[via Wired]

CAMP PENDLETON, California — As they carried out the killing of an Iraqi civilian, seven Marines and a Navy medic used their understanding of the military's airborne surveillance technology to spoof their own systems, military hearing testimony charges.

"These are people who every day deal with such things and understand how the images are gathered, as much as understand other tactical and weapons issues," says defense attorney David Brahms, who represents a Marine who's pleaded guilty to conspiracy and kidnapping in the case. "They are warriors and this is what warriors do."

The April 26, 2006, killing of disabled police officer Hashim Ibrahim Awad has been the subject of eight months of military hearings at Camp Pendleton near San Diego. Three defendants have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting court martial on murder charges. Five others have entered guilty pleas to lesser charges, receiving prison sentences from one to eight years. As part of their plea bargains, they've agreed to testify against the three remaining Marines.

The case is remarkable for the fact that the killers nearly got away with their alleged crime right under the eye of the military's sophisticated surveillance systems. According to testimony, at least three times the warriors took deliberate, and apparently effective, measures to trick the unmanned aerial vehicles — UAVs in military parlance — that watch the ground with heat-sensitive imaging by night, and high-resolution video by day.

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Cross-posted from Pud Inc.. You can comment here or there.

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Cross-posted from Pud Inc.. You can comment here or there.