Troops' Murder Cases in Iraq Detailed
BAGHDAD — U.S. military prosecutors alleged Monday that American soldiers shot to death two unarmed Iraqi men in their homes, then tried to cover up their crimes by claiming that the Iraqis had reached for guns.
In a makeshift courtroom here, the prosecutors and other soldiers described in chilling detail how the two accused servicemen casually executed the Iraqis in August even though the civilians posed no immediate danger.
Sgt. Michael P. Williams, 25, of Memphis, Tenn., and Spc. Brent W. May, 22, of Salem, Ohio, are the second pair of soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment of Ft. Riley, Kan., to face murder charges stemming from separate incidents in August.
Williams and May, who are held in what authorities described as military confinement here, could face the death penalty if convicted.
The allegations against them are among about a dozen murder cases that have been filed against U.S. troops in Iraq. Details of their actions were revealed after last month's videotaped killing of a wounded insurgent by a U.S. Marine in Fallouja.
That case, which is under review, and others have led human rights groups and many Iraqis to question the conduct of American forces.
Two soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry, have testified that rogue members of the unit showed so little regard for the lives of Iraqis that they felt obligated to complain to superiors about criminal conduct that included murder, mistreatment of a corpse and firing at a truck whose occupants were waving a white flag.
Some soldiers in the unit bragged about their misdeeds, the witnesses said.
One of the Army whistle-blowers had to be transferred to another unit for his safety.
"It was a real moral dilemma," said Pfc. Gary Romriell, who testified that he switched units after complaining about his fellow soldiers' conduct.
"On the one hand, my friends and associates were involved in the crimes. On the other hand, it was wrong."
Williams and May were charged in September, but details of the killings were made public for the first time Monday at a preliminary court-martial hearing for May.
Monday's hearing focused on the killing of an unidentified Iraqi on the morning of Aug. 28 as the regiment's Charlie Company conducted house-to-house searches in Sadr City. At the time, the Baghdad slum was the site of daily skirmishes between U.S. troops and black-clad members of the Mahdi militia, who follow radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr.
