US troops face war crimes claim

A military prosecutor branded four US soldiers "war criminals" on Aug. 4 as he pressed for them to face a court martial. The men are accused of murdering three Iraqi detainees in cold blood close to the central city of Samarra in May. The defense say the detainees were killed as they tried to escape, and argue there is insufficient evidence to proceed. It was the last day of a pre-trial hearing in Tikrit required under US military law to decide whether the charges against the four men warrant a court martial. A senior US commander will now decide whether the case should be prosecuted. Sergeant Raymond Girouard, Private First Class Corey Clagett and Specialists William Hunsaker and Juston Graber–all of the 101st Airborne Division's 3rd Brigade–have been charged with premeditated murder and other offenses. The 101st Airborne Division was at the time involved in Operation Iron Triangle, targeting insurgents active in Salahuddin province and detaining hundreds of people. The deaths occurred during a search operation of a house near the Thar Thar canal outside of Samarra on May 9. Prosecuting lawyer Capt. Joseph Mackey claimed the defendants were cut free of plastic handcuffs and then killed without provocation. "They cut them loose and murdered them in cold blood. For this, they are not war heroes, they are war criminals. And justice states that they face trial," Capt. Mackey said. All of the accused are refusing to testify on the grounds they may incriminate themselves, relying instead on statements made to investigators. Military prosecutors and investigators probing the killings believe the unit's commanders created an atmosphere of excessive violence by encouraging "kill counts" and possibly issuing an illegal order to shoot Iraqi men. Witnesses painted a picture of a brigade that operated under loose rules allowing wanton killing and tolerating violent, anti-Arab racism. Military officials are investigating the soldiers' commander, Army Col. Michael Steele, to determine whether he issued an illegal order to "kill all military aged males" and encouraged unrestrained killing by his troops. The account of Pfc. Bradley Mason and other witnesses bolstered the findings of investigators who say the brigade's commanders led soldiers to believe it was permissible to kill Iraqi men. Mason said that just before Operation Iron Triangle began, Steele and other officers ordered them to "engage and kill all military age men." Mason depicted a unit that had embraced a violent ethos and was routinely hostile to ordinary Iraqis. Commanders encouraged soldiers to compete to rack up "enemy kills," he said. A board at their headquarters that showed the numbers of Iraqis killed served to reinforce the message. "Let the bodies hit the floor," read a phrase at the bottom of the board. According to another prosecution witness, 1st Lt. Justin Werheim, the rules of engagement were unambiguous. "We were to positively identify and kill any military-age male on the island," he said. Another witness, Pfc. Jason R. Joseph, said the soldiers believed their orders were to kill any military-age males who were not surrendering. "They were to kill any males who didn't have their hands in the air," he said. Mason said that as they approached the house, he unleashed a burst of six to nine rounds from his weapon, killing an "old man" standing in the window Mason testified that there was no Iraqi gunfire that morning. When defense lawyers asked him why he killed the man, Mason said those were his orders. "We were told to kill all the males on the island," he testified. "We don't fire warning shots." Inside the house where Mason shot the man, soldiers found three men cowering behind a pair of women, Mason testified. The soldiers pulled the men outside and bound their hands with plastic handcuffs before searching the house. They found nothing but an AK-47 and a few rounds of ammunition, allowed by law. Claggett and Hunsaker smiled when Girouard said they were going to kill the prisoners, already handcuffed and disarmed, according to Mason's account. "I told [Girouard] I'm not down with it," he said. "It's murder." Mason testified that he stayed in the house while the other four soldiers took the prisoners outside. He heard Hunsaker yell out a profanity, and then heard automatic weapon fire, followed by two shots from a semiautomatic assault rifle, Mason testified. Prosecutors believe that Claggett and Hunsaker shot and killed the prisoners. Mason testified that Claggett told him two of the prisoners had broken free of their plastic cuffs, and that one of them had lunged at Hunsaker with a knife, giving him a scratch. The other had punched Claggett in the face. The soldiers then shot and killed the three prisoners. But Claggett later told him that Girouard had punched Claggett and cut Hunsaker to justify the killings, Mason said, adding that men in the squad also began threatening and pressuring Mason to keep quiet. Mason said Girouard threatened to kill him if he informed. Clagett's lawyer, Paul Bergrin, told the tribunal the defendants' claim was plausible. "These detainees [prisoners] were able to break the flexcuffs, they had a knife and they were able to break free," he said. "They attacked, they spun around, and they got exactly what they deserved," Bergrin said about the prisoners. Defense Department officials said that officers in Mason's company and brigade failed to investigate the shooting, even after Mason and others raised concerns.