Plea deal for leader of marine squad that killed 24 civilians

A US marine accused of killing unarmed Iraqi women and children pleaded guilty to dereliction of duty yesterday, reaching a plea deal and ending the largest and longest-running criminal case against US troops to emerge from the Iraq war.

Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich led the US marine squad in 2005 that killed 24 Iraqis in the town of Haditha after a roadside bomb exploded near a marine convoy, killing one marine.

Wuterich’s plea yesterday interrupted his trial at Camp Pendleton, California before a jury made up of combat marines who served in Iraq.

He faces a maximum of three months confinement, two-thirds forfeiture of pay and a rank demotion to private.

The issue at the court martial was whether Wuterich had disregarded combat rules and ordered his men to shoot indiscriminately at Iraqi civilians.

He was charged with nine counts of manslaughter, among other charges, and is one of eight marines initially charged. None has been convicted.

Prosecutors said Wuterich lost control after seeing the body of his friend blown apart by the bomb and led his men on a rampage in which they stormed two nearby homes, blasting their way in with gunfire and grenades. Among the dead were women, children and elderly people, including a man in a wheelchair.

Wuterich’s former squad members testified that they did not take any gunfire during the 45-minute raid, but several testified that they did not believe they did anything wrong, fearing insurgents were inside.

Wuterich has said he regretted the loss of civilian lives but believed he was operating within military combat rules.