FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - A 101st Airborne Division soldier pleaded guilty Thursday to murdering three detainees in Iraq last year, saying he went along with a plan to make it look like they were escaping.He faces life in prison, but "should get a lighter sentence," which he most certainly will, because of his plea.
Pfc. Corey R. Clagett, 21, was one of four soldiers from the division's 3rd Brigade "Rakkasans" who were accused in the detainees' deaths during a May 9 raid on the Muthana chemical complex in Samarra, about 60 miles north of Baghdad.
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The soldiers first told investigators they shot the detainees because they were attempting to flee _ a story they now say they made up _ and that commanders had given them orders to kill all military-age males on the mission.Two of those soldiers, Spc. William B. Hunsaker and Spc. Juston R. Graber, have changed their stories and pleaded guilty. The squad leader, Staff Sgt. Raymond Girouard, is awaiting his court-martial.
"(Sgt. Girouard) said we were going to cut the zip ties loose and kill the detainees," Clagett told the judge Thursday. "I knew it was an unlawful order. I just went along with it."
The judge asked Clagett what his intention was when he shot at the detainees.
"To kill them, your honor," Clagett said.
Just remember, it's speaking out against the President and his war of choice and horrific stories like this one, not commanders ordering their men to slaughter detainees, who then get lighter sentences, that undermines the war effort.
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