Evidence of massacre by Marines caught on film

The Courier Mail ^ | May 29, 2006 | AP

[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

[nmh]

"This story doesn't smell right."

I agree.

[kinoxi]

i agree as well

[Blue Jays]

Hi All-

So where is the footage and stills? I'm calling B.S. on this irresponsible story since the media loves an opportunity to take a swipe at our brave troops regardless of the facts.

~ Blue Jays ~

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

Forget "Trust but verify." We need to scrutinize, to verify. Michael Moore and his pals are still around and this sort of evil is not below them--John Kerry did his own 'films' as well.

[Siena Dreaming]

Haditha, about 225km northwest of Baghdad, has long been considered a rebel stronghold.

A far cry from My Lai where 500 villagers were killed.

Here I have a strong suspicion that some of the victims were among the enemy. Especially since the event that preceded the killings was a roadside bomb which killed one American and wounded two others.

The women and children killed are definitely a difficulty but are we sure they were killed by American soldiers? No solid facts at this point.

[CrawDaddyCA]

Tried and convicted before the investigation finishes.

Watch, like Abu Gar-ab (sp?)someone, anyone will be sacrificed to the MSM. And like Abu Gar-ab, it'll be the low ranking grunt that will get jail time, not the officers in command.

[Lancey Howard]

It is difficult to take seriously a news report where the writer doesn't even know that the word "Marine" (as in "member of the United States Marine Corps") is always capitalized. The writer loses credibility right off the bat.

Semper fidelis,
LH

[jammer]

You read a story like this and your first response is to bitch about the ACLU and the AP? I question your priorities.

I do too.

[SteveMcKing]

"This one is ugly," a US military official said.

Drama! I am sure that ABC will produce the mini-series very soon.

"This one is ugly!" .....Mmmm. Yeah.

[jra]

Then question mine, too.

I feel for the Iraqi family, but this will make a difficult war even tougher to fight.

[demlosers]

A doubt these photos what really happened here. They just show the aftermath and the dead.

[pawdoggie]

Comparisons are being made to the My Lai massacre in Vietnam in 1968, in which US troops slaughtered 500 villagers.

English translation: "We at Associated Press are comparing this incident to the My Lai Massacre in which US troops shot down 500 villagers in cold blood because we have absolutely no sense of proportion or objectivity, we want America to fail in Iraq and we hate George W. Bush. Thank you for reading this!"

[italianquaker]

maybe it is just a story and the aclu and ap will lie and inflame anti-us feelings, i definitely question their priorities, let the investigation take its course then we will see

[FlingWingFlyer]

Briones said he and other members of the cleanup crew remained at the site until about 11 p.m. When he came back, he said he dropped his Olympus 3.2-megapixel camera by the unmanned Sparta base command operations center. When he returned a few hours later, he said it looked like the camera had been moved, so he assumed someone had downloaded the pictures and he erased them all.

This is the "marine" whose mommy is "discussing" the story with the "media" so they'll get all the facts right. I think this is the first crack in this fiasco.

[Prost1]

My thoughts exactly. How do we know they people killed were not killed by their own?

They do it every day in every way.

Why not now as another method of political propaganda to weaken our resolve and make our guys look just like them?

[OKIEDOC]

The Muslim Terrorists murder hundreds each day and all these characters can concentrate on is 16 dead.

These Marines if they murdered these people will surely get a just punishment.

Now on to more beheadings..................

[neuroconservative]

Air Chief Marshal Jock Stirrup

???

[pissant]

The MSM is in full attack mode. Disgusting!

[Reddy]

Oh yeah, and someone with an agenda taking the pictures couldn't have possibly posed the bodies in prayer positions, or moved them to locations like their homes.

I'm reserving any judgement until we get real evidence.

And then I will still be hard to convince. Photoshop exists, you know.

[Beagle8U]

"You read a story like this and your first response is to bitch about the ACLU and the AP? I question your priorities."

Well, Guess what Skippy, if you think the ACLU and the AP might possibly be a creditable source for any news, people may just question your priorities.