Iraq massacre: US Marines 'will point the finger of blame at senior officers'

[NNN0LHI]

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2099982.ece

Lawyers for eight Marines charged with involvement in the massacre of Iraqi civilians in Haditha 13 months ago have warned that they will point the finger much further up the chain of command if it means preventing their clients from being scapegoated.

"We're going to drag every single, two-star and full-bird colonel and general into this thing," said Kevin McDermott, a California-based lawyer representing Captain Lucas McConnell, the commander of Kilo Company, which carried out the Haditha killings. The defence lawyers say their clients were following official policy on the rules of engagement.

In all, 24 Iraqis, including six children, several women and an old man in a wheelchair, were killed in Haditha as the Marines responded to the death of a colleague in a roadside bombing in November 2005. Only five of the dead Iraqis have been identified as militants, while the rest appear to have been innocent civilians.

Four Marines were charged with unpremeditated murder last week, and face life imprisonment if convicted. The man who led a series of deadly house-to-house raids that day, Staff Sgt Frank Wuterich, is personally accused of murdering 12 people. Four others, including Capt McConnell, face an array of lesser charges, including failure to report the incident properly, failure to conduct an appropriate investigation and general dereliction of duty.

[babylonsister]

1. I hope all those that were involved, if only by silence, get nailed. nt

[Selatius]

2. I may be cynical here, but I have a hunch many of these guys will get off with a slap on the wrist.

I point to Lt. Calley of Viêtnam as anecdotal evidence.

[ConsAreLiars]

3. And what, for comparison's sake, would be the charges if these crimes were committed

against white rich USAns. A mass murder of suburbanites because of an unrelated roadside incident?

Oh, never mind. According to the military, the people in a land they have invaded are not really people, and the slaughter of civilians is just standard operating procedure. Indeed, it is usually praiseworthy, since the modern army needs to kill at least 90% civilians in the course of just doing its job.

Certainly not as bad as smoking a joint, or being black (see Tulia), in Texas.