Marine in charge of Haditha raid says rules were followed
By Josh White, Washington Post  |  June 11, 2006

WASHINGTON -- A sergeant who led a squad of Marines during the raid in Haditha,
Iraq, that left as many as 24 civilians dead said his unit did not intentionally
target civilians, followed the military rules of engagement, and never tried to
cover up the shootings, his lawyer said.

Staff Sergeant Frank D. Wuterich, 26, told his lawyer that several civilians
were killed Nov. 19 when his squad went after insurgents who were firing at them
from inside a house. The Marine said there was no vengeful massacre, but he
described a house-to-house hunt that went tragically awry in the middle of a
chaotic battlefield.

``It will forever be his position that everything they did that day was
following their rules of engagement and to protect the lives of Marines," said
Neal A. Puckett, who represents Wuterich.

Wuterich's detailed version of what happened in the Haditha neighborhood is the
first public account from a Marine who was on the ground when the shootings
occurred. As the leader of his squad, part of the Third Battalion, First Marine
Regiment, Wuterich was in the convoy of Humvees that was hit by a roadside
bomb. He entered the house from which the Marines believed enemy fire was
originating and made the initial radio reports to his company headquarters about
what was going on, Puckett said.

The allegations that Marines wantonly shot unarmed civilians in Haditha,
including women and children, is one of the most shocking, and potentially
damaging, events of the Iraq war. A criminal investigation looking into possible
charges of murder against half a dozen Marines is underway. A separate inquiry
is examining whether Marines tried to cover up the shootings and whether
commanders were negligent in failing to investigate the deaths.

Wuterich's version contradicts that of the Iraqis, who described a massacre of
men, women, and children after a bomb killed a Marine. Haditha residents have
said that innocent civilians were executed, that some begged for their lives
before being shot, and that children were killed indiscriminately.

Wuterich told his lawyer in initial interviews over nearly 12 hours last week
that the shootings were the unfortunate result of a methodical sweep for enemies
in a firefight. Two lawyers for other Marines involved in the shooting said
Wuterich's account is consistent with those they had heard from their clients.

Kevin B. McDermott, who is representing Captain Lucas M. McConnell, commander of
Kilo Company, to which the squad belonged, said Wuterich and other Marines
informed McConnell on the day of the shooting that at least 15 civilians were
killed by ``a mixture of small-arms fire and shrapnel as result of grenades"
after the Marines responded to an attack from a house.

McConnell was relieved of his command in April for ``failure to investigate,"
according to McDermott. But the lawyer said McConnell told him that he reported
the high number of civilian deaths to the Third Battalion executive officer that
afternoon and that within a few days the battalion's intelligence chief gave a
PowerPoint presentation to Marine commanders.

Gary Myers, a civilian lawyer for a Marine who was with Wuterich that day, said
the Marines followed standard operating procedures when they ``cleared" the
houses, using fragmentation grenades and gunshots to respond to a threat.

On Nov. 19, Wuterich's squad left its headquarters at Firm Base Sparta in
Haditha at 7 a.m. on a daily mission to drop off Iraqi Army troops at a nearby
checkpoint. ``It was like any other day, we just had to watch out for IEDs
[improvised explosive devices] and any other activity that looked suspicious,"
said Marine Corporal James Crossan, 21, in an interview from his home in North
Bend, Wash. He was riding in the convoy as it turned left onto Chestnut Road,
heading west at 7:15 a.m.

Shortly after the turn, a bomb buried in the road ripped through the last
Humvee. The blast instantly killed the driver, Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas,
20.

Puckett said that while Wuterich was evaluating the scene, Marines noticed a
white, unmarked car full of men lingering near the bomb site. When Marines
ordered the men to stop, they ran; Puckett said it was standard procedure at the
time for the Marines to shoot suspicious people fleeing a bombing, and the
Marines opened fire, killing four or five men.

[This reminds me of a quote from "Full Metal Jacket": Anyone who runs is a VC.
Anyone who stands still is a well-disciplined VC.]

A four-man team of Marines, including Wuterich, kicked in the door of a house
from which gunfire was heard, and found a series of empty rooms, noticing
quickly that there was one room with a closed door and people rustling behind
it, Puckett said. They then kicked in that door, tossed a fragmentation grenade
into the room, and one Marine fired a series of ``clearing rounds" through the
dust and smoke, killing several people, Puckett said.

[I suppose you could follow that up with, "How can you shoot women or children?"
and "Easy! Ya just don't lead 'em so much! Ain't war hell?"  Picture this:
you're at home doing whatever it is you do when suddenly a bomb goes off in your
neighborhood killing some foreign troops passing through.  You're scared
shitless --- as are they.  You gather up all your family --- parents, kids,
grandparents, whoever --- and hide-out together in one room of your house.
Someone bursts through the front door of the house, and then starts busting down
doors in the house one-by-one looking for you.  Everybody's scared; the kids are
crying.  Suddenly they hear you and burst through the last door ... ain't war
hell?]