The Washington Post has acquired a transcript of the sworn testimony of Marine Sgt J.M. Laughner, part of a Marine human-intelligence exploitation team that was hunting down insurgent bombmakers. Sgt Laughner examined the scene in Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005 where two dozen Iraqis were killed, including women and children.
In a 34-minute interview with two colonels, Laughner described taking pictures of each of the bodies while moving from room to room in three houses, as the Marines described what happened in each circumstance. The Marines told Laughner they had taken fire from the houses and believed they heard people "racking AK-47s" -- preparing to fire the automatic weapons.
The Marines then "cleared" the rooms using fragmentation grenades and rifle shots. Two other accounts given by lawyers for Marines in the unit are consistent with the version Laughner heard from the Marines involved in the incident on Nov. 19.
Laughner also said that 30 Jordanian passports and large amounts of cash were found in a home near the shooting scenes.
One investigator asked Laughner if there was anything about the number of civilian victims or the circumstances of the casualties that gave reason to pause and "say jeez."
"Any time you see women and children, sir, I thought that," Laughner said. "But from what the Marines had told me and from what I understood from them, that I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing in their situation. If I hear somebody racking AK rounds, and I don't know how many guys are there, I'm going to protect me and my guys."
Laughner also said that leaders within the Marine company were informed almost immediately about the casualty count, and that battalion officers were also made aware of the situation quickly. According to a similar transcript disclosed in The Post last week, Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Marines, told investigators that he viewed the civilian deaths as "very unfortunate" but did not suspect wrongdoing.
In a fit of anti-war political posturing, Representative John Murtha, Democrat from Pennsylvania and former Marine, accused the Marines who were on the ground in Haditha that day of cold blooded murder. He went on to accuse the officers in command of a covering it up. Murtha faces a civil suit for libel in response.
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