Marine at Haditha: 'I Can Still Smell the Blood'

ABC News ^ | May 29, 2006 | JONATHAN KARL

[Marli]

Only hours after Iraqi civilians were killed, a second team of Marines was sent in to take the victims' bodies to a local morgue.

Lance Corp. Ryan Briones was among the Marines sent in to recover the bodies, and he told the Los Angeles Times he is still haunted by what he saw, including a young girl who was shot in the head.

"[The victims] ranged from little babies to adult males and females," Briones told the newspaper. "I can still smell the blood."

Briones says he and another Marine were told to photograph the bodies. Military officials say those photos — which they say show people shot at close range in the head and chest — clearly contradict initial reports that the civilians were killed by a roadside bomb.

[jebeier]

At most, this is an eyewitness to what he saw. He was sent to recover bodies. He did not witness the killing.

I am confident this matter will be thoroughly investigated by US Military authories and the chips will fall where they may. Do you share this confidence?

[mystery-ak]

Thanks for a very informative post...

[streetpreacher]

Agreed.

BTW, Has anyone ever seen the "other" Abu Ghraib photos, the ones that show the dead bodies? I'm curious because this is something I had never heard of before (other than Lindsey Graham's fleeting statement) but recently I saw those photos with the same soldiers posing in the "harmless" photos. It looks like real torture and murder and that's what Sen. Graham was alleging as well. Why did we never hear this before and where did the heck did this guy (Alex Jones) get these pictures from?

Just checked Google Images and some of the photos are indeed posted.

http://images.google.com/images?q=Abu+Ghraib&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images

Does anyone else know about this and perhaps there is another explanation for these pictures that has been proffered? I have to admit, they have shaken my faith badly in what I thought that I knew about Abu Ghraib.

[mystery-ak]

John McCain was on CNN today...and first he said that Rummy screwed up the war in Iraq...

THEN, he said this story is "apparently true"...and that he and Sen. Warner are going to hold hearings by the Armed Forces Committee as soon as they can....



OMG...no one has even been charge yet.....damn it!

[BlueStateDepression]

And we, sir, are Americans who must hold ourselves to standards higher than the pieces of shit we're trying to get rid of. That's what separates us from the salamikazes.

Wrong answer bro. True Americans are out to hold all people to the SAME standard, that standard would be EQUALITY, ever hear of it?

[r9etb]

I agree with your post. But please, let's not assume that it can't happen that some American snaps and kills a bunch of people. As I said above, I've got a bad feeling about this one. I think it's going to end up as a worst-case scenario from our standpoint.

[freepatriot32]

Probably shot by the homicidal terrorists on the way out the back door. No film, no proof.

im going to wait for the ballistics tests on the bullets found in the bodys before i say anything on this thread it could go either way atthis point

[MJY1288]

Thanks for that great post, it reveals what I think is going on here. The left is coming out in front of this story for political reasons without even a sliver of regard for those who might be guilty of nothing

[JCEccles]

Regardless of how it happened, sinkspur's obvious relish and glee in piling on the Marines before the first witness is sworn is disgraceful and unseemly.

Ten times worse than abu Ghraib? Only if finding fault with our servicemen gives you perverse pleasure. I have confidence that justice will be done without sinkspur's giving us a blow-by-blow reassurance that the Marines will be found guilty and it will be ten times worse than abu Ghraib.

Sinkspur is FR's very own John Murtha.

[jveritas]

It will reach a climax in the liberal media in the next few weeks but like all other stories it will fade away. Liberals are going to pay heavy prices for this because as I mentioned before they will overplay their hand and their hate will become apparent and voters will see it as more of an attack on our troops in times of war than concern about civilians being killed.

The majority of voters are much smarter and much more patriotic than what liberals and their media think they are and they will put things in perspective and make the right judgment at the end.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

"Fifteen of the 24 casualties were civilians, some women and children"

OK.....15 of 24 were "civilians".....9 were NOT "civilians", right?

[Cobra64]

You're just figuring that out?

[McGavin999]

STFU sinkspur. Why don't you wait until these men have been convicted before you go all over the forum gloating. I lost all respect for you a long time ago, but lately you make me physically ill.

[Spruce]

I agree. The perpetrators must pay.

The Marines in question are innocent. And I will support them in any way I can.

If they are proved to be guilty, I will cry for their swift, severe punishment.

We must recognize that this is an incident that could very well be orchestrated by our enemies for the exact purposes that it is having.

[Dave S]

This is an old VC trick. They'd go into villages and wipe them out. Made it look just like the U.S. military did it.

Except that the Marines themselves reported killing five men running from a cab and they claim that 15 Iraqis were killed in the same IED blast that killed their comrade. After subsequent investigations they admitted that the 15 Iraqis (mostly women and chldren) were all killed by gunfire and non had been killed by the IED. IF the insurgents did this to make it look like the Marines had done it, why did the marines say the villagers died of a bomb blast? Are you saying that combat marines cant distinquish between injuries resulting from a bullet vs. a blast? What have you been smoking?

[clintonh8r]

Something else smells funny here....If the Marines were responsible for this incident, where's the outrage in the "arab street" like there was after the bogus kuran flushing incident? I think the natives know more about what happened than we do at this point, but it's beginning to feel like the jihadists may have rigged this to look like a US massacre.

[r9etb]

True Americans are out to hold all people to the SAME standard, that standard would be EQUALITY, ever hear of it?

The context of my response, er.... "bro," was to comment on the excuse that mass murder is to be expected when "it's a damn war."

You'll excuse me, "bro," if I hold to my previous comment that Americans must be held to a higher standard than those we're fighting.

[oceanview]

indeed. what were the events surrounding this activity? one of the claims is that 5 men were killed in a taxi approaching a checkpoint. did the taxi disobey an order to stop? with all these car bombs, how can you expect a marine to not shoot that car to hell in a situation like this? was there enemy fire coming from these apartments?

the other claim the media is touting here - is that some of the victims were found "kneeling in prayer"? they didn't move when shot at close range? they stayed frozen in the praying position after being shot, just long enough to be photographed I bet.

I am not saying this whole incident should be dismissed, but the media reports are not adding up.

[MJY1288]

Nope, I went around and around with sink the other night over this issue and I still can't figure out why sink is more aligned with John Murtha on this than sink is with the Constitution

[Dave S]

This is an old VC trick. They'd go into villages and wipe them out. Made it look just like the U.S. military did it.

Except that the Marines themselves reported killing five men running from a cab and they claim that 15 Iraqis were killed in the same IED blast that killed their comrade. After subsequent investigations they admitted that the 15 Iraqis (mostly women and chldren) were all killed by gunfire and non had been killed by the IED. IF the insurgents did this to make it look like the Marines had done it, why did the marines say the villagers died of a bomb blast? Are you saying that combat marines cant distinquish injuries from a bullet vs. a blast? What have you been smoking?