Shameful! It get's worse. Good job all the soldiers have left Iraq.
Quote:
A US marine who admitted charges linked to the killing of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in 2005 should face no time in detention, a judge has recommended.
The decision by the judge at Camp Pendleton, California, must be approved by the commander of the Marine Corps Forces Central Command.
Sgt Frank Wuterich faced a maximum of three months after admitting dereliction of duty in a plea deal.
He was one of eight marines charged over the killings at Haditha.
The charges against six were dropped or dismissed, and one was acquitted.
Military judge Lt Col David Jones said his hands had been tied by the terms of the plea agreement. However, he said he would recommend that Wuterich's rank be reduced to private.......
The judge said he had decided not to dock the marine's pay because Wuterich is divorced with sole custody of his three young children.
Prosecutors had asked that Wuterich receive the maximum sentence of three months confinement, reduction in rank and forfeiture of two-thirds of his pay.
In Iraq, the plea deal that stopped Wuterich's trial on several charges of manslaughter sparked outrage.
Survivor Awis Fahmi Hussein, who had been shot in the back, said: "I was expecting that the American judiciary would sentence this person to life in prison and that he would appear and confess in front of the whole world that he committed this crime, so that America could show itself as democratic and fair."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16712488