Haditha “Murder” Case Collapses - Reduced Charges

J.J. Jackson* | January 2, 2008

After all this time, the case of “murder” in Haditha has finally been admitted to as so weak that in order to get a scalp in the case, the prosecution has to proceed on reduced charges:

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Marine will be court-martialed on reduced chargesin the killings of 24 Iraqi men, women and children in the town of Haditha in 2005, the Marine Corps announced Monday.Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, 27, of Meriden, Conn., will stand trial on charges of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice. No trial date was set.

More serious charges of unpremeditated murder were dismissed by the Marine Corps.

Wuterich’s prosecution is part of the biggest U.S. criminal case involving civilian deaths to come out of the Iraq war.

Four enlisted Marines were initially charged with murder in the case, and four officers were charged with failing to investigate the deaths. Charges against several of the men have been dropped, and none will face murder charges.

Also Monday, the Marine Corps announced that 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson would face court-martial on charges of making false official statements, obstruction of justice and attempting to fraudulently separate from the Marine Corps.

Those in pursuit of these Marines who were ambushed by terrorists and the locals aiding them will not rest until they get someone on something related to this incident. They’ve invested too much time, money and energy in this case resulting from a terrorist attack in a war zone. Murder wasn’t provable so they have moved on to much more open ended charges which I wouldn’t be surprised if they were able to get the scalps they so dearly need to save their reputations at this point.

But let’s not forget what young Walid, a witness said of the event shall we? “WALID (through translator): I was planning to go to school. I was about to get out of bed. I knew the bomb would explode, so I covered my ears. The bomb exploded. The bomb struck an armored vehicle. I don’t know if it was a Humvee or an armored vehicle. When the bomb exploded, they came straight to our house.” (source: CNN)

If a child knew about the bomb then so did the adults. And they did nothing except cower to the terrorists which makes them accomplices.

No word yet on whether or not John Murtha will now officially offer up an apology since “murder” is now now longer one of the charges.

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