NYT: Inquiry Suggests Marines Excised Files on Haditha Killings

[DeepModem Mom]

Inquiry Suggests Marines Excised Files on Killings
By DAVID S. CLOUD
Published: August 18, 2006

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 — A high-level military investigation into the killings of 24 Iraqis in Haditha last November has uncovered instances in which American marines involved in the episode appear to have destroyed or withheld evidence, according to two Defense Department officials briefed on the case.

The investigation found that an official company logbook of the unit involved had been tampered with and that an incriminating video taken by an aerial drone the day of the killings was not given to investigators until Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the second-ranking commander in Iraq, intervened, the officials said.

Those findings, contained in a long report that was completed last month but not made public, go beyond what has been previously reported about the case. It has been known that marines who carried out the killings made misleading statements to investigators and that senior officers were criticized for not being more aggressive in investigating the case, in which most or all of the Iraqis who were killed were civilians. But this is the first time details about possible concealment or destruction of evidence have been disclosed.

The report’s findings have been sent to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which is investigating members of the unit involved in the killings, as well as higher-ranking officers in the Second Marine Division. No charges have been brought yet.

The report, based on an investigation by Maj. Gen. Eldon A. Bargewell of the Army, does not directly accuse marines of attempting a cover-up, but it does describe several suspicious incidents, according to the Defense Department officials....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/world/middleeast/18haditha.html?hp&ex=1155873600&en=8857edef59f80ea1&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Rose Siding]

1. The report names Wuterich, the sgt who's suing Murtha!

No conclusions are drawn about who may have tampered with the log. But the report says that Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, the leader of the squad involved in the killings, was on duty at the unit’s operations center, where the logbook was kept, shortly after the killings occurred, the officials said.

He's the guy. From Aug 2:

snip>
A Marine Corps staff sergeant who led the squad accused of killing two dozen civilians in Haditha, Iraq, will file a lawsuit today in federal court in Washington claiming that Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) defamed him when the congressman made public comments about the incident earlier this year.

Attorneys for Frank D. Wuterich, 26, argue in court papers that Murtha tarnished the Marine's reputation...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/01/AR2006080101345.html

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Very sharp, Rose! You're right!

You should post this find in GD.

[gratuitous]

3. It would appear the Mr. Wuterich is capable of tarnishing all on his own

Difficult to see how his frivolous lawsuit is going to get any traction, but there seems no end to Republican judicial legerdemain.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Don't know how you can live with the knowledge you've encouraged

others to behave like this. From the article:

..... the Bargewell report said the commanders had created a climate that minimized the importance of Iraqi lives, particularly in Haditha, where insurgent attacks were rampant, the officials said.

“In their eyes, they didn’t believe anyone was innocent,” said one of the officials, describing the attitude of the marines in the unit toward Iraqis. “Either you were an active participant, or you were complicit.”
(snip)

I don't see any possible excuse for this, in the short run or the long run. Not ever.