Haditha Investigation Findings

Evidence collected on the deaths of 24 Iraqis in Haditha supports accusations that U.S. Marines deliberately shot the civilians, including unarmed women and children, a Pentagon official said Wednesday.

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 against four Marines ultimately will be made by the commander of the accused Marines’ parent unit, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif. That currently is Lt. Gen. John Sattler, but he is scheduled to move to a Pentagon assignment soon; his successor will be Lt. Gen. James Mattis.

No word on what that evidence includes or whether autopsies were conducted to obtain forensic evidence from the bodies of those purported victims. If this story is accurate, and remember that this is information put out by a leaker of one side in the matter at hand, the Marines involved in the incident have a whole mess of legal trouble heading their way.

Meanwhile, Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, one of the accused Marines, stands by his claims of innoncence and has filed suit in federal court against Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) that Murtha falsely accused Wuterich of murder and war crimes.

UPDATE:
Macranger questions the timing of this report, which really doesn't differ from the news reports about Haditha all along since there is no new news (try saying that 3x fast) in the report.

Meanwhile, it is interesting to note that one of Wuterich's lawyers is Mark Zaid, whose name should be familiar to folks following the Able Danger story. He's Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer's lawyer. Shaffer was one of the whistleblowers who says that Able Danger identified 9/11 hijacker Atta and others before the attacks, and then the 9/11 Commission ignored the program's findings.