European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 22, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday april 222007 stars and stripes pages 5 More marines Given immunity in Laditha Case by Thomas Watkins the associated press san Diego military prosecutors have granted immunity to at least seven marines and they May be called to testify at the trial of fellow troops accused in the slayings of 24 iraqi civilians in Laditha according to documents obtained by the associated press the orders were obtained from someone involved in the Case who declined to be identified because the documents Are not Public the marines who were granted immunity include an officer who told troops to raid a House and a sergeant who took photo graphs of the dead but later deleted them from his camera the immunity orders ensure that any testimony the marines Volunteer cannot be used against them making it highly unlikely charges will be brought against the men the documents also suggest the troops eyewitness accounts will feature prominently in military court hearings for the seven other marines charged in the deadliest Case to arise from the Iraq War the Marine squad had suffered a fatality on nov 192005 when its Convoy was rocked by a Roadside bomb blast in the aftermath of the explosion the troops Are accused of Billing 24 iraqis including women and Laditha four enlisted marines were charged with unpremeditated murder and four officers were charged with failing to adequately report the deaths the marines who received immunity earlier this month Are sgt Sanick p Dela Cruz Dela Cruz and it William t Kallop Dea Cruz generals report criticizes marines actions by Josh White the Washington Post Washington the Marine corps Chain of command in Iraq ignored obvious signs of serious misconduct in the 2005 slayings of two dozen civilians in Laditha and commanders fostered a Cli mate that devalued the life of innocent iraqis to the Point that their deaths were considered an insignificant part of the War according to an army generals investigation maj Gen Eldon a Barg welts 104page report on Laditha is scathing in its criticism of the marines actions from the enlisted men who were involved in the shootings on nov 192005 to the two Star general who commanded the 2nd Marine division in Iraq at the time Barg welts previously Undis closed report obtained by the washing ton Post found that officers May have wilfully ignored reports of the civilian deaths to protect themselves and their units from blame All Levels of command tended to View civilian casualties even in significant numbers As routine and As the natural and intended result of insurgent tactics Bargewell wrote he condemned that approach because it could desensitize marines to the welfare of noncombatants statements made by the Chain of com Mand during interviews for this investigation taken As a whole suggest that iraqi civilian lives Are not As important As us lives their deaths Are just the Cost of doing business and that the marines need to get the Job done no matter what it takes Barge Wells Sharp criticism of the Marine command appears to have been a contributing Factor in subsequent efforts by top leaders to ensure that us troops exercise appropriate restraint around civilians it Gen Peter w Chiarelli who was the top Field commander in Iraq last year and Gen David h Petraeus now the top us commander there have emphasized the importance of protecting the civilian population in counterinsurgency operations and have ordered aggressive investigations of alleged wrong doing though Bargewell completed his secret report in june 2006 it has not been publicly released because of ongoing criminal investigations of three marines on murder allegations and four Marine officers who allegedly failed to look into therase the investigation began in March 2006 after an initial inquiry concluded that the marines did not intentionally kill civilians Barge Wells team interviewed marines in Asad in Western Iraq and in the United states in april 2006 his final re port was submitted to Chiarelli on june 152006 a Marine corps spokesman declined to comment Friday Marine officials have generally not discussed the Inci Dent because it is under investigation in the Laditha incident which has be come one of the most notorious alleged atrocities of the Iraq War marines killed two dozen civilians after a huge Roadside bomb ripped through a humvee in their Convoy killing one Marine instantly and injuring two others a naval criminal investigative service report found that the marines then killed five unarmed civil ians whom they ordered out of a car one Marine alleged that another got Down on one knee and shot them one by one before storming several houses and killing women and children some of them still in their pyjamas and lying in bed the marines have told investigators that they believed they were taking Small arms fire from the houses and that they were following their rules of engage ment when they threw grenades and then shot everyone inside the report notes errors and oversights at All Levels of the Marine command in Iraq Bargewell says that marines at the squad level came up with a false Story that kilo company officers and the com Mander of the 3rd battalion 1st Marine regiment passed along insufficient in formation to the regimental commander and that regimental officers and officers at the 2nd Marine division ignored signs of a problem and believed the incident to be insignificant he also accuses the entire Chain of failing to recognize the importance of civilian deaths to the War Effort coming to first run theater when David Luke Wilson and Ainy Fox Middle of nowhere they Are forced to spend the night at the Only Motel around with Only the they discover if Tat the Slasher movies fib net if the very Roo Fri there sitting i with hidden cameras now aimed at Themi trapping them in rooms crawls Jaees underground Tunnel Sard filming their David and Amy must 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