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| 11/23 |
| 2006/8/2-6 [Politics/Domestic/911] UID:43875 Activity:nil |
8/3 The conservatives are fighting back! All this, plus the WTC
Movie + 911 Movie + secret Rove programs point to the complete
Republican victory in November -motd political guru
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/08/02/haditha.suit
\_ Is he gonna sue the Pentagon and the AP as well?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060802/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/haditha_investigation_6
\_ We cannot be stopped. Seig heil! -proud American |
| 11/23 |
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| www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/08/02/haditha.suit -> www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/08/02/haditha.suit/ WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Marine staff sergeant linked to the killings of civilians in Haditha, Iraq, is suing anti-war Congressman John Murtha for libel, his attorneys announced Wednesday. Frank Wuterich accuses the Pennsylvania Democrat of spreading "false and malicious lies" about him and other Marines on media outlets, accusing them of intentionally killing 24 civilians and then covering the matter up, according to court documents. A court document quotes Murtha, an ex-Marine, as saying on CNN May 19: "There was an IED attack, it killed one Marine, and then they overreacted and killed a number of civilians without anybody firing at them." In a response to the lawsuit, Murtha said in a written statement "I don't blame the staff sergeant for lashing out. When I spoke up about Haditha, my intention was to draw attention to the horrendous pressure put on our troops in Iraq and to the cover-up of the incident." The troops are caught in 'a tragic dilemma,' Murtha said, and find themselves in a degrading situation, with civilian deaths totaling almost 14,000, a 60 percent unemployment in the country, and growing numbers of insurgents. It's well beyond the time to redeploy from Iraq," he said, reiterating his signature theme. Conflicting stories The Marines are alleged to have killed the civilians in a bloody rampage November 19, following the death of a Marine by a roadside bomb. Evidence collected in the deaths supports accusations that the Marines deliberately shot the civilians, including unarmed women and children, The Associated Press reported Wednesday. Full story) But Wuterich said that after his colleague's death, he and other Marines searched for insurgents in nearby homes and killed people they believed were threats. The story that the Marines intentionally killed civilians "is either a horrendous misunderstanding or intentional lie," according to the lawsuit. Wuterich's lawyers blame Murtha for ruining their client's reputation and causing him potential harm. Murtha's comments may also cause the Department of Defense to pursue criminal charges against Wuterich, his lawyers said, according to court documents. Wuterich is asking Murtha for monetary damages of more than $75,000, a public retraction and apology, an injunction to stop any future allegations against him, and a trial by jury, according to court documents. In addition to the Haditha killings, US soldiers and Marines have also been accused of killing three detainees near Samarra and raping and killing a 14-year-old girl, along with her family. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. |
| news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060802/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/haditha_investigation_6 Agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service have completed their initial work on the incident last November, but may be asked to probe further as Marine Corps and Navy prosecutors review the evidence and determine whether to recommend criminal charges, according to two Pentagon officials who discussed the matter on condition of anonymity. The decision on whether to press criminal charges ultimately will be made by the commander of the accused Marines' parent unit, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif. John Sattler, but he is scheduled to move to a Pentagon assignment soon; Investigators conducted a wide range of interviews but did not obtain permission to exhume the bodies of the 24 who were killed, one official said. The case is one of several involving alleged unjustified killings of Iraqi civilians that have emerged this year, damaging the military's reputation for humane treatment of civilians and triggering calls by some Iraqi leaders to end the arrangement under which US troops are immune from prosecution by Iraqi authorities. Based on accounts from survivors and human rights groups, Time magazine first reported in March that the killings were deliberate acts by the Marines. A parallel investigation is examining whether officers in the Marines' chain of command tried to cover up the events. The probe, which has not been made public, faults some officers for failing to pursue obvious discrepancies in the initial reports about what happened in Haditha and for not launching an early investigation. Frank D Wuterich, one of the Marines under investigation, argued in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court that Murtha falsely accused Wuterich of murder and war crimes. The suit maintains that Pentagon officials "who have briefed or leaked information to Mr Murtha deliberately provided him with inaccurate and false information" and that the congressman subsequently "has made repeated statements .... that are defamatory" to Wuterich and his fellow Marines. Among the other cases of alleged deliberate killings of Iraqi civilians, seven Marines and one Navy corpsman have been charged with premeditated murder and other criminal acts in connection with the killing of an Iraqi man in Hamdania on April 26. Also, five soldiers and a former soldier have been charged in the March 12 rape-slaying of a young Iraqi woman and the killings of her relatives in Mahmoudiya. This image is believed to have been taken a day or two after the Haditha incident, and was made available in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 2, 2006, by lawyer Khaled Salem Rsayef, but was not taken by him. It purportedly shows the scene in one of the houses in Haditha, Iraq after two dozen civilian Iraqis were allegedly killed by US Marines last November, which Rsayef said Friday was carried out by three or four Marines while about 20 more waited outside. EDS NOTE: Khaled Salem Rsayef, 40, is a lawyer representing several of the families and says he himself lost a sister, her husband, an aunt and her husband, and several cousins in the alleged massacre. Evidence collected on the deaths of the 24 Iraqis in Haditha supports accusations that US Marines deliberately shot the civilians, including unarmed women and children, a Pentagon official said Wednesday, Aug 2, 2006. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. |