US marine pleads guilty to Haditha killings

AL Jazeera English  Americas

US soldier Frank Wuterich accused of 2005 massacre of Iraqi civilians in Haditha pleads guilty to 'negligence'. Last Modified: 23 Jan 2012 21:55

The other Marines charged in the case have been exonerated through various legal rulings, fueling anger in Iraq [EPA] A US Marine sergeant accused of leading a massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha pleaded guilty on Monday to negligence, ending the final prosecution stemming from a 2005 incident. Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, 31, the commander of a group of Marines whose other members have been exonerated, entered his plea as part of a deal with military prosecutors in which more serious charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault were dismissed. Wuterich was initially charged with murder. A sentencing hearing will be held Tuesday, said a spokesman for Camp Pendleton, south of Los Angeles. 'Shoot first, ask questions later' "Staff Sergeant Wuterich accepted responsibility ... and agreed and admits that he gave a verbal order to shoot first, ask questions later, or don't hesitate to shoot, and words to that effect," said spokesman Joe Koppel. Follow in-depth coverage of the nation in flux "That verbal instruction caused his Marines to [not] positively identify targets in the two homes. And now, at the sentencing phase, he'll be held accountable for those actions." The victims included 10 women and children killed at point-blank range. Six people were killed in one house, most shot in the head, including women and children huddled in a bedroom. The other seven Marines charged in the case have been exonerated through various legal rulings, fueling anger in Iraq, where authorities had pushed for US troops to be subject to Iraqi justice before the US pullout in December. Wuterich now faces a maximum sentence of three months of confinement, forfeiture of two-thirds of his pay for three months and a reduction in rank when he is sentenced on Tuesday at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base north of San Diego, a base spokesman said. Lawyers for the troops involved argued the deaths resulted from a fast-moving situation in which the Marines believed they were under enemy fire. A military judge will now determine the sentencing, which will then go to Lieutenant General Thomas Waldhauser, commander of the Marine Corps Forces Central Command, for final adjudication.

Source: Agencies

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