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CSM Views on War vs. Murder
Before Haditha, there was Sadr City. Before the recent allegations that marines rampaged from house to house last November, killing women and children, there was the 2004 courts-martial of soldiers charged with killing seven men in a garbage truck in Sadr City - including one man who, according to a soldier, waved a white flag. This week, fresh developments have stirred further scrutiny of American troops' behavior. On Monday, the military announced that it has charged three soldiers with the murder of Iraqi detainees. Wednesday, reports at press time suggested that charges would also be filed in another investigation into a civilian death in Hamandiya. Yet in some respects, the charges are nothing new in Iraq. Since the war began, at least 11 US servicemen and eight British soldiers have faced murder charges. Though these past cases have largely escaped public notice, they shed light on the path ahead for current proceedings, pointing to the difficulty of defining and prosecuting a homicide in a war characterized by chaos. Posted by: Bobby 2006-06-22 |
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