Servicemen Charged With Murder In Civilian Death

Updated: 1.32 am Pacific, 22 June
Seven Marines and one sailor reportedly will be have been charged with the premeditated murder of an Iraqi civilian in Hamdania. The allegation is that the servicemen murdered the civilian without provocation on 26 April. This case has no relationship to the allegations of murder in November at Haditha, and it is the second murder charge brought by military investigators this week.

Those charged: Marine Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III, Cpl. Trent Thomas, Lance Cpl. Tyler Jackson, Pfc. John Jodka, Lance Cpl. Jerry Shumate Jr., Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington, Cpl. Marshall Magincalda and Navy Corpsman Melson Bacos.

The Houston Chronicle reports "the eight sought out Hashim Ibrahim Awad in his Hamdaniyah home, dragged him into the street, bound his hands and feet and shot him during a late-night operation."

The Marines have been held in the brig at Camp Pendleton, CA since 24 May while the Navy investigated the charges. The government has 120 days to bring charges. However, an attorney for one Marine is demanding that the government charge his client immediately or release him. "As time goes by and the longer it takes the government to make a decision to file charges or not there is increasing possibility that evidence can be lost and that witnesses in Iraq will have fuzzy memories."

The Seattle Times reports that Pennington's father "blames the anti-war movement and growing anti-Bush sentiment for his son's predicament. He also blasted commanders for failing to support the accused Marines." This was his third tour of duty in Iraq.

According to the LA Times, "Since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, more than 30 American military personnel have been charged with wrongfully killing Iraqis. At least nine have been convicted by military courts, with the most severe penalty a 25-year-to-life prison term."

Earlier this week, the Army charged four soliders from the 101st Airborne Division with killing three men north of Baghdad, near Samarra.

Incidents such as these have contributed to a decline in how the world views the United States.

Technorati Profile
Technorati tags: Bush, Iraq, Politics
gada.be tags: Bush, Iraq, Politics

^{Category: Iraq}