Well, this isn't going to help us make any friends, or convince anyone the US is there for Iraq's well-being. Ugh, what a mess. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12838343/ Lawmaker: Marines killed Iraqis ‘in cold blood’ Navy conducting war crimes probe into November violence in Haditha WASHINGTON - A Pentagon probe into the death of Iraqi civilians last November in the Iraqi city of Haditha will show that U.S. Marines "killed innocent civilians in cold blood," a U.S. lawmaker said Wednesday. From the beginning, Iraqis in the town of Haditha said U.S. Marines deliberately killed 15 unarmed Iraqi civilians, including seven women and three children. One young Iraqi girl said the Marines killed six members of her family, including her parents. “The Americans came into the room where my father was praying,” she said, “and shot him.” On Wednesday, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said the accounts are true. Military officials told NBC News that the Marine Corps' own evidence appears to show Murtha is right. A videotape taken by an Iraqi showed the aftermath of the alleged attack: a blood-smeared bedroom floor and bits of what appear to be human flesh and bullet holes on the walls. The video, obtained by Time magazine, was broadcast a day after town residents told The Associated Press that American troops entered homes on Nov. 19 and shot dead 15 members of two families, including a 3-year-old girl, after a roadside bomb killed a U.S. Marine. On Nov. 20, U.S. Marines spokesman Capt. Jeffrey Pool issued a statement saying that on the previous day a roadside bomb had killed 15 civilians and a Marine. In a later gunbattle, U.S. and Iraqi troops killed eight insurgents, he said. U.S. military officials later confirmed that the version of events was wrong. Murtha, a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq, said at a news conference Wednesday that sources within the military have told him that an internal investigation will show that "there was no firefight, there was no IED (improvised explosive device) that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood." Military officials say Marine Corp photos taken immediately after the incident show many of the victims were shot at close range, in the head and chest, execution-style. One photo shows a mother and young child bent over on the floor as if in prayer, shot dead, said the officials, who spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity because the investigation hasn't been completed. One military official says it appears the civilians were deliberately killed by the Marines, who were outraged at the death of their fellow Marine. “This one is ugly," one official told NBC News. Three Marine officers — commanders in Haditha — have been relieved of duty, and at least 12 Marines in all are under investigation for what would be the worst single incident involving the deliberate killing of civilians by U.S. military in Iraq. The Marine Corps issued a statement in response to Murtha's remarks: "There is an ongoing investigation; therefore, any comment at this time would be inappropriate and could undermine the investigatory and possible legal process. As soon as the facts are known and decisions on future actions are made, we will make that information available to the public to the fullest extent allowable." Murtha held the news conference to mark six months since his initial call for "redeployment" of U.S. forces from Iraq. He said U.S. forces were under undue pressure in Iraq because of poor planning and allocation of resources by the Bush administration.
The nature of war lends itself to incidents like this. It always has. To think that will change anytime soon is akin to living in a fantasy world. That's why you don't make war unless you absolutely have to. Iraq was an war we could have, and should have, avoided. Keep D&D Civil.
its because us people dont put our heads up our asses and ignore the reality of war. no one sane 'enjoys' murder. im sure even those who committed these acts probably did not 'enjoy' it. however when you put people in these situations and allow them to torture and let them do these acts while justifying it and condoning it...these instances are bound to occur. and when they do occur why in gods name do YOU people insist on hiding them instead of letting justice take place and truth be known?
We might as well surrender to the jihadists right now. America is too infested with dhimmitude to ever recover.
Perhaps some people like dealing with reality rather than keeping their heads in the sand about the reality of the situation or just posting how evil Muslims are.
Everyone who was involved in the killings should be tried for murder. There is no excuse for deliberately targeting civilians. These men are no different than the terrorists.
Couldn't have said it better. At the sametime though I don't look at these as emblematic of our troops but it is sad that the actions of these people will reflect badly on the many good and well disciplined soldiers in the US military. The best thing that the US military could do is throw the book at the soldiers who did this.
Right and this is a fundamental point about the nature of modern warfare. Times have changed and society has demanded a more humanistic warfare in which our own military casualties as well as civilian incidents must be virtually non-existant. Concepts like the self-proclaimed "revolution in military affairs" of the 90s with the development of precision-guided weapons, new armored vehicles, patriot missile batteries, have all projected the image of a future of warfare that largely removes the soldier from battle and protects civilians from harm through ultra-accurate precision weaponry. Desert Storm really helped cement that image. In 43 days, Saddam's army was pushed back with virtually no casualties and limited civilian fatalities (although that is due to media coverage rather than actual deaths). In reality, however, warfare is nowhere near that image. Instead, events like this still occur and casualties still mount. However, the public's perception of what war should be has not changed and as a result, we demand that incidents like this do not occur and that thousands of our soldiers should not die. Additionally, considering how the administration trumped up the initial operations, it is not surprising that people generally point out these types of incidents. Like or not, we hold our military to an almost unachieveable standard. And as a result, people are going to point out these types of incidents and there will be pressure to hold our troops to this standard by ordering trials and doling out punishments.
I'm not going to comment on whether we should be in Iraq or not. But things like this happen in every war ever fought in the history of the world. EVER. It sucks more than anything. Good people do stupid horrible things for no reason. People snap, people shoot. Crap happens and it is horrible, terrible, beyond comprehension. Whether we like it or not, terrible, unspeakable things happen in every war. Our job is to make sure we limit it as much as we possibly can, and make sure folks reponsible are dealt with accordingly. In the US military, there is almost more emphasis on NOT killing people as killing people. I don't know if that is a bum rap for the common soldier on the ground that has to fight. The lines get blurred after a while. Your buddy who you have endured hell with for the last few months gets blown to bits and you have to deal with it. Your buddy gets blown to chunks because some village uses the kids as a lookout so the adults can set off in IED. Sometimes someone snaps and takes it out on people that shouldn't have it taken out on. I don't know if this article was posted because someone wants to cry about how crappy our military is, or how evil America is, or how horrible the President is...I don't really care why it was posted. But I will say that crap like this will happen again anytime there is a war anywhere for the rest of time...and you can feel better in the knowledge that American military soldiers work their butts off to prevent and minimize these terrible things that happen in war. They probably do it better than any other military on the planet.
Stuff happens in war. The soldiers will hopefully be accountable for the action but lets not pretend this is out of the norm. It is after all a war we are talking about.
what you think when the bombs were dropped on that country they killed the insurgents only (saddam madmen)? It’s war, innocent people are gonna die. Who cares if they die from gun fire or a bomb, the result is the same.
people get murdered and killed here too. drunk drivers, sexual predators. the world isnt a good place. i believe that most of the soldiers over there are good people. there will always be bad people anywhere.
