http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070809/...ine_haditha_dc

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A U.S. Marine general dropped all charges on Thursday against two Marines in the shooting deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha, scene of what Iraqi witnesses said was a massacre by American troops.

The dismissal of charges means neither Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt nor Capt. Randy Stone will face a court-martial in connection with the events at Haditha, which have brought international condemnation of U.S. troops.

Five Marines still face charges in the November 19, 2005, shooting of two dozen unarmed men, women and children in Haditha, which prosecutors say came in retaliation for the death of a beloved comrade, Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, who was cut in half by a roadside bomb.

Sharratt, 22, had been charged with three counts of premeditated murder and Stone, 35, with dereliction of duty for failing to properly report the civilian deaths. Defense attorneys conceded civilians were killed at Haditha but said they died during chaotic fighting with insurgents after the roadside blast.

In dismissing the charges against Sharratt and Stone after what he said was an exhaustive review, Lt. Gen. James Mattis cited the difficult battle conditions and a “shadowy enemy” whose forces hid among civilians.

“With the dismissal of these charges Lance Cpl. Sharratt may conclude that he did his best to live up to the standards, followed by U.S. fighting men throughout our many wars, in the face of life or death decisions made in a matter of seconds in combat,” Mattis said. “As he has always remained cloaked in the presumption of innocence, with this dismissal of charges, he remains in the eyes of the law — and in my eyes, innocent.”

Mattis said that while Stone may have made mistakes, they did not “rise to the level of criminal behavior.”

i'm just curious why ANYTHING do do with this case is worthy of a "thumbs up"

Shoot 24 Iraqis is not criminal? Then What on earth is?

Originally Posted by The Other Guy

Shoot 24 Iraqis is not criminal? Then What on earth is?

Innocent until proven guilty!

Yeah but I still wouldn't give this one a thumbs up.

Originally Posted by the_13th_redneck

Yeah but I still wouldn't give this one a thumbs up.

DO you think we, here, know more than their commanders who must be under a lot of scrutiny? I doubt they just dropped these charges because they like them. I think they were dropped since there was no further evidence in that case to continue with the legal process.

Don't you think so?!

Yeah I'm glad they didn't get charged for what could have been an incident where civilians were caught in the crossfire but this sort of stuff is almost always used by the enemy to swing more 'undecided' or even at times those sympathetic to the allies over to their cause.
That's why it's not really a thumbs up.
Even that accidental running over of two Korean girls by a US Army vehicle caused an insanely huge uproar. Imagine what something like this would do.

Originally Posted by the_13th_redneck

Yeah I'm glad they didn't get charged for what could have been an incident where civilians were caught in the crossfire but this sort of stuff is almost always used by the enemy to swing more 'undecided' or even at times those sympathetic to the allies over to their cause.
That's why it's not really a thumbs up.
Even that accidental running over of two Korean girls by a US Army vehicle caused an insanely huge uproar. Imagine what something like this would do.

Sure!

I think we should give them the benefitt of the doubt thou

Dude, it doesn't matter what WE think.

Originally Posted by the_13th_redneck

Dude, it doesn't matter what WE think.

LoL

So much for the PUBLIC OPINION!