All Marines accused of crime get away lightly

Beirut/Washington: Six years after Marines killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Haditha, an incident denounced as one of the worst atrocities committed by US troops, the last of eight prosecutions ended as the previous seven had — without a conviction at trial.

Staff Sgt Frank Wuterich, who led the assault, once possibly faced 152 years in prison, but under the agreement between prosecutors and defence attorneys, he will serve no more than three months.

Experts said they feared Monday's deal would reinforce a belief in the international community that the US military has not held its troops accountable — nor met the standards of conduct it has attempted to impose far from home.

Among the dead in Haditha were seven children, including a toddler, three women and a 76-year-old man in a wheelchair.

Some of the victims, a prosecutor said, were essentially executed, their wounds caused by gunshots so close that they left powder burns on the bodies.

Shocking deal

One Marine, who was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony, told of how he had urinated on a dead civilian's head.

"When push comes to shove, when it comes to looking at the misconduct of [US] ... soldiers, there is no accountability," said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch.

— Los Angeles Times