Marine Leader During Haditha Killings Recommended For Medal

[bigtree]

6:02 pm EDT August 30, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The commander of a former Meriden man who led an Iraq mission in which up to 24 civilians were killed said the Marine deserves a medal for his action.

The recommendation for Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich was contained in a memo a few weeks after the deaths. Wuterich is among troops under investigation for allegations they deliberately killed Iraqis civilians -- many of them women and children -- after coming under attack Nov. 19 in Haditha.

Wuterich's attorney released a document in which the platoon commander wrote that Wuterich had established security, then “led a counterattack on the buildings ... where his Marines were still receiving sporadic fire.”

The counterattack, the platoon commander said, turned the tide of the ambush.


http://www.nbc30.com/news/9765147/detail.html

[babylonsister]

1. That's whacked, isn't it. Those medals will be worth less than

nothing. :(

[bigtree]

2. It's a reflection of their disregard for the lives of Iraqis

It's all about defending themselves for our troops now as they continue to make enemies of the folks they are harrassing and killing alongside their Shiite-dominated government hosts. I suspect this troop 'leader' wasn't at all concerned with anything beyond his and his own platoon's safety. Hard to blame them for that. They're being forced to maintain the lie that were defending liberty or freedom. The best they can manage with their weapons and gung-ho is to add to the slaughter as they try to save their own asses from the certain reprisals.

But, the platoon leader (and the others) screwed up. He should be held to severe account for that, not decorated for valor or anything else.

That's the fallicy of our continued occupation which is being repeated daily. We're on one side of a mulit-front civil war.