Guardsman Pleads Guilty in Iraqi Death By RYAN LENZ, Associated Press Writer



FORT KNOX, Ky. - An Indiana national guardsman charged with murder in the death of an Iraqi police officer pleaded guilty at his court-martial Monday to a lesser charge of negligent homicide.

Cpl. Dustin Berg, 22, testified that he felt he did not properly assess the threat that he faced and acted rashly.

"I shouldn't have automatically considered him a threat," Berg said. "I misread the situation."

Berg had changed his story multiple times during the investigation, initially saying the Iraqi had pointed an AK-47 at him to prevent Berg from reporting insurgent activity. On Monday, however, Berg said that Iraqi police officers as a matter of habit carried their guns with the barrels pointed slightly upward.

It was the latest in at least a dozen court-martials of U.S. troops accused in the deaths of Iraqi civilians.

Berg was accused of killing the Iraqi police officer in November 2003, then shooting himself in the stomach to give the impression of a gun fight and block an investigation.

"I thought I was going to die," Berg testified during a May hearing. "I felt I had no choice but to fear for my life."

He later admitted that he shot himself with the Iraqi's weapon in an attempt to limit questions since there were no witnesses. Three other soldiers from his unit were under investigation at the time, and Berg said he was scared he would be, too.

The charges against Berg raised questions about whether a soldier's right to defend himself depended on the presence of a witness.

Most military personnel accused of murder argue self-defense because there are few other options available on the battlefield, said Gary Solis, a law professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Soldiers can claim they were acting in self-defense or that they were following orders, Solis said.

"To say that it happened in combat can be nothing more than a convenient cop-out — because there can be murder in combat," Solis said.

At least eight U.S. soldiers have been convicted or have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the deaths of Iraqis.

Jesus,he shot himself with an AK?He must have REALLY panicked when he realized he screwed the pooch big time.

I can understand panicking and misjudging the situation, but I wish he could have took a chance on telling someone when it first happen. It is more hard on him now for lying, I'm sure there's more soldiers out there who don't trust no one who isn't an american.

Well said.

Trust would be a hard factor for our troops right now with being subjected to the news media, peer pressure from political sources and the thought of being tried for war crimes, and from the daily command rif raf that occurs, in this case, shooting himself and continuously changing his stories around sounds like a man who wanted to go home early, in this situation it backfired! Dunno, outright killing anybody just to save your hide wouldn't be the answer.
I wasn't there and for whatever real reasons occurred, he is going to have to answer for them I'm sure. AK-47 round in the stomach, big hurt there!