3 Months in jail for killing 24 civilians?

[ВАЛТЕР]

http://rt.com/usa/news/wuterich-haditha-civilians-iraq-513/


More than six years after Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich led a squad of Marines into two Haditha, Iraq homes and massacred two dozen civilians, the American serviceman in charge has reached a plea deal.
For nine counts of manslaughter, Wuterich will get three months of confinement.
Wuterich is the last of eight men tied to the November 2005 killing that left 24 Iraqis dead, including women, children and the elderly. It was announced on Monday this week that he had reached a plea with prosecutors during his military tribunal and is now expected to be sentenced as early as Tuesday. According to the Associated Press, Wuterich will face a maximum of three months of confinement, the forfeiture of two-thirds of his pay and a rank demotion.
Of the other seven Marines charged with the now-notorious massacre, one was acquitted and six had their charges dismissed. Wuterich’s attorneys have been confident throughout the ordeal that he would see a similar outcome. "He's going to be glad to have it over because he knows that he'll be exonerated," lawyer Neal Puckett told National Public Radio earlier this month.
On November 19, 2005, Wuterich led a squad of men into two separate homes in the town of Haditha and opened fire on everyone in sight. Prosecutors say that a roadside bomb exploded moments before the Marines stormed the home, and were brought into hysterics by seeing a fellow soldier die in the attack. In response, they went on a rampage and for 45 minutes raided the two homes and were never faced with gunfire. Wuterich later said he instructed his team to “shoot first and ask questions later.”
“My Marines responded to the threats they faced in the manner that we all had been trained,” he explained to CBS’ 60 Minutes in 2007. After the roadside bomb was detonated, Wuterich said that, "My responsibility as a squad leader is to make sure that none of the rest of my guys died. And at that point, we were still on the assault."
Lt. Col. Joseph Kloppel, spokesman of the Camp Pendleton marine Corps base near San Diego, California, told the media on Monday that "By pleading guilty to this charge, Staff Sergeant Wuterich has accepted responsibility for his actions.”


Is this justice? In the US you can get locked up for years over something as insignificant as possession of a a drug without a prescription While this Marine gets only 3 months for murdering 24 Iraqi men, women, and children.

More signs that in the US the military personnel are considered a class of their own with special treatment. Where is the ICC when you need them? Oh that's right, the US and it's allies don't have to abide by international laws.

[00000000000]

I loathe the fact that the military can kill, torture and abuse anyone and not pay anything like the kind of penalty a 'civilian' would be expected to pay. Oh, it's because you're at war? War changes everything does it? War justifies nothing, hence the Geneva Convention and other measures designed to at least attempt to safeguard something amongst the horror.

They're not even 'at war', never have been. Seem to have been at war with a concept more than anything. ('War on Terror', give me strength, grown up you neo-liberal fucks).
Fine, then I'll declare a 'War on Prosperity' and kill dozens of 'suspected enemy combatents' without any severe punishment (enemy combatents consisting of bankers and CEOs family members)

Sorry, have gone off on one here, but the fucking army and their 'elected' masters fucking make me fucking furious.

[Zostrianos]

When it comes to civilians in other countries, it's not murder, it's just "collateral damage" :thumbdown:

[ВАЛТЕР]

One mans "collateral damage" is another mans wife or child.

[Omsk]

This didnt surprise me,Yugoslav civilians were "collateral damage" too.

[piet11111]

Something tells me that killing 24 american dogs/cats would net a much larger jail sentence.

[workersadvocate]

Something tells me that killing 24 american dogs/cats would net a much larger jail sentence.

What did Michael Vick get sentenced to for his involvement in dog fighting/ animal abuse?
Answer: 21 months in prison, 2 months home confinement.

[RevSpetsnaz]

Just like the judicial system in the US the punishments are less when the victim isnt white.

[MegaBrah]

I gotta get me this guys lawyer, I had to got YOT for like 4 months for alledged crimes.

Its pretty shit this guy gets that sentance and a poor kid riooting gets 3 years.

[Zostrianos]

Things just went from bad to worse: it looks like he won't be serving any jail time at all (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16712488):

A US marine who admitted charges linked to the killing of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in 2005 should face no time in detention, a judge has recommended.
The decision by the judge at Camp Pendleton, California, must be approved by the commander of the Marine Corps Forces Central Command.
Sgt Frank Wuterich faced a maximum of three months after admitting dereliction of duty in a plea deal.
He was one of eight marines charged over the killings at Haditha.
The charges against six were dropped or dismissed, and one was acquitted.
Military judge Lt Col David Jones said his hands had been tied by the terms of the plea agreement. However, he said he would recommend that Wuterich's rank be reduced to private.
The judge said he had decided not to dock the marine's pay because Wuterich is divorced with sole custody of his three young children.
Prosecutors had asked that Wuterich receive the maximum sentence of three months confinement, reduction in rank and forfeiture of two-thirds of his pay.
'Horrific result' Wuterich's guilty plea ended the trial at Camp Pendleton nearly seven years after the killings.
Prosecutors had argued that on the day of the killings Wuterich lost control after seeing a friend blown apart by a bomb, before leading the soldiers under his command on a rampage.
They said his decision to send his squad to attack nearby homes went against his training.
"That is a horrific result from that derelict order of shooting first, ask questions later," Lt Col Sean Sullivan told the court.
Among the dead were women, children and elderly people, including a man in a wheelchair.
Relatives of the victims have expressed outrage at the outcome of the trial
His former squad members testified during the hearings that they were not fired upon nor did they find any weapons at the scene of the killings.
Wuterich told the court that he ordered his men to "shoot first, ask questions later" so they would not hesitate in attacking the enemy, but he never intended to harm any civilians.
In his statement he addressed relatives of the Iraqi victims, saying there were no words to ease their pain.
"I wish to assure you that on that day, it was never my intention to harm you or your families. I know that you are the real victims of November 19, 2005," he said.
In Iraq, the plea deal that stopped Wuterich's trial on several charges of manslaughter sparked outrage.
Survivor Awis Fahmi Hussein, who had been shot in the back, said: "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."

[MegaBrah]

"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."


Really, you thought the government that invaded your country, killed hundreds of thousands and stole all your shit would be fair and democratic?:laugh:

[Jeraldi]

Isn't this the type of stuff that villains in movies and video games get overthrown for?
Don't people join the military to stop this kind of stuff, so they can be the hero?
Now when we go to war we commit the atrocities that we are removing the governments to stop this?
So how do we get away with doing this ourselves?

[Yuppie Grinder]

Fuck the troops.

[piet11111]

Isn't this the type of stuff that villains in movies and video games get overthrown for?
Don't people join the military to stop this kind of stuff, so they can be the hero?
Now when we go to war we commit the atrocities that we are removing the governments to stop this?
So how do we get away with doing this ourselves?


Those soldiers are conditioned to think of them as the enemy that will do everything in their power to kill them and they hate freedom democracy and christianity.

The first thing any army does before sending troops to war is to dehumanize the enemy (and this is so much easier when they do not speak the same language as you)
Portray them as evil and uncivilized and your halfway there to hating them already.
So when you have some of your buddy's getting killed and your out for revenge then it becomes really easy especially when your superiors are making it really obvious they will look the other way.
Then there is peer pressure etc.

Its actually a bit surprising to me that atrocity's do not happen more often but then there is the army that suppresses such information.

You may want to read on killing: the psychological cost of learning to kill in war and society.

[gorillafuck]

More signs that in the US the military personnel are considered a class of their own with special treatment. Where is the ICC when you need them? Oh that's right, the US and it's allies don't have to abide by international laws.it took me a minute to realize you didn't mean international communist current and I was wicked confused.

this is horrible.

[Metacomet]

So another instance in which personal responsibility doesn't count right?

[Shotgun Opera]

I cant help but wonder what the military would do/advocate doing to an Iraqi insurgent who killed 24 American civilians.

Hopefully, the faces and the voices of the dead will be ever-present companions for the rest of his life.

[Firebrand]

The american millitary makes me sick
So does the british one
Actually I think that that british soldier who spoke up against the war got a longer sentance than this despite being mentally ill.
A crime for a civillian is not a crime for a soldier and a crime for a soldier is not a crime for a civillian.

[runequester]

And we wonder why they didn't cheer us on a liberators.

[X5N]

Some guy releases some documents, and has half of America calling for his head on a platter.

Some guy murders two-dozen people, and he gets off without a hitch without a huge amount of outrage.

America. :rolleyes:

[kuros]

That is what happens when you have a military.

[The Stalinator]

Fuck yeah, free and fair trials in democratic America!

[Lynx]

Let's see what punishment Bradley Manning receives for telling the truth.

[piet11111]

Let's see what punishment Bradley Manning receives for telling the truth.

Probably a death sentence that later on will be turned into a life sentence.

Or he is rushed to his execution in record time either way they will turn him into an example.

[Sasha]

Follow Up of the Day: Hacker collective Anonymous has followed today’s defacement of the Boston Police Department website (http://geeks.thedailywh.at/2012/02/03/anonymous-hacks-of-the-day/) and release of an FBI conference call recording with a hack (http://mashable.com/2012/02/03/anonymous-marine-emails/) of law firm Puckett & Faraj (http://www.puckettfaraj.com/).
The firm is best known for representing Marine Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who led the 2005 Haditha massacre that killed 24 unarmed Iraqis. Wuterich was demoted and received a pay cut, but did not serve time.
Anonymous released 3GB of emails from the Puckett & Faraj, including evidence, testimony and donation records from the Wuterich trial.
“As part of our ongoing efforts to expose the corruption of the court systems and the brutality of US imperialism, we want to bring attention to USMC SSgt Frank Wuterich who along with his squad murdered dozens of unarmed civilians during the Iraqi Occupation,” said an Anonymous statement (http://www.scribd.com/doc/80400568/Anonymous-Puckettfaraj-com-Message) included with the files.
Puckettfaraj.com is still offline, and the firm hasn’t yet commented on the hack.
[mashable (http://mashable.com/2012/02/03/anonymous-marine-emails/)]

[Renegade Saint]

Let's see what punishment Bradley Manning receives for telling the truth.
When the topic of this marine comes up and the apologists start in with "he's suffered enough" (due to his time served) and "you don't know what it's like, h saw his friends die" etc, etc. I immediately ask "What sort of punishment should Bradley Manning receive? Time served and a demotion? They immediately pivot (actual quote) "for treason the death penalty sounds good." (and similar BS) They don't even see the hypocrisy.

So for those keeping score at home:

Murder or facilitating the murder of 24 people: time served and a demotion.

Exposing murder and helping launch the Arab Spring and get the US out of Iraq (with a 0 body count): 25-life minimum.

[Ocean Seal]

If I heard correctly, the man is getting off scot free.
And Douglas Lamar Grey was convicted of cannabis possession and sentenced to life in prison.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

I wish I could go on a killing spree every time one of my friends died or got seriously injured. But no I'd get the noose. Imagine if one of the family members killed a bunch soldiers after that happened. It would be such a tragic event for us. SOB deserves to get his legs broken.

[Misanthrope]

Fuck the military industrial complex and material conditions that force many to enlist in the service

fixed

[Ocean Seal]

fixed
Material conditions don't force anyone to go kill 24 innocents. Plus the military isn't exactly composed of poor people, its actually heavily composed of middle and upper-middle class people ironically.

[ColonelCossack]

This reminds me of My Lai... did any of them get prosectuted apart from the officer in charge? Did he even get prosecuted?

[Misanthrope]

Material conditions don't force anyone to go kill 24 innocents. Plus the military isn't exactly composed of poor people, its actually heavily composed of middle and upper-middle class people ironically.

First, what the hell kind of marxist uses the term "middle class"? Second, troops are victims of brainwashing. They are programmed to be murderers. War is a horrible thing but let's realize who is waging the wars. The bourgeoisie.

[Ozymandias]

....disgusting. I'm just wondering why they chose to spare the bastard. They must have known that by not punishing him, it would cause outrage. Was he really so important to the established order? A single grunt?

I can't help but fear that some greater underlying motivation existed behind this judgement.