Evidence Going Missing in U.S. War Atrocity Cases

Remember when I mentioned that a U.S. soldier had been court martialed for beating a hooded, handcuffed Iraqi to death? The soldier was convicted and given a sixty day sentence and a demotion, which his lawyer, naturally, called “a tremendous outcome.”

Well… it turns out that part of the reason why they’re having a hard time enforcing any significant penalties against this sort of brutality is that much of the evidence has been “lost”:

The missing evidence includes bones taken from the throat and chest of Nagem Hatab, attorneys said Thursday at a hearing for Maj. Clarke Paulus.… ¶ The missing bones are just one of several errors in the investigation that came to light at ’s hearing.

Hatab’s organs, which were removed during autopsy, were subsequently destroyed when they were left for hours in the blazing heat on an Iraqi airstrip. A summary of an interrogation the Marines conducted with Hatab shortly before his death at the camp also is missing, as is a photo of Hatab that was taken during questioning.

Oh well, you win some (when) you lose some.