Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Associated Press
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.
The lone Marine to face sentencing for the killing of two dozen unarmed Iraqis in one of the Iraq War’s defining moments walked away with no jail time Tuesday after defending his squad’s storming of the homes of Haditha as a necessary act “to keep the rest of my Marines alive.”
Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich’s sentence ends a six-year prosecution for the 2005 attack that failed to win any manslaughter convictions. Eight Marines initially were charged; one was acquitted and six others had their cases dropped.
Wuterich, 31, of Meriden, Conn., who admitted ordering his squad to “shoot first, ask questions later” after a roadside bomb killed a fellow Marine, ended his manslaughter trial by pleading guilty Monday to a single count of negligent dereliction of duty.
The deal that dropped nine counts of manslaughter sparked outrage in the besieged Iraqi town and claims that the U.S. didn’t hold the military accountable.
“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,” said survivor Awis Fahmi Hussein, showing his scars from a bullet wound.
Military judge Lt. Col. David Jones initially recommended the maximum sentence of three months for Wuterich, saying: “It’s difficult for the court to fathom negligent dereliction of duty worse than the facts in this case.”
After opening an envelope to look at the terms of the plea agreement as is procedure in military court, Jones said the deal prevented any jail time for the Marine.
Jones did recommend that the sergeant’s rank be reduced to private but decided not to cut two-thirds of his pay because the divorced father has sole custody of his three daughters. The rank reduction has to be approved by a Marine general, who already signed off on the plea deal.
Wuterich read a statement apologizing to the victims’ families and said he never fired on or intended to harm innocent women and children. He said his plea shouldn’t be seen as a statement that he believes his squad dishonored their country.
“When my Marines and I cleared those houses that day, I responded to what I perceived as a threat and my intention was to eliminate that threat in order to keep the rest of my Marines alive,” he said. “So when I told my team to shoot first and ask questions later, the intent wasn’t that they would shoot civilians, it was that they would not hesitate in the face of the enemy.”
“The truth is I never fired my weapon at any women or children that day,” Wuterich told Jones.