Breaking news on the investigation into the Haditha incident.

“WASHINGTON - Evidence collected on the deaths of 24 Iraqis in Haditha supports accusations that U.S. Marines deliberately shot the civilians, including unarmed women and children, a Pentagon official said Wednesday.

Agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service have completed their initial work on the incident last November, but may be asked to probe further as Marine Corps and Navy prosecutors review the evidence and determine whether to recommend criminal charges, according to two Pentagon officials who discussed the matter on condition of anonymity.

The decision on whether to press criminal charges against four Marines ultimately will be made by the commander of the accused Marines‚Äô parent unit, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif. That currently is Lt. Gen. John Sattler, but he is scheduled to move to a Pentagon assignment soon; his successor will be Lt. Gen. James Mattis.”

Well on the heals of Murtha getting sued, we have yet another “anonymous official” leaking information not yet public. Whatever.

However, I will say this again, as I worked on a few investigations way back when, if there had been anything “frightful” discovered by now this case would have been referred for charges already. As it stands at this point we know that there was NO coverup of the incident. Commanders and other leaders were faulted for not investigating quickly enough - something that may result in administrative procedures (letters of reprimand, relief of command, etc).

Of course we don’t know if any other charges are pending, but at this point I cannot see Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich through his lawyer filing a lawsuit if that were the case.

I would especially like to know what “evidence” has been uncovered that would “support” allegations. The scene had been severely tampered with before investigators actually got to process it.

As lawhawk at a Blog for All puts it:

“No word on what that evidence includes or whether autopsies were conducted to obtain forensic evidence from the bodies of those purported victims. If this story is accurate, and remember that this is information put out by a leaker of one side in the matter at hand, the Marines involved in the incident have a whole mess of legal trouble heading their way.”

Yeah, the question of “IF”.