A court martial opened Monday for a Marine accused of murdering an Iraqi soldier while the two men stood guard together in Fallujah.
But the 21-year-old Marine reservist says he acted in self-defense. Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes, of Indianapolis, is accused of stabbing Munther Jasem Muhammed Hassin to death as they stood watch at a security post on Dec. 31, 2006.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges of unpremeditated murder and making a false statement.
If convicted on all counts, Holmes faces life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.
The killing occurred in the pre-dawn darkness after Hassin allegedly opened his cell phone, then lit a cigarette, said Holmes’ attorney, Steve Cook.
The men were not supposed to display illuminated objects because of the danger of sniper fire, and Holmes repeatedly tried to make Hassin extinguish the cigarette, Cook said.
Holmes maintains he knocked the cigarette out of the soldier’s hand and the two got into a fight. During the struggle, Holmes felt Hassin reaching for his loaded AK-47, so the Marine killed him with a knife, then radioed for help.
It’s despicable that some in the military are so quick to charge soldiers with murder. How can we give these young soldiers guns, and knives, and then not give them the benefit of the doubt when they use them.
It’s certainly not far-fetched to imagine an Iraqi soldier acting in a less than professional way. It’s also not difficult to imagine an Iraqi soldier trying to kill a U.S. soldier.
The idea that this young Marine just decided to stab his Iraqi counterpart to death one night while standing guard, is ridiculous. This is no time to play politics with the lives of the men and women who are in harm’s way.
-Chris Jones
