an in Hamdania last April. Seven marines and one Navy corpsman are accused of premeditated murder and kidnapping in this incident; Thomas had previously pled guilty but was permitted to withdraw his plea after he decided to pursue the defense of superior orders. Corporal Thomas will argue that he was following a lawful order and should therefore not be held responsible for the murder.This is the third alleged war crimes incident involving Camp Pendleton marines. The first and largest occured at Haditha in November 2005. It left 24 Iraqi civilians and one U.S. marine dead; seven marines face possible charges associated with the Haditha incidents, including 3 enlisted marines charged with murder (the charges against one marine were dropped in exchange for his testimony) and 4 officers (including the battalion commander and his legal officer) charged with dereliction of duty. The third incident, which is still under investigation, involves actions taken during the battle for Fallujah.
The military criminal investigations and trials are being carried out under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), which does not include any specific provision for war crimes. Last year, Major Mynda Ohman, an Air Force judge advocate, published an award-winning article arguing that the UCMJ should be amended to acknowledge the need to define and prosecute such crimes. Major Ohman wrote that "it is time to apply the gains made in international humanitarian law to the code that regulates the conduct of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines."
