CAMP PENDLETON - Accused of leading his troops in what prosecutors say was the wrongful killing of two dozen Iraqi civilians in the city of Haditha nearly two years ago, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich has served as a symbol for U.S. military action in Iraq having gone awry.

On Thursday, a calm and clear-speaking Wuterich said in a military courtroom that he followed his training after his squad was attacked by a roadside bomb and that he will forever regret the loss of innocent life.

"As a sergeant and a squad leader, I am responsible for the decisions made to employ the tactics we used that day," Wuterich told Lt. Col. Paul Ware, the Marine officer who presided over a four-day hearing for the accused Marine. Ware will recommend whether Wuterich should face trial in the deaths of 17 of the 24 Iraqi civilians.

"I will always mourn the unfortunate deaths of the innocent Iraqis who were killed during our response to that attack,"

Wuterich was leading a squad from Camp Pendleton on a resupply mission the morning of Nov. 19, 2005, when a Humvee was destroyed by a roadside bomb, killing a lance corporal and injuring two other Marines.

Moments later, five men who emerged from a car that drove up were killed by Wuterich and another Marine. Wuterich said those men were running away when he knelt and shot them in the belief they were insurgents responsible for the roadside bombing and possibly carrying a bomb in their car.

"The threat had to be neutralized," he said.

Nineteen other Iraqis, including six children and two women, would die in the next few hours as Wuterich and his Marines stormed four homes. According to testimony, they were in search of the bomb's triggerman and those they believed were shooting at them.

Most of the 27-year-old Marine's comments came as he read from a prepared statement. He then answered several questions from his lead attorney, Neal Puckett, who asked how he felt about the incident, which would draw international attention to Wuterich and the Marines.

"I will never be OK with what happened that day," Wuterich said. "One of my Marines got killed, two of them got seriously injured.

"Personally, I feel like there were certain decisions that I made then that I might have changed, such as taking a different route back."

As his wife and parents watched him speak from the gallery of a base courtroom, the married father of three daughters also expressed remorse.

"Families got killed that day, and I know I can look at my family and I would not want that to happen to them," he said. "I will never be OK with how the events turned out that day."

Wuterich also denied saying a week prior to the incident that if his squad was ever attacked he would lead his men in killing everyone in the vicinity. A witness against Wuterich, squad member Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, testified last week that Wuterich made that statement.

Wuterich also rejected Dela Cruz's testimony that Wuterich told him to say the men from the car were shot by Iraqi army troops with the Marines that day.

Investigating officer's work

Ware now has to weigh often contradictory testimony of government witnesses and the rules of engagement in place in 2005 as he decides whether there is sufficient evidence to recommend that Wuterich face a court-martial.

Ware may have tipped his hand in remarks at the close of the hearing. He told prosecutors he wanted them to explain in writing why Wuterich should be held accountable for the deaths of six Iraqis inside a bedroom of the first home they stormed.

In his statement, Wuterich acknowledged leading the assault on the homes, an action that he said came from an order issued by Kilo Company platoon Lt. William Kallop. Wuterich said he never shot anyone inside the first two homes.

Of the four men originally charged with the Haditha killings, prosecutors later dropped five homicide counts against Dela Cruz in exchange for his testimony.

Earlier this summer, Ware recommended dropping the charges against squad member Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, and last month made a similar recommendation in the case against Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum. Camp Pendleton's Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the authority over the case, agreed to drop the charges against Sharratt. Mattis has not yet ruled on whether to drop the charges against Tatum.

Officers also charged

The Haditha killings prompted a worldwide outcry when reported by Time magazine in March 2006. Included in the criticism leveled at the Marines was a statement from Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., who said the troops were overstressed and had "killed in cold blood."

That comment set off a political firestorm and re-energized the debate over the Iraq war.

When the killings occurred, Marine commanders in Iraq initially decided the deaths were "collateral damage" from combat.

That was the official line until two months after the killings, when a Time correspondent who had spoken with survivors asked questions about it. By March of last year, the military ordered a full-scale investigation into the killings and how commanders handled the incident.

In December, the results of those inquiries were murder charges for Wuterich, Dela Cruz, Sharratt and Tatum. Four officers from their unit, Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, were charged with dereliction of duty for failing to fully investigate the case.

Charges against one of those officers, Capt. Randy Stone, have since been dropped. The battalion commander at the time, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, has been recommended to face court-martial.

Hearings for the other officers, 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson and Capt. Lucas McConnell, are pending. Grayson's attorney Joseph Casas said Thursday that he has asked the hearing for his client to take place in November.

On Wednesday, the Marine Corps announced it had censured three other Marine officers for failing to order an investigation, including former 2nd Marine Division commander Maj. Gen. Richard Huck.