Posted on 05/29/2006 8:36:31 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
PHOTOGRAPHS taken by US military intelligence have provided crucial evidence that up to 24 Iraqis were massacred by marines in the insurgent stronghold of Haditha.
One photograph shows an Iraqi mother and young child, kneeling on the floor as if in prayer. They have both been shot dead at close range.
The pictures also show other Iraqi victims, shot execution-style in the head and chest in their ownhomes.
A US government official said the marines involved had "suffered a total breakdown in morality and leadership".
The killings are emerging as the worst known US atrocity of the Iraq war.
At least seven women and three children were among those killed in the massacre.
Witness accounts obtained by The Sunday Times suggest the number of children killed may be as high as six.
"This one is ugly," a US military official said.
In Britain, the chief of the defence staff, Air Chief Marshal Jock Stirrup, said at the weekend the "appalling" reports of the massacre could undermine British support for the war.
"This sort of accusation does make that harder to achieve," Air Chief Marshal said.
The pictures of the dead, which are being closely guarded by the US military criminal investigation service, were taken by a military photographer who is believed to have arrived on the scene moments after the shootings.
Many US forces are accompanied by photographers to gather intelligence and to shield soldiers from accusations of torture, intimidation and violence.
But the evidence in this case points to a murder rampage by the US marines.
The stain on the US military could prove harder to erase than the photographs of sadistic abuse and torture by US guards at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.
Comparisons are being made to the My Lai massacre in Vietnam in 1968, in which US troops slaughtered 500 villagers.
Up to a dozen marines may face criminal charges -- including murder, which carries the death penalty -- dereliction of duty and filing false reports.
Three marine commanders were suspended last month.
With a political storm brewing, the top US marine, General Michael Hagee, flew to Baghdad on Friday to tell his troops they must kill "only when justified".
The naval inquiry is focusing on the actions of a sergeant who may have been the leader of a four-man fire team.
Miguel Terrazas, 20, a lance-corporal from El Paso, Texas, was travelling in a convoy of four Humvees in Haditha just after 7am on November 19 last year when a roadside bomb struck his vehicle, killing him and wounding two others.
The events that followed are the subject of two military inquiries due to report soon: one into the facts of the case, the other into a cover-up.
One witness, Aws Fahmi, heard his neighbour, Yunis Salim Khafif, plead for his life in English, shouting: "I am a friend, I am good."
"But they killed him, his wife and daughters," Fahmi said.
Haditha, about 225km northwest of Baghdad, has long been considered a rebel stronghold. It is among a string of Euphrates Valley towns used by insurgents and foreign fighters to infiltrate from Syria to reach Baghdad and the Sunni heartland.
The Sunday Times, AP
I agree that there are dubious possibilities which is why it has to be a detailed and thorough investigation seen to be fair.
I agree completely re We were soldiers - great film.
The photos should be classified and left that way.
I was in the Navy on the USS Enterprise in the late 80's. We had escorted reflagged Kuwaiti tankers through the straits of Hormuz in an attempt to keep the oil flowing despite Iran's deployment of mines in key areas. That operation was called "Earnest Will". Inevitably, a conflict occurred after a US ship hit a mine, and the Big E retailiated against Iran in what we were told was the largest Naval battle since WWII - called "Operation Praying Mantis". The effects were so devastating and Iran's reality so bleak that Iran's leadership was at risk for being exposed to be frauds - weak in the face of danger, despite the backing of the omnipotent Allah. The situation was rapidly becoming unwinnable for the mullahs. They had to find a way out that was palatable to the people and provided a plausible cover story for their advocation of a cease fire. That's when an event you may have read about occurred with the USS Vincennes.
The setup was the US had stopped selling parts to the Shah for the F4's & F14's we had sold him in the late 70's. Without spare parts, the planes were thought to be grounded.
/scuttlebutt - The story goes in the Navy that one of the IFF Transponders (IFF = Identify Friend or Foe) from an F4 was fitted to a civilian passenger aircraft, so that when the plane was flying, the signals it sent out told combat controllers what friends (country & aircraft type) were out there on a secure channel. You can imagine what would happen if a civilian airliner was "squawking I'm an F-4" while flying towards a warship in the tense times just after Praying Mantis. /scuttlebutt off
One morning, a large radar target appeared heading right for the Vincennes. Despite several warnings, the airliner continued towards the warship. The Vincennes shot down the jet, and according to media reports, killed 100's of passengers. In no time, Iran condemned the action and declared the US is a Great Satan, and the mullahs wanted no part in this evil conflict with such an unworthy adversary as could kill defenseless civilians.
/scuttlebutt The story goes that looking at the photographs of the dead, some were decomposing, many appeared to have gunshot wounds in their heads...implying the plane was loaded with dead people. Further, it was suggested some of the passengers were political opponents of the mullahs, and some had been missing for months. /scuttlebutt off
While its easy to engage in the conspiracy theories about a jihadist taking a US rifle and slaying these people...the reality is probably much simpler than that. Somehow create enough confusion to get the US to actually shoot these men, women and children, then point to the event as a great injustice. Al-Jazeera, every Arab leader, the wahabbists, will use it as a lever to get rid of the US presence in Iraq - as will our own leftist anti-war groups in the US. If successful, those 24 lives will have been used much more effectively than the 1000's of Iraqi militants who tried to combat the US using conventional means. Given their appreciation of life, we know the think nothing like we in the west do about putting a woman or children in harms way - especially if it furthers a religious goal.
My husband is a 1st Sgt in the US Army is now serving in Iraq. He runs a tight ship.
If anything like this happened on his watch, he do everything in his power to crucify the soldiers responsible.
I also doubt the accuracy of the story, but time will tell. If some of our guys are found guilty, they *will* suffer the consequences.
The folks in our military are average Americans. The vast majority are very good people. They get just as upset as we do (probably more) when other service members screw up. It's like the cop that despises dirty cops. Something like this casts a taint across their entire lives.
Is this the AP or a Brit newspaper compiling news from AP sources. It is just written very badly ...like a tabloid.
Funny thing about these types of stories...
Even IF these Marines are cleared on all charges, the "story" is already out there to do damage.
John Murtha knows this. The AP knows this. Newsweek knew it when they printed up the "Koran desecration" story.
Whether this horrible story is true or not will be a footnote. The pebble has already been thrown into the lake, and the ripples on the water will lap against their intended audience.
<< It saddens me as a warrior from that other war we fought with one hand tied behind the back. >>
And which one would that be?
Considering, that is, that you have described every war in which we have engaged since Foggy Bottom and Marshal and the other cravenly cringing cultural communists took over and ran all wars since 1945.
Not a single one of which, despite that in all of that time our Magnificent Military's Men have never lost a battle, was won by the United States of America.
I agree. I may be in denial, but I have to say that I don't believe it! What? They made them kneel on the floor before they killed them? Sounds like the work of an Iraqi terrorist to me!
Something doesn't smell right indeed!
BTTT
A guy can say and/or allege any number of things, and it might be plausible. This statement raises a huge flag though. I question if photographers are EVER ever assigned to carry bodies! If he had limited the story to seeing bodies and how this caused him a lot of stress it might fly. I would think that bodies are going to be carried by investigators, not photographers. And yes, this sounds a little Kerryesque.
For historical accuracy, Limbaugh stated on air that Brian Ross was not involved in the rigged truck broadcast.
If I'm recalling the pictures correctly, all of the bodies that I saw floating in the water were naked.
Here's a frame of reference: it took three to five hours to go house to house and "commit" these executions.
Just another reason why this story smells and as soon as they were done then a photographer shows up along with a cleanup crew and an investigation unit.
But then there was a cover up.
*This* jury's out. I'll wait and see what evidence unfolds before opining a verdict.
Unlike Murtha, of course, and the rest of the shrill MSM. They've decided the justice of the case without the unnecessary inconvenience of a Fair Trial, and the lynch mob has been assembled. Murtha, of course, is the fat old guy on the horse shouting "Gittim Boys! Somebody fetch us a rope!!!"
Expedient "justice" is not Justice at all. It is merely expedient. And those who take advantage of it are merely opportunists. A sorry lynch mob after immediate satisfaction, and Justice be d*mned.
One of reports I read was the Marine's fired through walls. Did they see their targets?
could it be that the marines took the pics after they entered the home to document what they found. These ragheads have done horrible things in the past ie: holding families hostages and making the father drive a suicide bomb car into a crowd with the hands being taped to the wheel,murdering children who approach military vehicles,etc. I sure hope Dubya steps in and pardons all of miltary guys at the end of his term.
Remember these are the people who strap explosives to themselves and their children and blow themselves up in public places to take out as many innocents as possible,
Remember these are the people who stage secondary explosive attacks to target the aid-workers as they rush in to help the victims of the initial attacks.
Remember that these people hide among civilians, and hospitals, and mosques to stage their attacks, knowing full well that this ties our hands due to the fact that we are good and decent people.
Remember this is the news media that reports only stories that are negative about the American role in Iraq.
There could be "issues" that complicate the investigation. Like, say, the race of the perps for example.
If... then...
Let's see about that "if" first, shall we?
I have full confidence that the US Military authorities will thoroughly investigate this matter, the truth will be revealed, and appropriate action taken. Do you share this confidence?
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