Details surface of U.S. ?'atrocity' in Iraq
PAUL KORING
Globe and Mail Update
WASHINGTON ?- Stark evidence is emerging of deliberate reprisal killings of about two dozen civilians, including women and children, by a handful of U.S. Marines last November in what may prove to be the worst atrocity yet by U.S. forces in Iraq.
On the eve of Memorial Day weekend, when Americans honour their armed forces with parades and marching bands, President George W. Bush's administration was girding for a new spate of horrific revelations. Although no charges have yet been laid, the Pentagon is in damage-control mode and the top Marine general has flown to Iraq to steady his charges.
In closed sessions, senior military officers have been briefing key lawmakers about the two-month-old investigation, which is nearing completion. As many as a dozen Marines could face charges to include murder, dereliction of duty and making false reports for trying to cover up what happened.
It is alleged that a small squad of Marines killed at least three separate groups of people in cold blood ?- five men in a taxi and two larger groups, including women and children, in two houses in the city of Haditha. It appears to have been a deliberate set of reprisal killings after a Marine was killed by insurgents, according to reports pieced together from those who have attended the briefings.
"This was not an accident," said Minnesota Republican John Kline, a former Marine colonel who was briefed about the killings along with other members of the House of Representatives armed-services committee. "This was not an immediate response to an attack. This would be an atrocity," he told The New York Times.
In preparation for what will be a massive blow to morale in the intensely proud and close-knit Marine Corps, General Michael Hagee flew to Iraq yesterday.
"The most difficult part of courage is not the raw physical courage that we have seen so often on today's battlefield," the commander said in a statement to all his troops. "It is rather the moral courage to do the ?'right thing' in the face of danger or pressure from other Marines."
The implication, that subordinates may have failed to resist an unlawful order to kill innocent civilians, awakened echoes of Abu Ghraib, the Baghdad-area prison where Iraqi prisoners were abused and humiliated by a group of army reservists on the orders of a former guard. It is the most vile stain to date on U.S. forces in Iraq.
"It will be worse than Abu Ghraib; nobody was killed at Abu Ghraib," retired Marine Brigadier-General David Brahms told The Washington Post.
A scandal of such magnitude could send shock waves all the way to the White House.
It was just this week that President George W. Bush described Abu Ghraib as "the biggest mistake that's happened so far, at least from our country's involvement in Iraq." The pictures of abused Iraqis that rapidly circulated throughout the Arab world undermined Mr. Bush's claims that the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq held the moral high ground and stood in sharp contrast to the wanton brutality of Saddam Hussein's regime.
"We've been paying for that for a long period of time," Mr. Bush said.
Allegations of an atrocity at Haditha, about 200 kilometres northwest of Baghdad, began circulating in the Arab media after a video of bloodstained walls surfaced. Time magazine published the first U.S. report on the allegations in March.
At first, Marines said that 15 civilians had died in a roadside bombing. Then it was reported that some had died in the crossfire as Marines fought with Iraqi insurgents in violence-torn Anbar province.
But John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat and a 37-year Marine Corps veteran, said the investigation now indicates otherwise.
"There was no fire fight," said Mr. Murtha, one of the most respected congressmen on military affairs and the first to openly call for a withdrawal from Iraq.
He added: "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."
Virginia Republican John Warner, chairman of the armed-services committee, confirmed there were "very serious allegations and there have been facts substantiated to date to underpin those allegations."
But he also said he hopes that people "will keep in mind the magnificent performance of nearly one million men and women of the United States armed forces who have rotated in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan."
The marines deployed to Haditha at the time of the alleged atrocity were from the Third Battalion of the First Marine Regiment of the First Marine Division. They have since returned to their home base at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Last month, the battalion commander and two company commanders were relieved of their duties; it is not clear whether it was related to the probe.
The should only be the tip of the ice berg. Check out some of these photos from Falluja/ WARNING: EXTERMELY GRAPHIC PHOTOS: http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album28&page=1
In all probability the people in those photos were killed by US troops. Even if they weren't, their deaths were undoubtedly attributable to the war -- that we started!
In all probability the people in those photos were killed by US troops. Even if they weren't, their deaths were undoubtedly attributable to the war -- that we started!
NickFun wrote:In all probability the people in those photos were killed by US troops. Even if they weren't, their deaths were undoubtedly attributable to the war -- that we started!
Aargh...don't let MM derail ANOTHER thread! This stuff is worth discussing reasonably, not letting MM and his ilk draw you off into endless repetitions of a hundred other threads!
How am I derailing the thread?
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How do you or anyone else know that EVERY person in those photo's was killed by an American soldier?
Weary of the overall failure of the US media to accurately report on the realities of the war in Iraq for the Iraqi people and US soldiers, Dahr Jamail went to Iraq to report on the war himself.
His dispatches were quickly recognized as an important media resource and he is now writing for the Inter Press Service, The Asia Times and many other outlets. His reports have also been published with The Nation, The Sunday Herald, Islam Online, the Guardian and the Independent to name just a few. Dahr's dispatches and hard news stories have been translated into French, Polish, German, Dutch, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese, Arabic and Turkish. On radio as well as television, Dahr reports for Democracy Now!, the BBC, and numerous other stations around the globe. Dahr is also special correspondent for Flashpoints.
Dahr has spent a total of 8 months in occupied Iraq as one of only a few independent US journalists in the country. Dahr uses the DahrJamailIraq.com website and his popular mailing list to disseminate his dispatches.
mysteryman wrote:How am I derailing the thread?
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How do you or anyone else know that EVERY person in those photo's was killed by an American soldier?
It's asking questions like that which derails threads.
You could have easily clicked on the "home" link in the photo gallery which would have immediately provided you with this information:
Quote:Weary of the overall failure of the US media to accurately report on the realities of the war in Iraq for the Iraqi people and US soldiers, Dahr Jamail went to Iraq to report on the war himself.
His dispatches were quickly recognized as an important media resource and he is now writing for the Inter Press Service, The Asia Times and many other outlets. His reports have also been published with The Nation, The Sunday Herald, Islam Online, the Guardian and the Independent to name just a few. Dahr's dispatches and hard news stories have been translated into French, Polish, German, Dutch, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese, Arabic and Turkish. On radio as well as television, Dahr reports for Democracy Now!, the BBC, and numerous other stations around the globe. Dahr is also special correspondent for Flashpoints.
Dahr has spent a total of 8 months in occupied Iraq as one of only a few independent US journalists in the country. Dahr uses the DahrJamailIraq.com website and his popular mailing list to disseminate his dispatches.
That would tell you that Mr. Jamail is a legitimate photographer. If that's not enough, you could CLICK THIS LINK to read an interview with him.
Considering the condition of the bodies, they were killed fairly recently. Clearly those photos were from the current Iraq war. Putting two and two together would tell you that they obviously died either as "collateral casualties," victims of crossfire, from insurgents, car bombs, or our troops.
But did you do any of that? No. You made a nitpicky argument (which you tend to do) without looking into it yourself. THEN the thread is no longer about civilian deaths in Iraq, or the actions of the Marines. It becomes a back and forth with you about some fraction of the issue. You do this ALL the time. It contributes NOTHING to the thread and only distracts and annoys.
Seriously, cut it out. Your a grown man. You should know better.
victims of crossfire, from insurgents, car bombs, or our troops.
As for the marines involved in the killings of those innocent people,I hope they all get court martialed,and the ones found guilty get the death penalty be firing squad.
This type of action makes the Marines look real bad,not to mention the way it makes the US look.
Sorry,I have no pity for the guilty parties.
Pointless. I don't know why I bother.
MM, your 100% right. Good for you. Now please shut the hell up and let the grownups continue with the conversation.
JustanObserver wrote:Pointless. I don't know why I bother.
MM, your 100% right. Good for you. Now please shut the hell up and let the grownups continue with the conversation.
I will,as soon as some adults show up.
So far,all I have seen are a bunch of cowards that will blame the US military for everything bad that happens,without ever having served themselves.
So,while I hope the marines involved in the intentional killing of unarmed civilians all get court martialed,I will NOT sit here and let you or anyone else attack the honor,duty,or courage of the military itself.
Yes,there are some bad apples,but for you or anyone else to blame all the military for the actions of a few is wrong.
