And Then There was Only One

In what must be seen outside the U.S. as another defeat for justice, only one of the four enlisted Marines charged with homicide in the Haditha massacre is on trial. The cases against the other defendants have been dismissed on procedural grounds. An NCO in command charged with executing five unarmed Iraqis at close range is still facing a general court martial. The staff sergeant claims he was following approved rules of engangement and his training. Neighbors claim the five men in a car were students returning home. Marines involved in the incident originally said that the twenty four civilians were killed by stray bullets and fragments in a firefire with insurgents. Photos of the scene taken by U.S. military personnel shortly after the killings contradict that story. Nevertheless, dismissal of the prosecution for lack of evidence is a distinct possibility. Apparently the Marine Corps has made an institutional decision that convicting a Marine for homicides committed under the stress of combat would be bad for esprit de corps. Three officers have been charged with failure to investigate or report the incident. Given the recent acquital of an Army officer for a similar derelection at Abu Ghraib, its unlikely the Marine officers will be found guilty. Decisions like these make the term military justice an oxymoron.