Updated: 02:28 PM EDT Report Expected to Implicate Marines in Massacre 24 Iraqi Civilians Killed in Haditha in November By ROBERT BURNS, AP WASHINGTON (Aug. 1) - Evidence collected on the deaths of 24 Iraqis in Haditha supports accusations that U.S. Marines deliberately shot the civilians, including unarmed women and children, a Pentagon official said Wednesday. Agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service have completed their initial work on the incident last November, but may be asked to probe further as Marine Corps and Navy prosecutors review the evidence and determine whether to recommend criminal charges, according to two Pentagon officials who discussed the matter on condition of anonymity. The decision on whether to press criminal charges ultimately will be made by the commander of the accused Marines' parent unit, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif. That currently is Lt. Gen. John Sattler, but he is scheduled to move to a Pentagon assignment soon; his successor will be Lt. Gen. James Mattis. Investigators conducted a wide range of interviews but did not obtain permission to exhume the bodies of the 24 who were killed, one official said. The case is one of several involving alleged unjustified killings of Iraqi civilians that have emerged this year, damaging the military's reputation for humane treatment of civilians and triggering calls by some Iraqi leaders to end the arrangement under which U.S. troops are immune from prosecution by Iraqi authorities. The Marines initially reported after the Nov. 19, 2005 killings at Haditha that 15 Iraqi civilians had been killed by a makeshift roadside bomb and in crossfire between Marines and insurgent attackers. Based on accounts from survivors and human rights groups, Time magazine first reported in March that the killings were deliberate acts by the Marines. A criminal investigation was then ordered by the top Marine commander in Iraq, Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer. A parallel investigation is examining whether officers in the Marines' chain of command tried to cover up the events. The probe, which has not been made public, faults some officers for failing to pursue obvious discrepancies in the initial reports about what happened in Haditha and for not launching an early investigation. Public attention on the Haditha case grew after Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a former Marine, asserted publicly on May 17 that he had learned from Marine Corps officials that innocent Iraqis had been killed "in cold blood." Lawyers for Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, one of the Marines under investigation, argued in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court that Murtha falsely accused Wuterich of murder and war crimes. The suit maintains that Pentagon officials "who have briefed or leaked information to Mr. Murtha deliberately provided him with inaccurate and false information" and that the congressman subsequently "has made repeated statements .... that are defamatory" to Wuterich and his fellow Marines. Among the other cases of alleged deliberate killings of Iraqi civilians, seven Marines and one Navy corpsman have been charged with premeditated murder and other criminal acts in connection with the killing of an Iraqi man in Hamdania on April 26. Also, five soldiers and a former soldier have been charged in the March 12 rape-slaying of a young Iraqi woman and the killings of her relatives in Mahmoudiya.
Hi Z I noticed that you hadn't gotten around to responding to a question from another thread. You did post a picture of a rabbit, but I am not sure if that was meant as a response or not. I thought I could ask you here considering that you may be monitoring this new thread and you may have a minute to respond. A while back you suggested that it would be funny if one of your friends here on ET, another member, contact hapaboy and tell him that his children might be attacked and raped by a pedophile. Also, can you say how we should interpret your suggestion that you are a man who treats other men in a humane manner, in light of this suggestion that you made? More generally, I am just wondering about your belief in God and how it relates to this suggestion that you made. Can you tell us if you still think that this was a funny joke, or more generally how you feel about your suggestions in retrospect? Thanks, Nik
Hi Z Oops! Looks like you meant to respond but you accidentally just reposted my post. Can you repost with your response, regarding this issue of your suggestion to one of your friends here, an ET member, that he should tell hapboy that his kids might be attacked and raped by a pedophile, and how we should interpret your subsequent statements that you are a spiritual man who believes in treating other people in a humane manner. Thanks, Nik
Also, while we're at it, you just recently posted that in your opinion, hapaboy is a racist! This struck several of us as inexplicable, since none of us had ever seen him post anything which could remotely be interpreted as racist. I have had some run-ins with hapaboy, but I do respect his opinions and respect him as a man. Can you provide the links which illustrate the basis for your charge that he is a racist? Thanks, Nik
Hm, so we had a few whackos that started to live like the locals over there huh? I would expect that! Maybe we should make 'em wear underwear on their heads. That seems to be a horrendous punishment in that area of the world!
Reports can indite a ham Sandwich. Trials, in our system of justice (or the UCMJ), determine guilt or innocence. I'll wait before passing judgment on these young warriors.