WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Four Marines have been charged with murder in the 2005 killings of 24 Iraqi civilians, and four of their officers have been charged with failing to investigate and report the deaths, the Marine Corps announced Thursday.
A Marine investigation found initial reports of the killings -- including a press release that blamed the civilian deaths on a roadside bomb -- were "inaccurate and untimely," Marine Col. Stewart Navarre told reporters at Camp Pendleton, California.
"We now know with certainty the press release was incorrect, and that none of the civilians were killed by the IED," Navarre said. (Watch Navarre outline the charges Video)
Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz and Lance Cpls. Justin Sharratt and Stephen Tatum have been charged with unpremeditated murder in the civilian deaths. Wuterich, who led the Marine patrol in Haditha the day of the killings, is also charged with making a false official statement and with trying to get another Marine to make a false statement.
Their battalion commander, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, "wrongfully failed to accurately report and thoroughly investigate a possible, suspected, or alleged violation of the law of war by Marines under his command," the Marines announced.
Three other officers -- Capt. Randy Stone, Capt. Lucas McConnell and First Lt. Andrew Grayson -- also face charges in the case.
"Our view has been and continues to be that these are combat-related deaths," The Associated Press quoted Sharratt's attorney, Gary Myers, as saying.
The maximum sentence on the charges would be life in prison, said Neal Puckett, an attorney for Wuterich.
Navarre said the suspects would not be jailed or restricted as the military legal process continues, and they would be free to spend the holidays with their families.
He said the timing of the announcement so close to Christmas was coincidental.
"The investigations and the referral of charges have been done as quickly as possible, but no quicker -- no slower, no faster. The intent is to move through the process as quickly as we can, making sure that we take the necessary time to ensure a complete, full, impartial execution of the process."
Wuterich was leading a patrol from Kilo Company of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, through Haditha on November 19, 2005, when the unit was hit by a roadside bomb that killed one of its members. (Map)
The Marines launched an investigation in March into allegations that the detachment went on a rampage after the bombing, killing up to 24 Iraqis. (Read the Time magazine report on Hadithaexternal link)
Wuterich's lawyers have said the sergeant and his men acted properly and there was no massacre of civilians.
According to a Time magazine report, the Marines said they faced threats from the houses where the Iraqi civilians were killed and responded with appropriate force.
Haditha, a city along the Euphrates River northwest of Baghdad, was the target of previous Marine campaigns aimed at rooting out insurgents.
The statement from the Marine Corps that originally blamed the deaths on the roadside bomb triggered a parallel investigation into how commanders handled the incident.
Wuterich also sued anti-war Congressman John Murtha for libel, accusing the Pennsylvania Democrat and former Marine colonel of spreading "false and malicious lies" about him and other Marines in interviews about the attack.
read this and wanted to get your thoughts on it
it's pretty fucked up that we're suppose to be over there protecting these innocent people yet we go and kill them wtf?
Topic: Marines charged with murdering civilians (Read 1657 times)