Haditha Marine 'Would Have Levelled The House'

Murdered Haditha Victims

Former Sgt. Hector Salinas' testimony came Thursday at Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich's court-martial, one of the biggest criminal cases against U.S. troops to emerge from the Iraq War.
Salinas said that he believed small arms fire had come from the direction of the home shortly after a roadside bomb hit a convoy, killing a Marine. But he conceded that he did not know at the time that there were women and children in the dwelling.
Wuterich, the squad leader, faces nine counts of manslaughter and other charges stemming from Marine actions that day that killed 24 Iraqis in the town of Haditha in 2005. The Marines stormed two homes for 45 minutes, killing unarmed men, women and children. They found no weapons or insurgents, squad members testified.
Salinas testified that he was the first Marine to enter the house after the roadside bomb exploded. He said he shot a figure he saw near the stairs and later learned he had killed an elderly woman.
He said he saw the man in a wheelchair after he went back to the home later. Four other unarmed civilians were killed there. Asked by a defense attorney if he would have done anything differently that day if he had the chance, Salinas said, "I would have just utilized my air to just level the house."