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A soldier being court-martialed on a U.S. Army base near Seattle for the murder of three Afghan civilians has agreed to plead guilty Wednesday in hopes of earning a reduced sentence, according to one of the attorneys handling his case.
"My client is admitting on the record to three counts of murder, plus one count of conspiracy to commit assault and battery and one count of illegal drug use," said Geoffrey Nathan, a lawyer for Army Spc. Jeremy Morlock.
This week, the German news magazine Der Spiegel published three photographs said to show two U.S. soldiers accused of being part of a rogue "kill team" last year during their tour in Afghanistan. Perhaps the most damaging image appears to show Spc. Morlock smiling as he lifts the head of a dead, bloodied Afghan man.
A court-martial is schedued to start Wednesday for Spc. Morlock, 22, of Wasilla, Alaska. He is one of 12 soldiers charged with an array of offenses stemming from an incident last year when the Army says three Afghan civilians were murdered by members of the 5th Stryker Brigade operating in the Maiwand district of Kandahar Province.
Mr. Nathan indicated that once Spc. Morlock stipulates to the military's facts in the case, he will mount what amounts to a "good soldier defense" for Spc. Morlock. The court will be asked to consider the defendant's overall military record, and mitigating factors such as coercion by others. He said his client may testify in any cases rising from the incidents.
The U.S. Army, which issued a statement of apology Monday, plans to investigate the release of the photos. Spokesman Col. Thomas Collins said the photos had been "sealed under a protective order" as part of the trial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the base near Seattle hosting the trial.
Der Spiegel also published a photo that displayed the corpses of several Afghan civilians believed to have been killed by U.S. soldiers despite no indications they were combatants.
As the Army apologized, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton worked the phones to her counterparts in Kabul to limit the damage of a potential public-relations debacle. Administration officials also reached out to Afghan leaders to reiterate that the soldiers involved were facing a number of charges including premeditated murder.
Although apparently not indicative of a widespread systemic breakdown, as with the dozens of images from Iraq's Abu Ghraib penitentiary in 2004, the photos of U.S. soldiers grinning with a corpse are certain to offer enemies of the Kabul regime a propaganda coup.
"The photos appear in stark contrast to the discipline, professionalism and respect that have characterized our Soldiers' performance during nearly 10 years of sustained operations," the Army said in its statement.
Earlier this month, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Gen. David Petraeus, commander of allied forces in Afghanistan, apologized after American helicopters killed nine Afghan children who were mistaken for insurgents in Afghanistan's Kunar Province. The U.S. military is investigating another incident in which Afghan officials said two Afghan civilians were killed by U.S. helicopters in the same province.
Marc Hujer, the Der Spiegel reporter who filed Monday's story, declined to comment on how the news organization acquired the photos. Mr. Hujer said the magazine wouldn't compromise its sources by detailing how the photographs were obtained. He would not comment on whether they could have been received from other soldiers serving in Afghanistan.According to press reports, soldiers have told investigators that such photos of dead bodies were passed around like trading cards on thumb drives and other digital storage devices.
Of 12 defendants, only Spc. Morlock and four others have been charged with premeditated murder. The others faced charges such as assault and drug use; proceedings have concluded for five of those seven defendants, with five convicted and confined, and facing likely discharge.
