http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/IraqCoverage/story?id=1743981&page=1 Did Marines Commit Crime in Iraq Civilian Deaths? Prompted by Video and Magazine, Military Investigates Incident in Which 15 Iraqis Died, Including Children WASHINGTON, March 19, 2006 — A bloody videotape shot by a local Iraqi journalism student has prompted the Pentagon to launch a criminal investigation into an incident that left at least 15 Iraqi civilians dead in the city of Haditha. The details of what happened four months ago in Haditha are just now coming to light with the release of the videotape by an Iraqi organization called Hammurabi Human Rights. The tape shows the bloodied and bullet-marked homes that had been allegedly stormed by the Marines, and includes comments by local residents. "This is my father," a boy says on the tape. "He didn't do anything wrong. Why did they kill him?" 'These Are Children' The video shows the bodies of some of the dead, including one of three children killed. "These are children," one man on the tape says. "Are you telling me these are terrorists?" It all started when a roadside bomb hit a convoy of 12 Marines in Haditha, killing 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas. The official press release said simply: "A U.S. Marine and 15 Iraqi civilians were killed yesterday from the blast of a roadside bomb." Prompted by Magazine Military officials now acknowledge the Iraqis were not killed by the bomb — but, they now say, by crossfire as U.S. Marines stormed the surrounding homes. The military did not launch an investigation until two months after the incident, when Time magazine showed officials the video and eyewitness testimony. "We launched an investigation of our own with the help of a human rights group," said Aparisim Ghosh, a writer for Time. "We spoke to some eyewitnesses. And it turns out all the people killed were killed by the Marines in small arms fire and, in a few instances, by an explosive that was tossed into the home by the Marines themselves." Senior Pentagon officials would not comment on the details of the case but said they take the allegations very seriously, which is why they've launched the criminal investigation. It still is not clear the Marines used excessive force, but the locals seem to have made up their minds. "They came and started shooting all of a sudden," one local said. "They didn't even knock on the door. They killed them wholesale." According to a military spokesman, the Marines involved still are deployed in Iraq. VIDEO: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=1745817
oh goodie, another opportunity for the usual suspects to twist this around and validate their belief that anti-war people hate the troops and support terrorists ...and ignoring the point completely.
Instead of blaming the soldiers, why don't we blame the officials who started the illegal war in the first place.
Wow. Just wow. What a mess. We just gave birth to couple more terrorists, one of which will be that kid whose father got killed. For every terrorist we kill, we spawn multiple more.
You can almost feel what happened ~ another f'ing roadside bomb kills one their friends -- the Marines see someone suspicious and they enter the surrounding area looking for answers. Some civilians are maybe belligerent (here come the Americans again) -- someone makes a wrong move -- someone doesn't listen to commands -- then emotions take over in the chaos. Dealing with that day after day has got to drive you crazy. Let's hope there is a more mundane answer.
I hate hearing these stories. I was thinking that maybe that Marine platoon might have gotten a bad lead, and stormed that neighborhood prematurely. It's a crappy situation all around, and it's nobody's fault. I'm not even going to pretend to know what it's like to be walking around 24-7 with a target on your back like our troops have to deal with.
I agree with the rest of what you posted, Baqui, but not with this. It was someone's fault. It may have been several "someones" fault, on both sides, but there is responsibility there, no question about it. Imagine if this were happening in your neighborhood. Good lord. Keep D&D Civil.
Yes, I guess it is someone's fault - the terrorists, or insurgents, or whatever you want to call them insist on hiding and fighting this war right in the middle of the freaking neighborhoods, mosques, hospitals, etc.. That's the problem.
Or the fact the U.S. invaded and is occupying a foreign country just because we didn't like its dictator or whatever reason the GOP is currently touting these days.
Except we knew that was going to happen. The problem was that we didn't have a plan to deal with this. Actually, the State Dept did have a plan, but the Defense Dept ignored it.
sorry but no. if you are in the military of a civilized country you do not act like that. your job is to deal with this. to deal with death. to inflect death on the actual enemy. you do not let emotions lead you to kill innocent people. you do not indiscriminately fire inside houses. and if thats what dealing with this day after day has gotten us...our military needs serious help.
This story just reminded me all the movies I watched about the Vietnam War. All the innocent kids were turned into monsters. I bet you that we will see the same amount of "Apocalypse Now" kind of films 10 years after the Iraqi war. Seeing how the U.S. soliders were driven crazy and shoot and kill like devils from the hell. The history is repeating itself.
Let me clarify. The fault ultimately lies with the chickenhawks in Washington, namely Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld.
Time magazine now has an exclusive report on this "incident." Collateral Damage or Civilian Massacre in Haditha? http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1174649-1,00.html It suffices to say the initial report from the US military was -- put it mildly -- not "forthcoming."
The terrorists didn't insist on fighting this war anywhere inside of Iraq. They weren't even there until after the U.S. invaded.
