One count premed.
Murder; One count
unpremed murder;
Life with parole
REDUCED TO 25
YEARS FOR
TESTIFYING FOR
PROSECUTION
On May 11, a military panel sentenced Sgt. Michael P. Williams, of Memphis, Tenn., to life with
parole for one count of premeditated murder and one count of unpremeditated murder for the
August death of an Iraq civilian, also in Sadr City.
A second soldier was sentenced May 9 for his role in the death. Spc. Brent W. May, of Salem,
Ohio, was convicted of one count of unpremeditated murder and sentenced to five years in prison.
The men from Task Force 1-41 fought the battle for Sadr City last summer, chasing Al Mahdi
militiamen through the slums in 120-degree heat. A year earlier, the unit had helped lead the charge
into Baghdad.
The 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment has a distinguished combat history, from the D-Day
landing to the Iraq desert campaign of the Persian Gulf War. Its motto: "Straight and Stalwart."
Last week, in a makeshift military courtroom, the unit's reputation came under assault.
Soldiers from 1-41 described how a member of a rogue platoon hauled an unarmed Iraqi
man away from his family one hot August morning and casually fired two shots into his
head. Then he photographed the corpse.
Soldiers have described renegade infantrymen who bragged about their kills. In one case,
they testified, soldiers from a 1-41 platoon argued over who should get credit for killing an
unarmed Iraqi because they had bet on who would be the first.
Court testimony suggests a unit in chaos, plagued by a handful of out-of-control soldiers and riven
by internal divisions.
Soldiers said one squad leader ordered his men to take no prisoners, and at least one soldier who
complained about misconduct had to be transferred for his safety.
Another 1-41 soldier was punished for kicking an Iraqi corpse after urine from the body dripped
onto the soldier's hands.
Experts in military history say they cannot recall another case where so many members from a
single unit were charged with so many killings in so short a period. In all, a dozen American
servicemen in Iraq have been charged with killing civilians. During the Vietnam War, 122
servicemen were convicted of killing noncombatants.
Some military legal experts say the killing of civilians — whether accidental or intentional — can
be expected in a war where insurgents use terrorist tactics such as car and roadside bombs, while
also blending in with civilians and firing from mosques, schools and hospitals.
"The circumstances in Iraq are novel," said Eugene Fidell, a lawyer who has represented soldiers
and directs the National Institute for Military Justice. "We have unusual, asymmetrical warfare and
fairly insane behavior by an enemy that blatantly violates the laws of war."
The boy was one of seven Iraqi teenagers and young men killed after the unit fired on a
dump truck in the dark. Soldiers mistook them for insurgents laying roadside bombs.
Sgt. Michael P. Williams, 25, was charged in the same incident with killing an Iraqi who
ran from the truck. Some soldiers testified that the unarmed man was waving a white
cloth, and one heard the Iraqi shouting "Baby! Baby!" — possibly referring to youngsters
in the truck, which had been hired to pick up trash.
Williams told his squad before leaving Ft. Riley in Kansas that they would "take no prisoners" in
Iraq, according to testimony.
Ten days later, on Aug. 28, an Iraqi smirked as Williams struggled to disassemble an AK-
47 rifle found in the man's house. Soldiers testified that Williams took the man inside the
house, had his plastic handcuffs removed, laid the rifle near him and said: "I feel my life
has been threatened." Williams then shot the man, a soldier testified.
Another soldier allegedly then told him the Iraqi was still alive. "I'll take care of it,"
Williams replied, and shot the man again, according to prosecutors.
A few minutes later, soldiers pulled a man from a nearby home where two guns had been
found. "You know what you have to do," Williams told Spc. Brent W. May, 22, who fired
twice into the man's head, according to testimony.
