Posted on 05/29/2006 6:12:03 PM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Don't you mean 180 degrees?
You must not be an electrician :-)
Cheers,
Mike
We don't know who did it yet. It could have been one of the Iraqis trying to blame it on the U.S.? In fact, with the way they react in Afghanistan, I fully expect it to be a setup for media purposes since Al Qaida knows how rabidly the press would eat up a "hate American military" incident.
No...I may disagree with sink...but, he is nothing like Murtha..
Murtha is trying to win an election off this "scandal"..
sink isn't trying to "win" anything...if anything, he is being pretty beaten up.
I gotta hand it to you, sinkspur...you pick a position and don't back down.
I think if this was one or maybe two Marines...I might be more likely to wonder...but, a whole "bunch" of Marines "snapping" at once...or in your scenario "calculating" at once...to massacre innocent women and children while they are on the floor begging for their lives...
No...it just doesn't compute with me..
I smell a rotten fish. No way would US Marines shoot children "at close range" in the head on purpose. No f*****g way. My guess: It's an AL Queda PR campaign and the MSM i sbuying hook, line and sinker.
Bingo.
Why were three Marine commanders relieved of duty in conncetion with this incident? And why have several Marine higher-ups commented that there will "likely" be charges brought?
It's hard to believe that Marines would do this, but apparently there is evidence that they did.
The story is 3-4 Marines are going to be accused of whatever happened and 7 or so others for covering it up or not stopping it from happening.
Of course, everyting could change when the investigations are done. But I have a feeling we know a lot now and the DoD is letting us know now because the reports will be pretty bad when released.
We punish the guilty and fight on. What kind of "all or nothing" idiot are you. Just because two or three marines screw up doesnt mean we have to throw up our hands and retreat. Some of you people dont seem to use the brain that God gave you. What a waste.
I don't know....I have seen a lot of these hearings...and they are brutal..the Senators and Reps. KNOW they are on TV, and they will say and ask very "leading" questions..
which usually involved 9 minutes of commentary, and 1 minute to actually ask a question...
IOW, they use these hearings as campaign appearances..especially McCain, Kerry, Clinton, Bayh...
Nope, it will be a dog and pony show...and will NOT help the Marines, I fear.
They are not going to get it back. Every second of their life in the last five years was about getting their power back and that is the reason they are living for. Every report, every analysis, every polls, every statements, has been about to get their power back and they did not get it then and they will not get it this year. At the end the majority of voters will not elect for a majority in Congress a bunch of hateful traitors.
None of them were in prayer. Shortly after the car bomb went off. A sgt ordered "the nearest homes to be searched". The first house they entered was a terrified family. The woman and children in the house attempted to protect a 76 y/o man. They were all shot. No arms were found. They went in the next house and the same thing happened. The 2nd house contained less people, but still woman and children. No arms were found. the 3rd house contained 4 men. They were arrested and one rifle was found.
Prior to any of this, no shots were fired at the Marines. The car that was shot up contained college students returning home. They turned the corner, saw the burning vehicle and Marines and threw it into reverse. The vehicle was shot full of holes and they all died. No arms were found.
The initial reports said the 15 were killed in the blast. that was changed to, they were killed after a firefight. They claimed they were ambused after the car bomb went off. that was proven false.
Yes, he would, if he thought it would take some of the "heat" off the situation...until the investigation is at least finished.
They weren't. see:
No direct link ties Marine to deaths
Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani of Rangely lost his post after his unit was implicated in civilian slayings, but officials say the two actions may not be connected.
The Colorado Marine officer relieved of command after his unit was implicated in the deaths of as many as 24 Iraqi civilians in November is not necessarily suspected of participating directly in the killings, people familiar with the situation said.
Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani, 42, a highly decorated officer who grew up in the northwestern Colorado town of Rangely and served in the Gulf War and Panama invasion, was relieved of command of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Marine Regiment, along with two of his commanders, on April 7 for what the military called "lack of confidence in their leadership abilities stemming from their performance during a recent deployment to Iraq."
Why don't you wait until they are convicted before you hang them. You've shown a LOT of joy in this, ask any of the posters on this thread. I really don't care what you think, lately you've been so far beneath contempt that if you weren't insulting the Marines, I wouldn't even bother to post to you.
Very good point.
You're jumping to conclusions. I will always give our guys the benefit of the doubt until shown otherwise.
they could well have been taking fire from these "apartments" (was it one or two or more?) - and decided they were simply going to kick the door in and start firing before determining who was in them. that may well be outside the rules of engagement, but at the time it seemed like the right thing to do. same thing with the 5 men in the taxi cab, they may well have assumed that it was a car bomb that was part of an attack against them.
this may well be a "shoot first and ask questions later" type of thing. these guys panicked, they felt the military would not support the true story of their actions given the results, so they made up the story about the victims being killed by the IED.
it tells us alot about how Marines in the field must feel about the kind of support they fear getting (or not getting, in this case) - when mistakes are made under brutal combat conditions, that they would have to lie about that aspect of the incident.
its time to start turning over more combat ground activities like this to iraqi forces - there will be no one to question and court martial them if they make a mistake.
Really? Where's the transcript and who gave you the skinny on why he went?
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