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 was posting long after my brain went to sleep last night.
In case I may not have made myself clear as to what side of this issue I am on I should have said:
What does not smell right is the execution style slaying. It does not sound like our Marines.
Meaning of course, the story smells. I would rather die than for anyone, especially our troops and vets to think I assumed guilt.
That is a pretty broad brush painted on the Marines
If this story is accurate .. it was not the whole US Marine Corps that did this .. just a few .. an investigation is on going and if these 12 men did anything wrong, they will face charges
Though the NYT feels the need to paint all US Marine Corps as bad
Too bad there weren't any 24/7 TV networks during WWII, or the citizens of the USA could have seen endless reruns of the carpet bombing of thousands of civilians in Dresden and the gory aftermath of the dropping of A-bombs on Heroshima and Nagasaki. Today's Americans are simply not able to cope with death, their own or any one else's. That will be our Achilles' heal in our war with Islam. They look on death as an escape from their misery in life and a promise of a better existence after martyrdom. Hummm...sounds almost like the Christian view of death used to be, only without the killing of your enemy to gain Heaven, of course.
It smells more and more like a set up of Muthra and crew, that Bush Inc.(Rove and crew) fed them certain facts let them runoff at the mouth and the door is just about to be slammed on their tongues.
Did you know that a huge firefight happened less then a third of a mile from this location?
Did you know that a drone was in the air overhead during this event?
Did you know that a full on inverstigation was under way before the bodies had cooled?
Muthra did not and if he did he has kicked himself to the curb for the things he has said based upon what he has been fed by his "friends" in the Marines.
I meant you no personal disrespect, I agree with you, it doesn't smell right, it smells like a set up of Muthra the more and more the facts are revealed the more it looks like he is going to pay politically with his career for what he has said.
And I can't wait.
Morning Red Zone,
Possibly one of those staged photo ops either by the terrorists or anti-American msm.
It is difficult fo me to fathom US Marines would commit such an act.
I give our military far more credit, as you do.
I once saw a picuture of Coward-in-Chief Klintoon in the Army Times being supposedly happily greeted by our troops in South Korea??
The photo of klintoon had been injected(a make over)(fauz gazie) or made to appear he(klintoon) was with the troops.(not)
Often it is necessary to really analyse a photo. One must be able to perceive the usual/unusual depitions of the facial expressions, body postures, and other surrounding evidence in the photo.
The anti-American left in the 9house & senate & msm) are doing all they can to assist the terrorists in this war.
I hope the real truth comes out and the instigators (liars) of this media/terrorists produced B.S. are shot.
Good point my friend, dead and kneeling people do not defy gravity, unless propped up for the photo op.
Too, many people are listening to this anti-American "Chicken Little(s) who hate our military and America.
Take care my friend and may " God Bless America."
Duty, Honor, Country,
NSNR
Exactly.
The one news report I've seen on this (ABC News, sorry, I don't have cable) reported that "twenty of the twenty-six people in the house were unarmed".
Ok, but what about the six that WERE armed?
These were the guys that had just detonated the IED and run into the house.
Knowing that the Marines would be hot on their heels, I wouldn't put it past them to shoot the innocents.
The ald adage "Pictures don't lie" went out the window with Photoshop.
And btw, it would be impossible to tell if a victim had been kneeling or standing before falling to the ground.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1640440/posts
The Drone video thread.
"This story doesn't smell right."
One can only hope your olfactory sense is in good working order.
The left will disgustingly try to get some mileage from this.
I don't think so. All they have, in essence is a ...he said, she said, with no specific names, that lines up with what they so desperately want to be true.
And in the middle of all that, you have this:
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.So, we are to believe that the woman and child were still kneeling in prayer after being shot dead at close range? I don't think they would remain in said position.
How do they know they were kneeling in prayer before being shot? And how do they know who shot them from a photo? For that matter, how do they know it is a mother and her child?
This is written to evoke the most horrible emotion possible against our combat troops in a media feeding frenzy. By people who haven't the slightest clue about the situation specifically, or combat in general...who have an agenda to push. Nothing more, nothing less.
Nope...the old addage, innocent until proven guilty still holds and the truth of the matter can only be ascertained by a thorough investigation. I will wait on that to happen...and it will happen.
"If it is verified that the events occurred as described, then the perpetrators should hang."
What is the current status of the death penalty in the U.S.? I don't approve of double standards. Death penalty for soldiers only would be wrong.
Has anyone stopped to think that the Iraqi Propaganda machine is at work here... The Insurgents and terrorists have no qualms about killing Iraqi civilians to make propaganda points... Prove that a Marine shot those women and children beyond a reasonable dobut first... Until then they have my 100 percent support.
BUMP!
No disrespect taken...
Group hug over, it's time to kick some Murtha ass!
"If it is verified that the events occurred as described, then the perpetrators should hang."
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?
I do share your confidence that the US military will thoroughly investigate. And if these Marines did what they are accused of having doing, then I agree with Androcles that they should hang.
If true (and we have to stress that "if" until the investigation is complete), these acts make the military's job much harder. In fighting to eliminate the terrorists themselves, we're also fighting for the hearts and minds of Iraqis so as to make the country inhospitable for the terrorists. We must stamp out their safe haven, and this isn't the way to do it.
We cannot just hand the Libs ammunition. If the allegations are true, these Marines have done just that.
Sleep. Thanks for being concerned.
You seem to want to defend the lying, liberal puke, scum sucking ACLU, they might be a creditable source?
If you can show me where I have defended the ACLU, please do so. If not, I'll expect you to admit it.
The ACLU is not a source for this story. Their credibility is not at issue whatsoever, no matter how much you would like them to be the issue.
ANY Marine deserves the benefit of the doubt, over a bunch of liberal pukes!
If you can show me where I have suggested that these Marines are not presumed to be innocent, please do so. If not, I'll expect you to admit it.
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