Second Lieutenant Erick J. Anderson has been charged with premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit premeditated murder, the 1st US Cavalry Division announced.
A US military statement said that the allegations were under investigation by the US authorities and specific events relating to the charges could "not be discussed in detail at this time."
The case was the latest among several similar allegations surfacing in the US forces in Iraq. Last month, two soldiers of the same company with Anderson were charged with murdering an Iraqi in Sadr City, a Shiite slum in eastern Baghdad.
Anderson was under investigation on whether he granted the two soldiers permission to shoot an injured Iraqi whom they thought was so badly wounded that he would die anyway.
Staff Sergeant Jonathan Alban was accused of firing "multiple rounds" with a rifle at the badly wounded Iraqi, who managed to pull himself out of a burning garbage truck attacked by a group of US troops, who suspected the men in the truck were planting roadside bombs. It was not clear if bombs were found at the scene.
Alban appeared before a military court on Oct. 21. The other soldier, Staff Sergeant Johnny Horne, is due to appear in court later.
If tried and convicted, the two could face a minimum punishment of life in prison and a maximum of the death penalty, said the US military.
Xinhuanet articleA US military statement said that the allegations were under investigation by the US authorities and specific events relating to the charges could "not be discussed in detail at this time."
The case was the latest among several similar allegations surfacing in the US forces in Iraq. Last month, two soldiers of the same company with Anderson were charged with murdering an Iraqi in Sadr City, a Shiite slum in eastern Baghdad.
Anderson was under investigation on whether he granted the two soldiers permission to shoot an injured Iraqi whom they thought was so badly wounded that he would die anyway.
Staff Sergeant Jonathan Alban was accused of firing "multiple rounds" with a rifle at the badly wounded Iraqi, who managed to pull himself out of a burning garbage truck attacked by a group of US troops, who suspected the men in the truck were planting roadside bombs. It was not clear if bombs were found at the scene.
Alban appeared before a military court on Oct. 21. The other soldier, Staff Sergeant Johnny Horne, is due to appear in court later.
If tried and convicted, the two could face a minimum punishment of life in prison and a maximum of the death penalty, said the US military.
Trust me. That will not happen.
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