Mattis drops charges against two Haditha Marines

San Diego Union-Tribune:

In another example of battlefield accusations failing to result in courtroom convictions, a general dropped all charges Thursday against a Camp Pendleton Marine accused of murdering civilians in Iraq and another accused of ignoring the crime.

Lt. Gen. James Mattis, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, decided not to court-martial Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt and Capt. Randy Stone.

His announcement came a few weeks after two investigating officers oversaw the pretrial hearings for Sharratt and Stone, then recommended that they not face trial due to weak evidence from the prosecution.

Sharratt was one of three enlisted Marines from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment charged with murdering 24 men, women and children in the city of Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005.

...

Stone was one of four officers who allegedly failed to properly investigate the Haditha incident.

In a statement announcing his decision for Stone, Mattis wrote: “It is clear to me that any error of omission or commission by Captain Stone does not warrant action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

“I am aware of the line that separates the merely remiss from the clearly criminal, and I do not believe that any mistakes Captain Stone made with respect to the incident rise to the level of criminal behavior.”

Mattis also said he took into account Stone's overall ethical behavior and his relative inexperience as a Marine judge advocate. Stone was serving for the first time in that position when the Haditha killings occurred. His role was to advise troops on the Marine Corps' law of war and rules of engagement.

For Sharratt, Mattis wrote: “Sharratt has served as a Marine infantryman in Iraq, where our nation is fighting a shadowy enemy who hides among the innocent people, does not comply with any aspect of the law of war and routinely targets and intentionally draws fire toward civilians.

“With the dismissal of these charges, Lance Cpl. 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.”

...

This is the link to Gen. Mattis's statements.

I think this is a wise and appropriate decision. It takes into account the enemy's war crimes that are intended to induce civilian casualties and events like that at Haditha. Those crimes should not be rewarded with murder charges against Marines who have to respond to situations instantly or have themselves and their unit killed. The General lives up to his reputation as a fair and honest man.

The North County Times story on the dropping of the charges includes statements from Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt's attorneys--"Gen. Mattis has accurately and eloquently described the extreme demands placed upon combat Marines and Soldiers in insurgency warfare."

Gateway Pundit asks Murtha for an apology.