Last Haditha court martial begins today

LA Times:

 U.S. combat troops have departed from Iraq, but one last — and highly controversial — chapter of the long war there is being played out at Camp Pendleton.

After years of delay and legal wrangling, the court-martial of the last of eight Marines charged in the shooting deaths of 24 Iraqis in the village of Haditha in 2005 is under way — with Marines with combat experience sitting as jurors. Opening statements are expected to begin Friday.

Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, now 31, was on his first combat deployment when a roadside bomb killed one Marine and injured two others from his squad.

In search of the bombers, Marines killed five young men yanked from a car near the explosion and then killed 19 family members in three nearby houses. No suspects in the planting or detonating of the buried bomb were found.

Among the 19 killed in the houses were three women, seven children and a 76-year-old man confined to a wheelchair.

Of the seven other accused Marines, charges were dropped against six and one was found innocent. Charges against the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, were dropped but he was forced into retirement.

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The real cause of the deaths in Haditha was the war crimes of the enemy.  By camouflaging themselves as civilians and using civilians has human shields, they put the lives of all civilians at risk.