Word: haditha
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Frank Wuterich knew before he finished boot camp that he didn't want to be a Marine for life, but he may wind up one anyway. Wuterich is the central suspect in the Iraq war's most notorious massacre, at Haditha, where 24 Iraqis were killed by U.S. Marines--Marines led by Wuterich. During his first media interview, the former high school band member and honor student is exceedingly polite. Wearing jeans, black sneakers and a light blue polo shirt, he shows a visitor around his two-story semidetached house at Camp Pendleton in southern California, patiently answers questions...
Wuterich is under investigation for what happened on another day, just two months after his arrival in Iraq. On the morning of Nov. 19, 2005, Wuterich's squad, on patrol in Haditha, was hit by an improvised explosive device that killed one of his men. Iraqi witnesses and sources familiar with the two Pentagon investigations under way claim that several of the squad's 12 Marines then went on a rampage of killing in the town, leaving 24 Iraqis dead, including five women and six children. Wuterich's lawyer Neal Puckett would not permit Wuterich to talk about those events...
...scuffed and worn for a Marine. And he hasn't updated his old dress uniform by sewing on the chevron that shows his higher rank. His superiors put in for his promotion to staff sergeant last October, and it came through on Jan. 1--six weeks after Haditha. He says the jacket's too tight, anyway...
...Marines, however, removed three officers after the initial probes into Haditha, including Wuterich's commander. Military sources say they expect other officers to be punished for not thoroughly investigating the events. In addition, military sources have told TIME that they expect criminal charges to be brought in this case, as early as September, when Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the commander overseeing the case, is expected to complete his review of the investigation...
...among those charged, his lawyers insist he had no reason to believe he did anything wrong that day. According to the attorneys, one of Wuterich's commanders told him that he had recommended that Wuterich receive a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement medal for his actions in Haditha. As TIME previously reported, on Jan. 1, 2006, Wuterich got a promotion from sergeant to staff sergeant...