A fellow squad member of a Marine corporal on trial for the murder of an Iraqi civilian testified in court on Saturday that the Marines were prodded by their superiors to be cruel to Iraqis.
Saul Lopez-Romo testified in a Los Angeles court that he became more aggressive in dealing with suspected Iraqi insurgents after being accused by superiors of being "soft".
The Marines felt the need to prove to the command they were not soft by stepping up violence against the alleged insurgents, Saul Lopez-Romo testified at the court-martial of corporal Trent Thomas.
"We were insulted that higher-ups thought we were soft, that we couldn't take care of business," Lopez-Romo testified.
"We beat people," the corporal testified when asked how Marines "ramped up the shock effect on Iraqis," as Lopez-Romo phrased it.
He said he believed the leadership of his platoon knew about the increased violence.
Lopez-Romo testified that the demeanor of squad members, including Thomas, changed after the comments from his superiors.
"I saw people change that I never thought would change, their state of mind changed," the corporal said.
Members of Thomas' battalion were not as disciplined as members of some other battalions in Iraq, former Marine captain Sean Kuehl testified on Saturday.
He was the intelligence officer of the battalion when Thomas served in Hamdania, Iraq.
Other witnesses have also testified during the trial that the battalion had some discipline problems.
Thomas is charged with premeditated murder in the shooting death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, a 52-year-old disabled, retired policeman and father of 11 on April 26, 2006 in Hamdania.
The corporal faces life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder.He is also charged with kidnapping, conspiracy and other offenses.
Thomas and seven other members of his squad from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment were accused of carrying out a plan to kidnap a suspected insurgent, kill him, and make it look like he was digging a hole to plant a roadside bomb.
Squad leader Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins allegedly hatched the plan.
Lopez-Romo, though a member of the squad, was not on patrol with the others the night of the killing.
A forensic psychiatrist is expected to testify next week that Thomas showed signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Five of Thomas' squad members have pleaded guilty and been sentenced in connection with Awad's death.
Source: Xinhua
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