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 ...
Get a grip. I think 99.99% of our Marines would condemn the action of any marine that would cold bloodedly kill unarmed civilians, especially young girls. If you think any of our marines would be proud of this you are the one who is disgraceful and unseemly. Oh its war? I see. Does that mean that you are going to be calling for public beheadings of civilians in the near future?
the danger would have been the car they were in, being wired to explode. whether at the moment they are fleeing, they presentred "no danger", doesn't really concern me. that's like saying a guy fires a rocket, and then flees. as the rocket is in flight, the shooter presents no further danger to me, so he can't be engaged?
Isn't that a huge part of the problem? No investigation until it hit the press? Give them the presumption of innocence, surely. But there is a stench there--and it was applied by the military.
Here is the letter by Marine Lt. Pantano.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/27/AR2006052700846.html
Marines are held to account for their equipment. Getting a ballistic sample from an accused individual is pretty simple. There are too many daily stories of people shot up, blown up and beheaded by "insurgents" to let this accusation pass without standing up to the same level of scrutiny that any American citizen is entitled in a court of law.
Maybe that's what the Marines thought because it was the truth? Maybe these civilians were murdered by the jihadis that invaded their home after they attacked the Marines? They kill a Marine, take his rifle, and murder civilians. Allah akhbar!
Why is it so hard to conceive that the jihadis massacred civilians and blamed the Marines? It's an effective tactic they will use again.
I don't think we will ever get the real truth on this story now. too many political agendas and egos to be fed surrounding it, too many people who need/desire the worst possible accounts of this story to be true, to allow an accurate account to be obtained.
Mr. Murtha's Rush to Judgment
Sunday, May 28, 2006; B06
A year ago I was charged with two counts of premeditated murder and with other war crimes related to my service in Iraq. My wife and mother sat in a Camp Lejeune courtroom for five days while prosecutors painted me as a monster; then autopsy evidence blew their case out of the water, and the Marine Corps dropped all charges against me ["Marine Officer Cleared in Killing of Two Iraqis," news story, May 27, 2005].
So I know something about rushing to judgment, which is why I am so disturbed by the remarks of Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) regarding the Haditha incident ["Death Toll Rises in Haditha Attack, GOP Leader Says," news story, May 20]. Mr. Murtha said, "Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood."
In the United States, we have a civil and military court system that relies on an investigatory and judicial process to make determinations based on evidence. The system is not served by such grand pronouncements of horror and guilt without the accuser even having read the investigative report.
Mr. Murtha's position is particularly suspect when he is quoted by news services as saying that the strain of deployment "has caused them [the Marines] to crack in situations like this." Not only is he certain of the Marines' guilt but he claims to know the cause, which he conveniently attributes to a policy he opposes.
Members of the U.S. military serving in Iraq need more than Mr. Murtha's pseudo-sympathy. They need leaders to stand with them even in the hardest of times. Let the courts decide if these Marines are guilty. They haven't even been charged with a crime yet, so it is premature to presume their guilt -- unless that presumption is tied to a political motive.
ILARIO PANTANO
Jacksonville, N.C.
The writer served as a Marine enlisted man in the Persian Gulf War and most recently as a platoon commander in Iraq.
I don't see any pics there. The Marines took pics at the site and some arab journalist took pics of the bodies at the hospital. Of course the pics at the hospital were staged. The Marine documentary pics haven't been released.
We can only control our behavior, we cant do that for the enemy. That is why we are fighting. I thought you knew that.
I dont see Sink saying this is standard operating procedure for the US military. I see that he is saying its just the opposite. The fact that this is an aberation is what makes it news, assuming its true... and if they are talking of charges being made this summer and the Marine Commandant felt it was necesary for him personally to fly to Iraq to remind the troops of the rules of war, that doesnt bid well. Dont blame Sink for being the messenger. Some of you are sticking your heads in the sand saying it cant be true. The worst though are the ones that say so what we out to kill more Iraqis.
Great letter.
"They presented no danger."
wtf.
Not with 5 guys in it.
"whether at the moment they are fleeing, they presentred "no danger", doesn't really concern me."
It would concern me. If no threat is posed, there's no justification to shoot it.
Since when is it gloating to stand up to stick their head in the sand idiots who say couldnt happen, therefore didnt. And if it did, they deserved it, case closed.
I damn sure hope if I'm ever accused of anything, that you aren't in the jury pool.
My husband was a Marine killed in Vietnam, I wasn't too together after that and never stood up for our troops, but I swore on his grave that I would NEVER allow the people of this country to do to our men what they did back then. There are FAR too many on this site who are looking very, very familiar, and the stench is getting to be a bit much to take.
I agree with that. I smell another John Kerry, "they cut off ears, cut off heads, hooked wires to genitals".....moment.
Thank you for doing that Mike.
No way US Marines would falsify an after action report and claim that that 15 Iraqis killed by gunfire were killed by the same IED explosion that killed their comrade, but they did. Are you claiming that combat marines would not be able to distinquish between bullet wounds and bomb injuries, especially when those killed were in their homes and not on the street?
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