Article summary by Travis L. Williams
Aljazeera and Reuters report that on Friday Petty Officer Melson Bacos, a 21-year old U.S. navy medic, admitted to a military court that he participated in the kidnapping of 52-year old Hashim Ibrahim Awad, an Iraqi civilian and father of eleven. Bacos said Awad was abducted and then shot and killed execution style by a squad of seven U.S. Marines. Bacos also described how U.S. Marines actively attempted to cover up the man's abduction and murder by placing an assault rifle, spent bullets, and a shovel next to the victim's body to fabricate the appearance that the man was attempting to plant a roadside bomb.
Bacos said that his patrol leader had inititally organized a plan to kill another Iraqi, supposedly out of anger over the man's recent release from Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison. When the squad could not find the former prisoner, they abducted and murdered Awad, the man's neighbor.
According to Aljazeera, although Bacos initially received a 10-year prison sentence for his role in the kidnapping and murder, under the terms of his plea bargain he will actually serve less than one year in prison. Part of Bacos's plea bargain also exonerates him of any official murder charges (the original charges filed against him before the plea bargain included the crime of murder). Bacos was also given a dishonorable discharge from the U.S. military.
-Travis
Link to the story below.
US navy medic admits Iraq kidnap (Aljazeera.net)
US Navy medic admits part in killing of Iraqi man (Reuters AlertNet)
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