Lying Haditha Witnesses
Other reports have indicated that the testimony given by two Iraqi witnesses materially contradicted each other. A Marine investigator has strongly recommended the case against one Marine be dismissed.
SAN DIEGO (AP) - The government’s case against a Marine accused of fatally shooting Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha lacks sufficient evidence to go to a court-martial and should be dropped, a hearing officer determined.
The murder charges were brought against Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt for killing three Iraqi brothers in November 2005.
The hearing officer, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, wrote in a report released by the defense Tuesday that those charges were based on unreliable witness accounts, insupportable forensic evidence and questionable legal theories. He also wrote that the case could have dangerous consequences on the battlefield, where soldiers might hesitate during critical moments when facing an enemy.
“The government version is unsupported by independent evidence,” Ware wrote in the 18-page report. “To believe the government version of facts is to disregard clear and convincing evidence to the contrary.”
Prosecutors allege Sharratt and other members of his battalion carried out a revenge-motivated assault on Iraqi civilians that left 24 dead after a roadside bomb killed a fellow Marine nearby.
Sharratt contends the Iraqi men he confronted were insurgents and at least one was holding an AK-47 rifle when he fired at them.
In addition to Sharratt, two other enlisted men are charged with murder and four officers are accused of failing to investigate the incident—the largest single Iraqi civilian death case of the war. Sharratt’s case is the first among the three charged with murder to go to a hearing known as an Article 32 investigation, the military equivalent of a grand jury.
“Whether this was a brave act of combat against the enemy or tragedy of misperception born out of conducting combat with an enemy that hides among innocents, Lance Corporal Sharratt’s actions were in accord with the rules of engagement and use of force,” Ware wrote.
He said further prosecution of Sharratt could set a “dangerous precedent that … may encourage others to bear false witness against Marines as a tactic to erode public support of the Marine Corps and its mission in Iraq.”
“Even more dangerous is the potential that a Marine may hesitate at the critical moment when facing the enemy,” he said.
The recommendation to drop the murder charge is nonbinding. A final decision about whether Sharratt should stand trial will be made by Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the commanding general overseeing the case.
Prosecutors at Sharratt’s preliminary hearing introduced several accounts from Iraqis that said Sharratt had separated four men from a group of women and children and ordered them into a house. There, prosecutors said, he shot three of them and when he ran out of bullets the squad leader Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich allegedly shot the fourth.
Ware deemed the witness accounts and testimony given by other Marines unreliable.
At home in Canonsburg, Pa., Sharratt’s family said the news was huge.
“That report is a declaration of Justin’s innocence,” said Sharratt’s mother, Theresa. “This is very, very good news.”
Defense attorneys James Culp and Gary Myers said in a statement that the report “reflected the value of the calm of a courtroom and the adversarial process.”
This is the second time an investigating officer has recommended charges not continue to trial in connection wit the Haditha killings. In the case of Marine lawyer Capt. Randy W. Stone, the investigating officer recommended Stone’s dereliction of duty charge be dealt with administratively.
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appeasement will cost this marine his freedom and turn a proud family into a very suspicious one feeling very taken advantage of. if he is convicted or any other marine, bush should pardon them!
July 11th, 2007 at 5:50 amI wish all the prosecuting marine lawyers and investigators would be sent to Iraq for at least a one year combat deployment before being able to prosecute a case like this.
Can you imagine what would have happened in WWII if the military had this to worry about when battling the Nazi’s and Imperial Japanese army in the Pacific? This is war, shit happens and people sympathetic to enemy lie.
July 11th, 2007 at 5:59 amGOOD!
July 11th, 2007 at 6:08 amsounds like john kerry is coaching the witnesses
July 11th, 2007 at 6:16 amBravo LTC Ware for your good work. Free the soldiers!
July 11th, 2007 at 6:18 amThis whole case was a sham from the get-go. Anyone who attempts to second-guess decisions made under the stress of combat, should have their gonads cut off.
Witnesses? What a croc. Just another MSM guilty verdict before the evidence was in.
The latest ruling shows that at least one JAG officer has a fucking brain that still works.
July 11th, 2007 at 7:05 amThis is war. The political correctness crap needs to go.
July 11th, 2007 at 7:23 amcarter says that in WWII we did not do sugh things,, and he was a brave sailor out in the ocean,, i talked to one old vet that said when the drove through a town and they showed any animosity towards the GI’s “we opened up on em”,, that shut em up..
July 11th, 2007 at 9:17 amSome dead people in a war?!?! Naw, surely not!
Monday morning quarterbacks… back seat drivers… enter your cliche’ here.
Hope to see continued support for this Marine and all others accused of actually getting a confirmed kill.
July 11th, 2007 at 9:39 am” four officers are accused of failing to investigate the incident—the largest single Iraqi civilian death case of the war.”
So all those True Believer Islamist market/funeral/mosque bombings that slaughtered 100-150 souls at a pop never really happened?
Or were those marketgoers, etc. not really civilians?
Or is 24 > 150?
I’m confused…
July 11th, 2007 at 10:59 amNewsmax.com has done yeoman’s work in exposing the truth of the Haditha story. Here’s a link to a page that has multiple articles written by the likes of David Limbaugh, Ed Koch (no conservative he) & Phil Brennan (Semper Fi Alumni) who has REALLY been on top of this story.
http://www.newsmax.com/hottopics/Haditha_Incident.shtml
I want all of you Marines out there to send a note to that fat pig Murtha asking him when he is going to apologize to the Haditha Marines, the entire Marine Corps, all of us former Marines and the citizens of the United States of America. I then expect him to put a .45 cal in his mouth and pull the trigger. Whether there’s a round in the chamber or not, I don’t care.
July 11th, 2007 at 12:08 pmI am ill over the fact that it took this long to come around to questioning Iraqi witness credibility. The FIRST assumption should be that they are lying. We can’t sacrifice good soldiers on the PC altar.
July 11th, 2007 at 12:18 pmOkay. Now I’m really major fucking confused.
Is the war on terror between the West and a pack of knuckle-walking Islamofascists, or is it between people who were brought up right and liberals???
It would be a lot easier if I could tell goodies from the baddies. Maybe we could issue uniforms?
July 11th, 2007 at 12:34 pmEvery propaganda clip I watch has an Islamist boast about how we value life and they value death- so why cant we (the troops deployed in a combat zone- not civilians on the corner) give them what they value? On this case-If these villagers didn’t plant this IED they certainly about it- why punish some of our hardest troops who’ve been chewing sand and grit for long periods of time while every hippie is protesting at day and watching american idol at night? Oh well, lets keep blindly trotting through the world until New York resembles Beirut.
July 11th, 2007 at 12:44 pmThough this nationally syndicated talk show host called Michael Savage isn’t too keen with our involvement in Iraq he has put up $10,000 for the defense of this officer being charged and from what I understand his listeners have ponied up. Savage has promised that he will go after the prosecuting attorney. You don’t want to hear what he has promised. He is livid and it’s genuine on his part.
July 11th, 2007 at 1:13 pmI can’t believe they simply trusted the words of the Iraqis! I feel bad for these Marines. Their reputations have been ruined and it’s just not fair! These guys went out there bravely to serve their country and this is what they get in return?
July 11th, 2007 at 2:35 pmSo, do you think that Jackass Murtha is going to apologize to the Marines? Or is Tim (Potatohead) Russert going to apologize for allowing Mr Blowhard to cast dispersions on our fine young Marines from his show Meet The Depressed?
Naw. You gotta be a man or a good woman do that. Lets just say that I won’t be holding my breath waiting.
July 11th, 2007 at 3:34 pmWhere’s Jim Webb (or his book “Rules of Engagement”) when you need him? This accusation tactic seems like something right out of the Communist Agitprop/Islamic Jihad 101 textbook. Worst of all, the media and a certain congressman are only all-too-willing to go along with it.
July 11th, 2007 at 5:20 pmHaji’s lie. Everyday for 7 months I dealt with these fuckers and they lie through their rotten teeth! My Marines were accussed daily of beating them, stealing their money, cursing allah, etc. They will recite anything they are coached to say.
Who is coaching them?
S/F
Al
July 11th, 2007 at 8:50 pmReporter Kevin Sites tried for his Pulitzer by story questioning a similar killing in Falluza awhile back. The Marine got off, Sites got exiled to the Tsunami. Had a friend that did 5 years for murder during combat. I know he was trying to protect the rest of us in that incident and consider him a hero for that. It wasn’t enough kids had to make Supreme Court decisions in a few seconds, then have to sacrifice prison time to boot. The issue of parity in convictions was discuessed by Col. Solis in his book, “Trial By Fire”. It seems there was a policy to try and match the conviction rate with that of the US. If they had their quota, guys got some slak. If not, look out.
July 11th, 2007 at 9:05 pmwe pullout, coupled with these ridiculous convictions and I will question apiring soldiers why they want to join a military that doesnt finish the job and jails its troops for doing their jobs?
July 11th, 2007 at 11:33 pmive been watching this from afar for some time now.
July 12th, 2007 at 12:19 amThe name Haditha is on the net and documents the details all of which I recognise as a crock of shit, as the lawyers for the prosecution are motivated by revenge as they are not motivated by a desire to protect the Military men and women that they are supposed to serve.That is the essence: the JAG lawyers are supposed to serve the military personell, these days they seem to be only trying to persecute the personell,I can do this as Im not an american:
I question the jag personell’s patriotism.
I question the fact that evidence from an enemy combatant is regarded as more important than that from their own countryman.
I question the soldiers that have pleaded quilty:
did they do this to short circuit a death sentence by firing sqad for war crimes:did they do this because they were locked up in a fortesss situation with no forseeable hope of a fair hearing:did they do this because they had lost all hope of fairness:were they phycologically brow beaten until they were unable to see right from wrong: were they being held as scapegoats for a larger adjenda of curtailing the war effort.
The lawyers and their hangerson in this case should be ashamed of themselves.
This is a war: God help the Marines: one of their buddies was ambushed and killed.Revenge is a wholly natural response.I would. So would any NORMAL person.
The respose was natural, the details are very sketchy and most of these are from really hostile witnessed.And the depositions wee taken a long time after the avent.Predudice clouds our reponses to events, extreme predudice(hatred of the other side) has definatly clouded this event.
These soldiers were fighting for the defence of their country in a foreign clime.They were provoked beyoung the breaking point of any sane humand person.If they overreacted, so be it.I doubt they did. These men were trained Marines. I always give the benefit of the doubt to soldiers of the side of freedom.
I really beleive they are innocent and should be freed immediatly, and I also believe that those bringing the charges should be investigated for predudice and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the US law.
This farce has gone on long enough, its high time those men were released.
Howe is it that they are mass murderers on how many(10,20?) when AQ delivers biombs daily that kill 100’s.
Who prosecutes these evil slugs. Certianly not JAG.
This shit is just political. Stop it. Stop it NOW!
Just a thought from an aussie
Is “Complete the mission” a phrase that resonates and reverberates in the hearts and minds of those who serve and have served in the past, just a bumper sticker slogan to the defeatists politicians?
July 12th, 2007 at 7:03 pm