CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A Marine accused of killing unarmed Iraqi women and children pleaded guilty yesterday to negligent dereliction of duty in a deal that will end the largest and longest-running criminal case against US troops to emerge from the Iraq War.
Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, 31, of Meriden, Conn., led the Marine squad in 2005 that killed 24 Iraqis in the town of Haditha in a series of raids on homes after a roadside bomb exploded near a Marine convoy, killing one Marine and wounding two others.
It was a stunning and muted end to the case once described as the Iraq War’s version of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. The government failed to get one manslaughter conviction in the case that involved eight Marines.
The Haditha incident is considered among the war’s defining moments, further tainting America’s reputation when it was already at a low point after the release of photos of prisoner abuse by US soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison.
“The case doesn’t end with a bang, it ends with a whimper and a pretty weak whimper at that,’’ said Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor and judge. “When you have 24 dead bodies and you get dereliction of duty, that’s pretty good defense work.’’
Wuterich, his family, and his lawyers declined to comment after he entered the plea that interrupted his trial at Camp Pendleton before a jury of combat Marines who served in Iraq.
Prosecutors also declined to comment on the plea deal.
The father of three children had faced the possibility of life behind bars.
After pleading guilty to the minor charge, Wuterich now faces a maximum of three months in confinement, two-thirds forfeiture of pay, and a rank demotion to private when he’s sentenced, which will happen this morning. The plea agreement calls for manslaughter charges to be dropped.
Seven other Marines in his squad were acquitted or had charges dismissed.
The killings still fuel anger in Iraq after becoming the primary reason behind demands that US troops not be given immunity from their court system.
Kamil al-Dulaimi, a Sunni lawmaker from the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi, called the plea deal a travesty of justice for the victims and their families.
“It’s just another barbaric act of Americans against Iraqis,’’ Dulaimi said. “They spill the blood of Iraqis and get this worthless sentence for the savage crime against innocent civilians.’’
News of the plea agreement came late in the evening in Iraq just hours before the curfew most cities still impose, producing no noticeable public reaction. Government officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The issue at the court martial was whether Wuterich reacted appropriately as a Marine squad leader in protecting his troops in the midst of a chaotic war or disregarded combat rules and ordered his men to shoot and blast indiscriminately at Iraqi civilians.
Wuterich was initially charged with nine counts of manslaughter, among other charges.
Prosecutors said he 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 was a man in a wheelchair.
Wuterich acknowledged yesterday he was negligent in his duties because he told his squad to shoot first and ask questions later, or words to that effect, before the squad stormed the first home.