A Marine sergeant who led a squad that killed 24 unarmed Iraqis will spend no time in confinement, despite a military judge’s recommendation Tuesday that he spend three months in the brig. I can’t really give my opinion on this case due tot he fact that innocent people were killed. On the other hand who knows what would have happened if the soldier was not the aggressor in this case. Click below to read the rest of the story.
Military judge Lt. Col. David Jones said his hands were tied by a plea agreement that prevents any jail time for Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich. Click below to read the rest of the story.
Wuterich pleaded guilty to negligent dereliction of duty as part of a deal with prosecutors. The minor charge carried a maximum sentence of 90 days, which is what Jones recommended.
But because of the way the military system works, the terms of the deal with prosecutors weren’t known to the judge until after he made his sentencing recommendation in court on Tuesday.
Prosecutors asked Jones to give Wuterich the maximum sentence of three months confinement, a reduction in rank and forfeiture of two-thirds of his pay.
They said his knee-jerk reaction of sending the squad to assault nearby homes without positively identifying the threat went against his training and led to the deaths of the 10 women and children.
“That is a horrific result from that derelict order of shooting first, ask questions later,” Lt. Col. Sean Sullivan told the court.
The judge said he would recommend that Wuterich’s rank be reduced to private.
He said he decided not to dock his pay because he is the divorced father of three young daughters with sole custody.
Wuterich has acknowledged ordering his squad to “shoot first, ask questions later” after a roadside bomb took the life of a fellow Marine, but he said he did not shoot any of the 10 women and children killed in nearby homes that he stormed with his men.
“The truth is: I never fired my weapon at any women or children that day,” Wuterich told military judge Lt. Col. David Jones, who recommended the sentence that must be approved by the commander of Marine Corps Forces Central Command.
The surprise contention by Wuterich contradicts prosecutors who implicated him in 19 of the 24 deaths. It also counters testimony from a former squad mate who said he joined Wuterich in firing in a dark back bedroom where a woman and children were killed.
Defense attorney Neal Puckett said Wuterich has lived under the cloud of being labeled a killer who carried out a massacre in Iraq. Lawyers also said he has been exonerated of directly causing the deaths of civilians in the two homes and insisted his only intent was to protect his Marines, calling it “honorable and noble.”
“The appropriate punishment in this case, your honor, is no punishment,” Puckett said.
Another black eye for the Marine Corps! As a former Marine I’m embarrassed about the actions of this dumb ass! The killing of innocent should’ve never happened. @WiLMajor No Marine likes to be called a Soldier, the Marine Corps IS NOT THE ARMY!!!!, regardless of what you non military types think, the Marine Corps and Army are not the same. Do your homework next time.