Army drops murder charges against soldier over Iraqi boys' deaths

The News Tribune of Tacoma reported Tuesday that the charges were dropped after a commander at Joint Base Lewis-McChord reviewed the results of a pretrial hearing held last spring for Sgt. 1st Class Michael Barbera.

Witnesses said the brothers were shot as they herded cattle in Diyala Province.

The shooting wasn't initially reported up the chain of command, but the Army looked into it two years later and declined to prosecute. Some of Barbera's fellow soldiers remained troubled by that and spoke with a Pittsburgh paper, The Tribune-Review, which published an investigation in 2012.

Barbera was charged last fall. His lawyer called the murder allegations baseless.

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