Homicide Charges Rare in Iraq War

Since March, an additional 17 U.S. troops have been charged with murder in three separate incidents. The increase in the rate of charges is in part because Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, commander of Multinational Corps-Iraq, ordered officers in April to look at every escalation-of-force incident that led to civilian casualties. That effort began after the killings in Haditha came to light and it was alleged that officers in the chain of command ignored the case or covered it up.

"Part of our mission success depends on not creating additional enemies because of our actions," said Lt. Col. Michelle Martin-Hing, a spokeswoman for Chiarelli.

The number of civilians killed has declined from an average of seven per week last year and four per week in January to about one per week in August, she said.

No homicide prosecutions have arisen from shootings at U.S.-manned checkpoints, where troops sometimes kill approaching drivers if they appear to be suicide bombers or insurgents. But officials have been focusing on eliminating such deaths.

Standardized signs warning that U.S. troops can use deadly force are displayed, and Chiarelli is trying to buy green warning lasers to use to get drivers' attention without firing warning shots.

Too Few Convictions?

The homicide data have caused concern among some human rights advocates and experts on military law, who say the low conviction rate and seemingly lenient punishments may be sending the wrong signal, both to U.S. troops and to the Iraqi people.

"We are indeed having trouble getting convictions and accountability, and so are other countries," said Eugene R. Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice. "It has struck me that the sentences are kind of modest."

But several experts on military justice said that the convictions and penalties so far are a reasonable outcome for a system designed to give soldiers fair trials in which the special circumstances of the battlefield are taken into account.

"Military justice is a two-edged sword," said Michael A. Newton, a former Army lawyer who teaches at Vanderbilt University law school and advises the judges supervising Saddam Hussein's trial. "It is a tool for discipline and military efficiency, but it is also a tool for preserving fairness and the rights of soldiers."

Some incidents clearly took place outside of combat and without provocation.

Army Pvt. Federico Daniel Merida, for example, killed an Iraqi soldier in May 2004 by shooting him 11 times after the two had sex. He was later sentenced to 25 years in prison and given a dishonorable discharge. In October 2004, Army Sgt. 1st Class Jorge Diaz shot a detainee in the face after searching a suspected insurgent's house. He was sentenced to seven years and given a dishonorable discharge.

A series of incidents involving the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment in August 2004 highlighted the stresses of battle in the heavily contested Sadr City section of Baghdad and led to four soldiers serving sentences in the deaths of three Iraqi civilians. One of the civilians was shot to death after soldiers attacked a trash truck they believed was dropping roadside bombs. Two soldiers told authorities that the man was in such bad shape, they shot him to put him out of his misery.