Lawmaker Sued Over Haditha Remarks

Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), a Vietnam veteran who has emerged as a leading critic of the war in Iraq, defended himself Wednesday against accusations that he had defamed Marines under investigation in the slayings of 24 civilians in Haditha, saying he publicized the incident to illustrate the pressures soldiers face in Iraq.

Murtha was sued Wednesday in federal court by Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, the senior enlisted man on the scene of the Nov. 19 killings, who accused the congressman of libel and invasion of privacy, saying Murtha had spread “false and malicious lies” about what happened in Haditha.

“Mr. Murtha [has] sought to destroy the reputations of young Marines who have done nothing other than voluntarily place their lives in jeopardy on foreign soil,” the lawsuit says.

Murtha said he did not intend to blame Wuterich when he publicly discussed the killings in May. He said he wanted to show the unintended consequences that had arisen in Iraq in order to bolster his case to withdraw all American troops.

“I don’t blame the staff sergeant for lashing out,” Murtha said. “When I spoke up about Haditha, my intention was to draw attention to the horrendous pressure put on our troops in Iraq and to the coverup of the incident.”

The Marine Corps originally said the Haditha victims had died as a result of the same roadside bomb that killed a Marine in Wuterich’s unit. But after Time magazine published allegations that the civilians were unarmed and killed in cold blood, the military started a criminal investigation of the actions of Wuterich and three other Marines. A separate investigation is examining whether there was a coverup.

Although the Marines have not been charged in the slayings, Pentagon officials say charges are expected.

Wuterich’s suit contains specific accounts of the incident, and makes it clear that the Marines and their lawyers intend to argue that the troops thought insurgents lurked in the houses where the civilians were killed.

Although Iraqi witnesses said the Marines ordered five young men out of a taxi and shot them -- an account reportedly supported by photo evidence gathered by military investigators -- Wuterich said the men were fleeing when shot.

“It was standard operating procedure at the time to shoot suspicious people fleeing a bombing,” the suit says.

Wuterich said 19 civilians in three houses were killed as the Marines “cleared” rooms with fragmentation grenades and gunfire during a hunt for insurgents who had fired on his unit.