Marine faces 3 months in brig for Iraqi deaths

Military prosecutors worked for more than
six years to bring Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich to trial on
manslaughter charges that could have sent him away to prison for life.
But only weeks after the
long-awaited trial started, they offered Wuterich a deal that stopped
the proceedings and could mean little to no jail time for the squad
leader who ordered his men to "shoot first, ask questions later,"
resulting in one of the Iraq War's worst attacks on civilians by U.S.
troops.
The 31-year-old Marine, who was originally
accused of unpremeditated murder, pleaded guilty Monday to negligent
dereliction of duty for leading the squad that killed 24 unarmed Iraqi
civilians in the town of Haditha in 2005 during raids after a roadside
bomb exploded, killing a fellow Marine and wounding two others.

Wuterich, who was indicted in 19 of the 24 deaths, now faces no more than three months in confinement.

It was a stunning outcome for
the last defendant in the case once compared with the My Lai massacre in
Vietnam. The seven other Marines initially charged were exonerated or
had their cases dropped.
"I was expecting that the American judiciary
would sentence this person to life in prison and that he would appear
and confess in front of the whole world that he committed this crime, so
that America could show itself as democratic and fair," one of the
survivors, Awis Fahmi Hussein, told The Associated Press in Haditha.

Military judge Lt. Col. David
Jones began hearing arguments from both sides Tuesday at Camp Pendleton,
Calif., before making a sentencing recommendation to be considered by
the commander of Marine Corps Forces Central Command.

Legal experts said the case
was fraught with errors made by investigators and the prosecution that
let it drag on for years. The prosecution was also hampered by squad
mates who acknowledged they had lied to investigators initially and
later testified in exchange for having their cases dropped, bringing
into question their credibility.

In addition, Wuterich was seen
as taking the fall for senior leaders and more seasoned combat
veterans, analysts said. It was his first time in combat when he led the
squad on Nov. 19, 2005.

Brian Rooney, an attorney for
another former defendant, said cases like Haditha are difficult to
prosecute because a military jury is unlikely to question decisions made
in combat unless wrongdoing is clear-cut and egregious, like rape.

"If it's a gray area,
fog-of-war, you can't put yourself in a Marine's situation where he's
legitimately trying to do the best he can," said Rooney, who represented
Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, the highest-ranking Marine charged in the
case. "When you're in a town like Haditha or Fallujah, you've got bad
guys trying to kill you and trying to do it in very surreptitious ways."

Marine Corps spokesman Lt.
Col. Joseph Kloppel said the deal was not a reflection or in any way
connected to how the prosecution felt its case was going in the trial.

The Haditha attack is
considered among the war's defining moments, further tainting America's
reputation when it was already at a low point after the release of
photos of prisoner abuse by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison.

It still fuels anger in Iraq today.

"We wonder about such a
sentence issued against the defendant. We called upon US to be fair in
passing sentences. Regrettably, we are disappointed about the issuance
of such sentences," said Khalid Salman Rasif, a member of the Provincial
Council in Haditha, adding he would contact the lawyer for victims'
families for an explanation.

Kamil al-Dulaimi, a Sunni
lawmaker from the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi, called the plea
agreement proof that "Americans still deal with Iraqis without any
respect."

"It's just another barbaric
act of Americans against Iraqis," al-Dulaimi told The Associated Press.
"They spill the blood of Iraqis and get this worthless sentence for the
savage crime against innocent civilians."

Wuterich, the father of three
children, had faced the possibility of life behind bars when he was
charged with nine counts of manslaughter, which will be dropped. Along
with facing a maximum of three months in confinement, he could also lose
two-thirds of his pay and see his rank demoted to private when he's
sentenced.

.Wuterich, his family and his
attorneys declined to comment Monday after he entered the plea.
Prosecutors also declined to comment on the plea deal.

During the trial before a jury
of combat Marines who served in Iraq, prosecutors argued he lost
control after seeing the body of his friend blown apart by the bomb and
led his men on a rampage in which they stormed two nearby homes,
blasting their way in with gunfire and grenades. Among the dead was a
man in a wheelchair.

In the deal, Wuterich
acknowledged that his orders misled his men to believe they could shoot
without hesitation and not follow the rules of engagement that required
troops to positively identify their targets before they raided the
homes.

He told the judge that caused "tragic events."

"I think we all understood what we were doing so I probably just should have said nothing," Wuterich told the judge.

He said his orders were based
on the guidance of his platoon commander at the time, and that the squad
did not take any gunfire during the 45-minute raid.

Many of his squad mates
testified that they do not believe to this day that they did anything
wrong because they feared insurgents were inside hiding.

Haditha prompted commanders to demand troops be more careful in distinguishing between civilians and combatants.

Former Navy officer David
Glazier said the case shows such rules are essential to helping the
United States prevail in an armed conflict.

"The reality is that this
incident has had significant consequences for the U.S. in Iraq," said
Glazier, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "It probably
fueled the resistance and so it probably ended up costing additional
soldiers and Marines their lives later on."
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