Marine says he was ordered to delete Iraq photos (Haditha)

[Barrett808]

Source: Associated Press

Marine says he was ordered to delete Iraq photos
By CHELSEA J. CARTER, Associated Press Writer

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A Marine who took pictures of Iraqi men, women and children killed by U.S. forces testified Thursday that he deleted the photos under an officer's orders and later lied repeatedly to investigators about what happened to the images.

The testimony by Staff Sgt. Justin Laughner came during the court-martial of 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson, who is accused of helping cover up the Nov. 19, 2005, killings in Haditha, Iraq.

Laughner said he took the photos of the bodies hours after a roadside bomb hit a convoy, killing the driver of a Humvee and wounding two Marines.

After the bombing, investigators say, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich and a squad member shot five men by a car at the scene. Wuterich then allegedly ordered his men into several houses, where they cleared rooms with grenades and gunfire, killing the Iraqis. In all, 24 men, women and children died.

Laughner testified that Grayson told him to delete the photos. He admitted during questioning by a defense attorney that he lied to five different investigators about what happened to the photographs.

"I wasn't truthful with them because I knew I had already deleted them," he said. "I felt that I had done something wrong."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080530/ap_on_re_us/marines_haditha

[gratuitous]

1. Tampering with evidence is much preferable

Delete a few digital photos, or be at risk for war crimes and crimes against humanity? Easy choice for the conscienceless, I suppose. I wonder why this soldier didn't just disobey a clearly unlawful order, like all the acolytes from the High Church of Redemptive Violence assure us is our bulwark against any of our star-spangled, freckle-faced All-American men and women ever committing a war crime?

[wmbrew0206]

2. The question shere are "Did he take thosed photos in an offical capacity

or were they personal photos?" and if they were personal photos and not official "Did Lt. Grayson know they were photos of the Haditha incident?"

It is a violation of the Laws of War to take pictures of the dead for personal use. If this Sgt wasn't taking pictures in an official capacity then ordering him to delete the pictures off his personal computer would have been a normal example officer trying to help out an NCO, rather than charge him.

This is one of the things the defense will have to prove to the jury.

In this situation, it looks like that the scenario above is very doubtful. I'll hold off judgment until after the verdict is read, but things aren't looking good for Lt

[jaybeat]

3. What if the photos weren't "Personal use" or "official capacity"

What if the photos were taken to provide evidence of a crime? The guys CO sure as hell is gonna tell him to delete that evidence, but wouldn't that be an illegal order? And wouldn't the ban on "personal" photos of dead people not apply?

[wmbrew0206]

4. If he took the photos to provide evidence of a crime than that would be in

an "official" capacity.

I disagree with you assumption that a CO will automatically order any evidence of a crime destroyed. CO's will order an investigation now if there are any civilian death, outside of a fire fight or an escalation of force incident. Since CO's are much better off ordering an investigation of a crime than try and cover it up, since you can't be prosecuted if your Marine disobeyed your orders, but you sure as hell can be prosecuted for covering up a crime.

[Tempest]

5. If I recall correctly

He was ordered to take the pictures.

[wmbrew0206]

6. If you are right, that Lt is probably F'd.