Town has little faith in US trial of Marines

Iraqis in Haditha, where 24 unarmed civilians were killed last year, said on Dec. 21 four US Marines charged with their murder should be executed, a penalty they will not face in the United States. "They should hand them over to us so that we can kill them. They do not deserve a trial," said one young man who refused to give his name. Khaled Salman, whose sister Asmaa was among the 24 people killed in Haditha, gathered with friends in the early hours of Dec. 21 to watch television coverage of the charges being announced. "Those soldiers killed 24 people. They killed women and children, isn't that enough for them to be executed? Just so that the family can have peace," said Salman, 41. "It's a political trial and it will not bring our rights back," said Salman, visibly angry. Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt and Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum will not face a death sentence because they are charged with unpremeditated murder, for which the maximum penalty is life in prison. Many in Haditha, a town of over 100,000 people on the Euphrates river, stayed up to watch coverage on Arabic satellite channel Aljazeera. The trial was the talk of the town, and many were glued to the TV screen watching special coverage. They had little confidence in US justice. Talal Saed, a judge who watched the news at Salman's home, said: "If I were the judge on that trial I would have sentenced them to death for the terrible crime they have committed. They should be tried in Iraq and under the Iraqi law." "This is a show trial just to show that the Americans are doing something to be fair with Iraqis, but it's nothing more than that," he said.