Marines from Camp Pendleton wantonly killed unarmed Iraqi civilians, including women and children, and then tried to cover up the slayings in the insurgent stronghold of Haditha, military investigations have found.
Officials who have seen the findings of the investigations said the filing of criminal charges, including some murder counts, was expected, which would make the Nov. 19 incident the most serious case of alleged U.S. war crimes in Iraq.
{snip}
Looking for insurgents, the Marines entered several homes and began firing their weapons, according to the report.
In its initial statement to the media, the Marine Corps said the Iraqi civilians were killed either by an insurgent bomb or by crossfire between Marines and insurgents.
But after Time magazine obtained pictures showing dead women and children and quoted Iraqis who said the attack was unprovoked, the Marine Corps backtracked on its explanation and called for an investigation.
This isn't shocking or stunning, these type pf events happen in war. That is why it is so important to not go into a war without overwhelming and clear cause.
That way, when events of this nature occur (and they will), at least we know that the atrocity that occurred was an aberration in an overall effort to do good. It doesn't excuse the event, but with time, it softens the harm. When the war you are engaged in is an undefined misadventure started on rumors and lies, the event becomes what the whole war represents.
The US in Iraq will be remembered for Haditha and Abu Graib, the looting of Baghdad and the false reasoning for the war. The removal of Saddam was important, but it's value pales when it is weighed against all our 'missteps', and the likley end result, a disected or failed Iraq.
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2 comments:
Judge, jury, executioner, right John?
You do realize there is an ongoing investigation concerning Haditha, do you not? Why not wait until the facts are known and the results released before condemning these Marines?
And..."False reasoning for the war?"
Explain that please.
Surely you are also aware that Iraq had continued to fragrantly disregard 17 of the U.N.'s resolutions, meaning the first war never really ended.
The fact that the U.S. had to take this task on virtually alone is striking indication of the impotence of the U.N..
Hope this helps.
There is an investigation, at last, after 4 months of cover-up at what appear to be reasonablly high levels in Iraq. There is now the chance the truth will be learned.
But, even after the investigation, and crimes are discovered, the accused will face a very friendly millitary court system (where the latest Abu Ghraib torture just got found guilty, but got no jail time). For the dead there is little chance of justice.
The armed forces are giving us ample reason to no longer trust in their ability to self police or punish.
False reasoning is quite simple.
We attacked Iraq because this administration sold the idea that Saddam was a immidiate threat.
We were promised that he had weapons of mass destruction, and ties with Bin Laden, and was ready to attack us ( remember Bush's policy of preempttion ).
That is a clearly a very false reasoning.
In addition the UN resolutions were never about removing Saddam, but getting Iraq out of Kuwait. Once that was acomplished, there was no justification for war.
The vast majority of the UN was smart enough to understand this, unfortunatly, the Bush Administration and many of his supporters were not.
Thank you for your post, it was not very helpful, but it did give me a chuckle.
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