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More than a year after the alleged massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians by U.S. troops in the town of Haditha, the Marine Corps will announce formal charges tomorrow. Up to six Marines who were on the ground that day, including Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, are expected to be charged with a range of offenses, which may include negligent homicide. Mark Zaid, one of Wuterich's two civilian defense attorneys, said, "We look foward to having a formal opportunity to publicly clear our client's name as he is absolutely innocent of any forthcoming charges. What Sgt. Wuterich is guilty...
...source tells TIME the highest-level officer to be charged (most likely with dereliction of duty) will be Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, the battalion commander in Haditha, who also was not on the ground that day. Attempts to reach Chessani for comment were not successful. But according to one civilian defense lawyer, the Marines will not be held in pre-trial confinement, which he takes an indication that the charges may not be as severe as some have expected. "They have put other Marines in other cases in the brig before trial, but they are not apparently doing that...
...Since then, Haditha has been the subject of two separate investigations. One, conducted by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, looked for criminal wrongdoing and focused on the Marines on the ground at Haditha. The second, conducted by Army Major General Eldon Bargewell, examined how the commanders responded to the event. Sources tell TIME that the investigations have been hampered by the refusal of at least two of the Marines to answer questions before charges are filed...
...shocking allegations over Haditha have, not surprisingly, sparked a wide range of strong reactions inside the Marine Corps. Many Marines think the squad on the ground that day overreacted and has brought dishonor to the Corps. "It looks like these Marines lost it and if that is the case, the Corps doesn't accept that," says one senior Marine officer. Others point out that Iraq is the one of the most complex battlefields the American military has ever fought in-and tried to do it with too few troops. "What do we expect of young Marines who are executing...
...could drive down unemployment in this country just to something that was reasonable, or if other people could help me drive unemployment down here, I promise you, our casualty figures would not be as high," says Chiarelli, the ground commander of U.S. forces in Iraq for the past year. "Nor would the level of violence be as high as it is today." Chiarelli's call for a new Iraq strategy with an emphasis on jobs and reconstruction, not more troops, came Dec. 12 as he spoke to reporters during an exit interview before handing over his command...