants when entering a bedroom where women and children are huddled together?
Once you see modern militaristic society for what it is... and if you are still able to care, the answers come pretty quickly. We need a NEW CULTURAL foundation based upon a re-awakened and Nature-determined/ecological (as opposed to empire determined) orientation. http://allinahrmony.org
Human violence is INHERENTLY unnatural. It only becomes possible when humans are separated from nature in general and their own nature in particular... which is NOT violent at all. Humans are ecologically designed herbivores. Our natural social psychology is also a part of that ecological orientation.
Dead Babies
Basically, the size of the punishment counts less than the reliability with which you get them for committing a crime; and second, responsibility should be proportional to power, so people at higher levels of power should take more responsibility than those at lower levels.
Let's see,
terrorists savagely slaughtered thousands of people on September 11, 2001,
terrorists made us invade Afghanistan and savagely slaughter thousands,
terrorists made us invade Iraq and savagely slaughter (hundreds of?) thousands,
terrorist are trying to force us to invade Iran and savagely slaughter thousands more,
WHO are these terrorists we keep FAILING to stop?
If you vote for a member of the so-called "Free Market" corporate club,
it is you.
"The calls are coming from inside the house!"
"Obedient Servant"
House or Asylum for the criminally insane?
This decision will cause and justify to many, the killing of many more US marines. The rest of the world may learn to trust only a dead marine. But that is what winning hearts and minds means in a world of perpetual wars of aggression by the US.
As the word travesty comes to mind I ask, doesn't this make it easier to understand why the Taliban are winning and perhaps deservedly so?
I don't even see why the original charge was involuntary manslaughter.
This was cold-blooded first degree murder. Collective retaliation, Nazi-style. Plain and simple.
The real truth is that the military LOVES that "shoot first, ask questions later mentality." That's why none of the soldiers involved were punished.
So you can be disqualified from entering the military for past drug use, but murdering people who are clearly unarmed civilians is OK?
The military "justice" system is a joke. Kind of like the SEC monitoring the financial system or the NLRB monitoring the workplace.
When the people who are charged with prosecuting offenders previously worked alongside those same people, this is what happens.
I just noticed this gem at the bottom of the article:
"After Haditha, US marine commanders ordered troops to try and distinguish between civilians and combatants."
Why would they even need to be told that in the first place?
"Wuterich now faces a maximum sentence of three months of confinement, forfeiture of two-thirds of his pay for three months and a reduction in rank when he is sentenced, a base spokesman said."
I think this information ought to have been included in the above report.
Does anyone know whether this slap on the wrist precludes an eventual honorable discharge? In any case, I'm guessing that a fine and demotion don't have long-term negative consequences, such as loss or reduction of post-service benefits.
I guess Wuterich won't make it up the career ladder to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, although I wouldn't rule it out.
Oh, and remember-- Wuterich sued the late Congressman John Murtha for negative statements Murtha made about Wuterich and the deaths of civilians in Haditha.
The lawsuit was dismissed in appellate court, I believe.
Perhaps this quasi-exoneration provides a legal basis for Wuterich to reinstate the suit against Murtha's estate.
I agree that the omission of the potential sentencing consequences under the plea deal that was finally reached is a major journalistic shortcoming, particularly given the headline CD utilized for this article. Thanks for the tip to check out the Al Jazeera link. There is also an excellent Wikipedia entry on this entire massacre incident, which happened back in 2005 near the height of the post-Mission Accomplished insurgency in occupied Iraq.
If the unidentified base spokesman in the Al Jazeera article is correct, the maximum possible sentence Wuterich can face by pleading to a reduced charge of "negligence" is 90 days in the brig, with his monthly paycheck docked down to one third of normal for that time period, plus possible loss of rank from staff sargeant down to buck sargeant or maybe to corporal. Complicity in the killing and attempted cover up of the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians, ranging in age from the mid-seventies down to a 3-year old toddler, is the underlying crime.
In my home state, misdemeanor assault and battery (the proverbial punch in the nose case) carries a 90 day maximum, as does shoplifting and first offense driving over the blood alcohol limit. Possession of a small amount of pot has a possible maximum of one year county jail time.
In Michigan, if a defendant has a prior record for any previous felony offense, then simple possession of a firearm triggers a mandatory two-year minimum state prison term, consecutive to and preceding to any additional time the judge may impose (up to a five year maximum). That's for firearms which cause no injury, are not fired, are not aimed, and don't have to be loaded or even fully operable. Manslaughter - a death caused by misuse of a firearm - has a fifteen year top end.
Soldiers and police officers, and those who are in the chain of command in charge of supervising soldiers and police, are supposed to be trained to have greater familiarity with, and more restraint over the misuse of firearms, than civilians. Clearly the pattern of real world prosecution and sentencing has become inverted upside down.
Small wonder the Iraqi government refused to sign a status of forces agreement exempting US soldiers from prosecution under Iraqi criminal law after December 31, 2011. What a bizarre, macabre dynamic to bring an end finally to a senseless, shameful war.
Bill from Saginaw
"Does anyone know whether this slap on the wrist precludes an eventual honorable discharge? In any case, I'm guessing that a fine and demotion don't have long-term negative consequences, such as loss or reduction of post-service benefits."
I'm not sure, but if I had to guess I would say no.
I was always under the impression that a dishonorable discharge was something done immediately, i.e., when someone is kicked out of the military for misbehavior.
He will most likely leave the military with whatever benefits he is entitled to for his rank.
Oddly enough, testing positive for marijuana= automatic dishonorable discharge.
The only problem is that such trials are held by the victors. Having a trial now is about as likely as a Nuremberg trial had Hitler won.
So glad to hear that it wasn't mass-murder after all, only a misdemeanor.
With those women and children surely throwing themselves at the marines' guns, three months of confinement is what anybody'd get with ten people dead. Those people were probably suicidal anyway, and just looking for a way to die that'd hurt the helpful US soldiers. It probably spared US lives by preventing those Iraqis becoming suicide bombers later. The soldiers with dismissed charges should have a medal instead, for saving the lives of other US soldiers. That's the only logic that applies here.
He grew up in Meriden, Ct. http://www.cityofmeriden.org/
Maybe the proud citizens of Meriden can hold a parade for him and his fellow murderers. They can carry color posters of the dead babies.