OUR NEW CENTCOM GENERAL SUPPORTS WAR CRIMES

McClatchy reports that Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis dismissed the brutal murder of civilians at Haditha.

Marine who dismissed charges in Iraqi civilian deaths to lead Centcom
Posted on Thursday, July 8, 2010
By Nancy A. Youssef | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON —

Mattis may also come under scrutiny during his Senate confirmation for the way he handled charges against eight Marines for the November 2005 killing of 24 Iraqi civilians in the Iraqi city of Haditha, especially since one of the key strategies of current U.S. policy in Afghanistan is to reduce civilian casualties.

The Marines at Haditha killed the Iraqis in their homes, including women and children, in what survivors described as an indiscriminate shooting spree after a fellow Marine was killed by a roadside bomb. A military investigation found that none of the dead were insurgents or had threatened the troops.

As head of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif., however, Mattis dismissed many of the charges. One Marine, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, is still to be tried, with that proceeding set to begin Sept. 13.

In writing his reasons for dropping unpremeditated murder charges against one of the Marines, Lance Cpl. Justin I. Sharratt, Mattis said that brutality, including the death of innocents, is a part of war.

"The experience of combat is difficult to understand intellectually and very difficult to appreciate emotionally." Mattis wrote. "With the dismissal of these charges LCpl Sharratt may fairly conclude that he did his best to live up to the standards, followed by U.S. fighting men throughout our many wars, in the face of life or death decisions made in a matter of seconds in combat. And as he has always remained cloaked in the presumption of innocence, with this dismissal of charges, he remains in the eyes of the law — and in my eyes — innocent."