Iraqi people voiced disappointment and shock over the light punishment given to a U.S. soldier who killed 24 Iraqi civilians in 2005. They were outraged at American military justice system and claimed that the Iraqi government should take a strong position against the court’s verdict.
On Jan. 24, Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich who led the killing of the innocent people in a small town of Iraq was sentenced to 90 days in prison, a reduction in rank - to private - and a pay cut. Relatives of the victims and citizens in Iraq lamented that the decision is an assault to the humanities and on the blood of Iraqis.
The raid is considered as one of the Iraq’s worst attacks on civilians by U.S. troops. On Nov. 19, 2005, Wuterich and his squad entered Haditha, a town along the Euphrates River valley northwest of Baghdad, and killed 24 unarmed civilians. Four women, seven children and a baby were shot in the head.
Wuterich, 31, who commanded his Army unit to “shoot first, ask questions later” originally faced 152 years in prison on nine counts of involuntary manslaughter. But the final verdict was delayed for seven years. Only weeks after the start of the long awaited trial at Camp Pendelton, Calif., the court offered him a deal.
On Jan. 23, as he pleaded guilty of his crime, reflecting sorrow over the incident, all the manslaughter charges were dropped under the pretrial agreement suggested by the court a guilty plea by the accused in exchange for a sentence limitation.
People in Iraq were immensely upset over the judgment. “Killing 24 innocent people and only receiving a punishment of three months? That is only a punishment for a traffic violation. It is an assault on humanity,” Khalid Salman, a Haditha city councilor and lawyer for the victims said.
An owner of a grocery store in Haditha said the deal was unjust and disgraceful. "This is a scandal and a shame for American justice," Muhammad Muhsin said.
International societies and Iraqis are skeptical over the judgment by an American court. Wuterich retorted that terrorists were stationed in the town and civilians were not shot but died from bomb attacks, but a British local news reported that Wuterich lost control after seeing the body of his friend blown apart by the bomb and led his men on an angry rage. Seven other squad mates who had been let off initially lied to investigators and later testified in exchange for having their cases dropped.