GIs go from informants to defendants

GIs go from informants to defendants
By Matt Millham, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, September 1, 2008

It was after dark, but still early, on a night in April 2007 when 1st Sgt. John E. Hatley allegedly huddled with his troops in the motor pool of their grimy combat outpost in southwest Baghdad and told them not to talk about what just happened. He directed some of the junior guys to burn the blindfolds and plastic handcuffs and to wash the blood off the Bradley.

What they’d just done was for their fallen comrades, he said.

What they had just done — according to court testimony last week and documents obtained by Stars and Stripes — was shoot and kill four Iraqi detainees.

And for some nine months, the dozen or so soldiers out that night stayed quiet.

But in January, Staff Sgt. Jess Cunningham came forward to reveal the alleged crime committed by three members of Company A, 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=57125