Fw: Prosecutor: Haditha defendant 'lost control'

["Don Greenlaw" <dgreenlaw@cox.net>]

Forwarded.

Semper fi,
Don Greenlaw
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Dave Hollenbeck
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 10:48 AM
Subject: Prosecutor: Haditha defendant 'lost control'


Camp Pendleton Marine charged in deaths of civilians in Haditha
By Gretel C. Kovach


Gretel C. Kovach
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 b.. Call: 619-293-1293
 c.. Twitter: @gckovach
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http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jan/09/opening-statements-iraq-trial/



FILE - In this Jan. 5, 2012 file photo, United States Marine Staff Sgt. 
Frank Wuterich arrives at a court room at Camp Pendleton with lead defense 
attorney Neal Puckett in Camp Pendeton, Calif. Opening arguments in 
Wuterich's will be Monday, Jan. 9, 2012 _ more than six years after his 
Marine squad in 2005 killed 24 Iraqis, including unarmed women and children 
in the town of Haditha. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi, File) — AP


CAMP PENDLETON — Six years ago a squad of Marines defending themselves from 
a deadly roadside bombing killed 24 men, women and children in Haditha, 
Iraq. Some called the civilian deaths a massacre instigated by coldblooded 
revenge. Others saw it as the tragic result of legitimate combat actions.

Now, the crux of those opposing views rests on the shoulders of Staff Sgt. 
Frank Wuterich, the 31-year-old former squad leader standing trial at Camp 
Pendleton in the largest and lengthiest criminal case of the Iraq War.

The prosecution accuses Wuterich of responsibility in the deaths of 19 
people on Nov. 19, 2005, including five men who drove up to the site of the 
bombing and occupants of a nearby home. Commanders had initially charged him 
with murder; now Wuterich faces nine counts of voluntary manslaughter.

During opening statements Monday, Maj. Nicholas Gannon, a prosecutor, said: 
“The accused never lost control of his squad. He never lost control of his 
fire team. But he made a series of fatal assumptions,” about events and the 
presence of enemy fighters.

The result was “the accused lost control of himself that day,” Gannon said.

Speaking before Marine Corps Judge Lt. Col. David Jones and a panel of eight 
combat-experienced Marines, four officers and four enlisted men, Gannon 
portrayed Wuterich as overcome with the death of a fellow Marine in the 
roadside bombing.

Wuterich was a sergeant at the time with no significant combat experience 
before that day. After the early morning bombing of his resupply convoy, he 
saw the charred body of his friend Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas — a respected 
Marine Wuterich planned to make one of his team leaders.

“It is an image he won’t forget,” and one that influenced his actions “in an 
unlawful way,” Gannon said.

The prosecution referred repeatedly to clips from Wuterich’s 2007 interview 
with CBS News’ “60 Minutes.” When Wuterich was asked whether his squad 
members had failed him that day or acted in any way that was unjustifiable, 
Wuterich said no, he was proud of them. “They did their job. They did it 
well,” he told “60 Minutes.”

The government counters that Wuterich and the other Marines defied the rules 
of engagement requiring them to “positively identify targets” to protect 
noncombatants. In nearby homes the squad sought to clear of suspected 
insurgents, “none of the victims were a threat. None of them had a weapon. 
And many of them, many, were women and children. Young children,” Gannon 
told the court.

In addition to manslaughter, Wuterich also is charged with assaulting women 
and children by shooting them with his rifle and dereliction of duty. Seven 
other Marines charged in the killings or a failure to properly investigate 
them have been cleared of criminal wrongdoing, through an acquittal, plea 
deals and dismissal of charges.

The “Haditha massacre,” as it came to be known, provoked international 
outrage and led to tighter restrictions on Marines in the war zone. Three 
senior officers were reprimanded for failing to properly investigate the 
killings and the battalion commander was forced into retirement.

As the other legal cases unraveled and years went by without the central 
figure standing trial, some observers concluded that the handling of the 
Haditha killings made a mockery of the military justice system.

Defense
The general court martial, which began last week with selection of the jury, 
is expected to continue for several more weeks. Wuterich, who is originally 
from Meriden, Conn., was charged in late 2006 and has been working a desk 
job at Camp Pendleton.

Haytham Faraj, a former Marine defending Wuterich, suggested in opening 
statements that his legal team will attempt to cast doubt on the charges 
from a number of fronts.

Wuterich denies entering the backroom where many of the women and children 
were killed. Conflicting statements from the squad members during multiple 
investigations, a lack of autopsies or other forensic evidence beyond photos 
of the bodies and the moral character of Wuterich, whom Faraj described as 
law-abiding and truthful, will all play a role in his defense.

“You have a bunch of scared Marines promised immunity who are going to tell 
you about things that did not happen,” Faraj said.

Perhaps the central thrust will be the argument that Wuterich simply 
followed his training when clearing a building in a hostile area — “you 
throw grenades and you go in hot,” Faraj said.

After the roadside bombing, the Marines were attacked by small-arms fire 
that appeared to them to come from a home to the south. On their way in, 
Wuterich ordered the Marines to “shoot first, ask questions later.” By that, 
Faraj said, “he meant don’t hesitate. Hesitation kills. He expected to find 
insurgents in that house.

“They responded exactly the way you would expect a Marine Corps unit to 
respond to an ambush,” Faraj said. “We don’t believe there was a crime here. 
It was an unfortunate result of trying to do the right thing, and it turned 
out tragic.”

Now, “I am going to ask you to give Staff Sgt. Wuterich his life back, and 
put Haditha behind us.”

Witnesses
The first witnesses called to testify were two Army officers and a naval 
officer who were appointed in February 2006 to conduct a preliminary 
investigation into the killings.

Retired Army Col. Gregory Watt said that Wuterich was forthcoming and 
willing to accept responsibility for what had happened. “He told me my 
Marines did what I told them to,” Watt testified. According to Watt’s report 
entered as evidence, Wuterich said “I didn’t want my Marines to check if 
they had weapons first. … I told them to shoot first and deal with it 
later.”

Watt conceded that positive identification of targets is not always possible 
in a war zone. But he also said that had he seen the photos of the victims — 
which include women and children on a bed and some sitting or kneeling — he 
would have immediately reported that he thought a crime had been committed.

Army Lt. Col. David Mendelson, who was a major at the time and served as 
Watt’s legal counsel during the inquiry, said that the admission by Wuterich 
to “shoot first” was key in his mind to understanding how so many civilians 
were killed.

“There were no rules at that point,” Mendelson said.