US Marine Cleared Over Iraq Massacre
Al Jazeera reports that Lieutenant Andrew Grayson, 27, ‘has been cleared of covering up the massacre of 24 civilians in Iraq.’ According to reports, US forces killed women and children in the town of Haditha back in 2005.
Prosecutors alleged that Lt. Grayson had ordered ‘photos of the slaughtered civilians to be deleted from army computers.’The jury, however, found him not guilty.
The story of what allegedly happened at Haditha is horrific: US Marines, angry because one of the fellow marines was killed by a roadside bomb, went to the town of Haditha, where they allegedly committed a massacre. Men, women and children were all murdered.
The US Marine itself first said that the Iraqis were killed by the roadside bomb as well, but TIME magazine discovered that ‘most of those who died were killed as marines swept through homes near the site of the bombing.’
‘Grayson was the first to go on trial of eight soldiers and officers initially charged with crimes in connection with the incident.’ Two other suspects - including sergeant Frank Wuterich, the alleged ring leader of the group - ’still face courts-martial over the events.’
Sergeant Wuterich’s trial will start later this year.
Six of the eight men saw the charges against them being dropped, while ‘charges of murder against Wuterich were replaced by the lesser offence of manslaughter.’
Blog round-up:
Infidels Are Cool (yes, awkward name for a blog):
Another weak case crumbles in the “Cold Blooded Killers” Haditha case. John Murtha is still “hoping someone gets convicted” He should be ashamed…
Don’t expect this story to make the same headlines like it did for days when the story broke. And, don’t expect Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) to apologize anytime soon for calling our US marines “cold-blooded killers.”
And then there were two… Still no apology from Murtha yet.
Wuterich and Chessani face different charges, but the prosecution’s point is the same: Marines in combat are supposed to act like lawyers at ease to opine from afar. Politicos who shoot their mouths off at our brave Marines tonight have another reason to hang their heads in shame, to add to their long list.
Bob Owens also comments on the case.
That is all nice and all, but what the hell happened to the people of Haditha then? That’s a question that needs to be answered.
And, although it’s logical that some Americans rush to the defense of these marines, it would be wise for them and others to keep in mind that celebrating doesn’t make a good impression on most foreigners, especially not on those living in the Middle East. I’ve heard several people say that they didn’t expect the marines to be convicted, simply because they believe that the US government would cover up crimes against humanity, committed by US soldiers. It’s one of the main reasons that many Muslims in the Muslim world detest the US (this includes many Muslims in Turkey).
Of course, if they are innocent, they should be released. But celebrating while 15 innocent civilians died, isn’t exactly a wise thing to do when the world, and especially the so-called Muslim world, is watching you.
John Murtha jumped to conclusions, which is something he should not have done. He should, immediately, apologize. And so should others who found the marines guilty before the trial had even started. But becoming arrogant and celebrating, while many Iraqis and Muslims in the region at that, believe that US marines committed a huge crime is not, I repeat, not smart.
