Massey, 33, of Waynesville, N.C., was the chief witness at a refugee
board hearing for a U.S. Army deserter, Jeremy Hinzman, who is attempting
to win asylum in Canada after he fled from Fort Bragg, N.C., rather than
go to Iraq. Hinzman, 25, the first of at least three U.S. military
deserters to apply for asylum here, argues that he refused to go to Iraq
to avoid committing war crimes.
In Washington, a Marine Corps spokesman at the Pentagon said
Massey's charges had been investigated and were unproved.
"We take such allegations very seriously," said Maj. Douglas Powell.
"And Jimmy Massey, who is a former staff sergeant, out of the Corps, has
made these statements before in the press. They've been looked into, and
nothing has been substantiated."
Massey is a former Marine recruiter who served in Iraq as the staff
sergeant for a platoon that ranged from 25 to 50 men. He testified that
the killings occurred in late March or early April 2003 as his unit, the
weapons company of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, moved northward
to Baghdad and then beyond.
During one 48-hour period, Massey said under oath, his platoon set
up roadblocks and killed "30-plus" civilians. He said his men, fearing
suicide bombers, poured massive firepower into cars that did not stop as
they approached the roadblocks. In each instance, he said, none of the
cars was found to have contained explosives or arms.
"Why didn't the Iraqis stop? That is something that has plagued me
every waking moment of the day," he said. He said they may have been
confused by the Americans' gestures or thought that a warning shot was
celebratory gunfire.
"I don't know if the Iraqi people thought we were celebrating their
newfound freedom. But I do know we killed innocent civilians," Massey
said. In one case, the driver of a car leaped out with his hands up. "But
we kept firing. We killed him," Massey said. In another case, he and other
Marines shot and killed four protesters near a checkpoint after a single
incoming gunshot from an unknown source, he said. None of the protesters
was found with arms.
The testimony of Massey, who was honorably discharged six months
after his medical evacuation from Iraq, is the main surviving thrust of
the strategy by Hinzman's attorney to put the Iraq war on trial at the
refugee hearing. The asylum bids by Hinzman and two other servicemen are a
dilemma for the Canadian government, which is seeking to repair relations
with the Bush administration. Canada refused to join the U.S. invasion of
Iraq, and the war remains highly unpopular in Canada.
The government won a ruling that the legality of the Iraq war could
not be an issue at the refugee hearing. But Hinzman's attorney, Jeffry
House, has introduced testimonials and human rights reports to support
Hinzman's claim that he would have been forced to violate the Geneva
Conventions in Iraq.
Some of Hinzman's supporters, including House, are Vietnam-era draft
dodgers. They compare Massey's testimony to the disclosure of the My Lai
massacre of civilians in Vietnam.
Hinzman, who served a tour in Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne
Division, had applied for a transfer to a noncombat position in the Army.
When that was rejected and his division was ordered to Iraq, Hinzman drove
from Fort Bragg to Canada in January with his wife and infant son.
The family is living in a basement apartment in Toronto while their
request is heard. If it is rejected, Hinzman has said, they expect to file
appeals in the Canadian courts.
Staff writer Christopher Lee in Washington contributed to this
report