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Fact sheet
The accused, LCpl. Stephen Tatum
was
25-years-old at the time of the incident, and
was on his second combat tour. In 2004, Tatum fought (along with LCpl.
Justin Sharratt) in the "House
from Hell" in Fallujah. (See Bing West's
combat history).
Preferred Charges and Specifications:
Charge I:
Violation of the UCMJ, Article 118 (Unpremeditated murder)
(Maximum punishment: such punishment other than death as a
court-martial may direct. [Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all
pay and allowances, confinement for life])
Specification
1: did murder Noor Salim Rasif.
Specification 2: did murder Zainab Unes Salim.
Charge II:
Violation of the UCMJ, Article 134 (Negligent Homicide)
(Maximum punishment: Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and
allowances, confinement for 3 years)
Specification 1: did unlawfully kill Abdul Hameed Husin Ali.
Specification 2: did unlawfully kill Guhid Abdalhamid Hasan.
Specification
3: did unlawfully kill Asmaa Salman Rasif, also known as Asamaa
Salman Rasif.
Specification
4: did unlawfully kill Abdullah Waleed Abdul Hameed, also known as
Abdullah Waleed Abdul.
Charge III:
Violation of the UCMJ, Article 128 (Assault)
(Maximum punishment: Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and
allowances, and confinement for 8 years)
Specification:
did commit an assault upon Eman Waleed Al Hameed and Abid Al Rahman
Waleed Al Hameed.
Convening
authority: Lt. Gen. James Mattis,
commanding general for
the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Forces Central Commander
for Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa.
Investigating
officer: Lt. Col. Paul J.
Ware.
Lead
prosecutor: Lt. Col. Paul Atterbury
Defense
counsel:
Jack B. Zimmermann (lead civilian attorney) and Kyle Sampson; LtCol. Matthew Cord and
Maj. Jeffrey Muñoz (military attorneys)
How the incident in
these two houses occurred according to the media:
Josh White in the
Washington Post (January 6, 2007):
[After
the IED was detonated] Wuterich, Salinas, Tatum and Lance Cpl. Humberto M. Mendoza formed
a team to attack the house, launching grenades first and then busting
through the door.
"I told them to treat it as a hostile environment," Wuterich told
investigators. "I told them to shoot first, ask questions later."
Defense attorneys have argued that the men were following their
"rules of engagement" when they shot into the homes, using effective
techniques in a difficult environment....
After entering the first house through a kitchen, Tatum told
investigators, he heard what he believed was an AK-47 rifle being
"racked," or readied to fire, around a corner. He and Salinas tossed
grenades into the room, according to the documents. Waleed Hasan, 37,
was killed. Khamisa Ali, 66, was shot dead in the hallway before four
others were killed in a bedroom by grenades and rifle fire.
Nine-year-old Eman Hamed told investigators that a grenade landed
near her grandfather's bed and exploded, sending shrapnel through the
room. Her mother and 4-year-old brother were killed as she huddled,
injured, with another brother, Abid, 6, who survived. "All rooms,"
Abid told investigators. "They were shooting in all rooms."
Several Marines said they quickly cleared the home by fire,
shooting through the dust, debris and darkness to eliminate what they
believed was a threat.
From there, Wuterich, Mendoza and Tatum said, they moved to a
second house after suspecting that insurgents might have escaped.
Mendoza told investigators that the Marines approached the second
house the same way they did the first, treating it as hostile,
according to his sworn statement. Mendoza said he shot a man, 43-
year-old Yunis Rasif, through the house's glass kitchen door.
"I fired because I had been told the house was hostile and I was
following my training that all individuals in a hostile house are to
be shot," Mendoza told investigators. The Marines then entered the
house and tossed grenades before firing into a back bedroom, which
they later found was filled with women and children.
"Knowing what I know now, I feel badly about killing Iraqi
civilians who may have been innocent, but I stand fast in my decisions
that day, as I reacted to the threats that I perceived at the time,"
Tatum said. "I did not shoot randomly with the intent to harm innocent
Iraqi civilians."
What to expect
at the hearing: The prosecution
will hit hardest on the action in house number two. They will argue that
the Marines should have stopped to
reconsider their tactics after seeing that civilians were killed in house number one.
A large part of the prosecution's
case will be built on witness testimony. Since Iraqis will not be in
court, testimony will be presented by NCIS agents. This was a fiasco
in the LCpl.
Sharratt hearing and will undoubtedly be so again.
The only witness to the events in
house number two is 13-year-old Safa Younis. She gave wildly different
accounts to the media about what happened that morning. If
inconsistencies don't disqualify her as a witness, her desire for
revenge should. Regarding the Haditha Marines, she told CNN, "I want
them to be tortured and killed. And I want them to leave our country."
A key witness for house number one is
Eman Waleed Al Hameed.
She is the Iraqi who admitted to CNN that she had prior knowledge of
the IED that killed LCpl. Miguel Terrazas. "I was planning to go to
school. I was about to get out of bed. I knew the bomb would explode
so I covered my ears," she said.
Based on details in
media reports (based on leaks of the NCIS investigation), the incident involving LCpl. Tatum looked something like this:
In house number one, LCpl. Tatum is charged with unlawfully killing
Abdul Hameed Husin Ali (age, late 70’s) Guhid Abdalhamid Hasan (30)
Asmaa Salman Rasif, also known as Asamaa Salman Rasif (32) Abdullah
Waleed Abdul Hameed, also known as Abdullah Waleed Abdul (4) and
assaults upon two Iraqis (both children) who survived the attack, Eman
Waleed Al Hameed and Abid Al Rahman Waleed Al Hameed.
In house number two, LCpl. Tatum is charged with the murder of
Noor Salim Rasif (14) Zainab Unes Salem (3)
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For the official USMC advisory, click
at the link.
News articles
LCpl.
Tatum Article 32 / Day Seven / July 24, Tuesday
*
Accused Marine: "I didn't know there was women and children in that house",
North County Times, July 24, 2007.
Quote LCpl. Tatum:
"I didn't know there was women and children in that house until later.
Otherwise, I would have physically stopped everybody in that room from
shooting....I'm not comfortable with the fact that I might have shot a
child. I don't know if my rounds impacted anybody. That is a burden I will
have to bear."
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LCpl.
Tatum Article 32 / Day Six / July 23, Monday
* Staff Sgt. Travis Fields,
NCIS Special Agent Nayda Mannle.
Testimony centers on rules of engagement in Haditha case,
North County Times,
July 23, 2007.
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Haditha Marine supporters in the news!
* Web
Sites Rally Support for G.I.’s in Legal Trouble, Paul von Zielbauer,
New York Times, July 22, 2007.
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LCpl.
Tatum Article 32 / Day Five / July 20,
Friday
See our
reporting. No one else covered it this day's testimony.
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LCpl.
Tatum Article 32 / Day Four / July 19,
Thursday
* Lt Col Elizabeth Rouse and NCIS.
Forensics at center of Haditha hearing, North County Times,
July 19, 2007.
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LCpl.
Tatum Article 32 / Day Three / July 18,
Wednesday
* NCIS testimony.
Agent says Pendleton Marine knew he shot child, North County Times,
July 19, 2007.
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LCpl.
Tatum Article 32 / Day Two / July 17,
Tuesday
* LCpl Mendoza, Sgt Dela Cruz.
Witness Testifies Marine Knowingly Shot Children in Haditha,
Washington Post, July 18, 2007.
Quote: "I
told him, there's women and kids in that room," Lance Cpl. Humberto M.
Mendoza said of Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum. Tatum's response was, "Well,
shoot them," Mendoza said.
* LCpl Mendoza, Sgt Dela Cruz.
Marine: Defendant ordered killings of women, children, North County
Times, July 17, 2007.
* Sgt Dela Cruz.
Marine charged in Iraq murders wanted leeway to kill, troop says,
Associated Press,
July 17, 2007.
* LCpl Mendoza, Sgt Dela Cruz.
Testimony: Marine killed women, children in Haditha dwelling, San
Diego Union Tribune, July 17, 2007.
Quote:
Mendoza's testimony contrasted starkly with any previously heard account
of the killings. That's because he fabricated it to win a deal that saves
him from prosecution and possible deportation to his native Venezuela,
defense attorney Jack Zimmerman suggested.
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LCpl.
Tatum Article 32 / Day One / July 16,
Monday
*
LCpl. Stephen Tatum.
Marine acted in self-defense in Iraq killings, attorneys say,
San Diego Union Tribune, July 17, 2007.
*
LCpl. Stephen Tatum.
Marine charged in deaths of Iraqis in Haditha says he was responding to
legitimate threat, Associated Press, July 16, 2007
* LCpl. Stephen Tatum.
Edmond
Marine’s hearing set Monday, The Edmond Sun, July 14, 2007.
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