Army Drops Charges in Killing of Iraqis

Army Drops Charges in Killing of Iraqis
By JOHN MILBURN, Associated Press Writer
2 minutes ago

TOPEKA, Kan. - The Army dropped murder charges Monday against an officer accused of giving two soldiers in his platoon permission to kill Iraqi civilians.

Second Lt. Erick J. Anderson, 26, of Twinsburg, Ohio, could have gotten life in prison if convicted.

All charges were dropped after an Army investigator who presided over a two-day hearing last month recommended that Anderson not face a court-martial.

Anderson was a platoon leader in an infantry regiment in August 2004. Four men in his 36-member platoon were convicted of murdering unarmed Iraqis during operations near Sadr City.

In statements to Army investigators, two soldiers said Anderson gave them the go-ahead to kill civilians, including in one incident described as a "mercy killing."

But during last month's hearing, one of Anderson's accusers changed his story. Pvt. Michael Williams, of Memphis, Tenn., said he only implicated Anderson to get prosecutors to reduce his own life sentence to 25 years.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051205/ap_on_re_us/officer_charged