Heroes or War Criminals?
by TChris
Having heard the evidence, a military investigating officer must decide whether to recommend that four U.S. soldiers be court-martialed for murdering three Iraqi detainees. The defense attorneys argued that the soldiers were within their rights to kill the detainees as they tried to escape. Prosecutors countered that the soldiers cut the plastic straps that were binding the hands of the detainees in a deliberate plot to kill them, using a staged escape as an excuse for murder.
One witness testified the men were shot while running blindfolded.
In his closing argument, Capt. Joseph Mackey called the soldiers "war criminals."
"U.S. soldiers must follow the laws of war. That's what makes us better than the terrorists," Mackey said. "These soldiers did just the opposite. They cut them (the three detainees) loose and murdered them in cold blood."
"For this, they are not war heroes, they are war criminals. And justice states that they face trial," Mackey said.
"Take a look at how they did it: They cut all three of the detainees loose at one time. These detainees were standing; they cut them free" before shooting them, the prosecutor said.
Mackey cited the testimony of Pfc. Bradley Mason, who told the hearing this week that the soldiers in his unit finalized the plan to kill the detainees during the mission.
The investigating officer must now decide whether the evidence warrants a court-martial. The military continues to investigate other killings of Iraqis by soldiers, including the deaths of about two dozen unarmed civilians in Haditha. Six Marines were charged this week with assaulting civilians in Hamdania; three of those Marines are also charged with murdering an Iraqi.
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