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 think there was a Times magazine reporter with them.
I fully understand that feeling. But do you know, or have you really reflected on, what it is that these guys go through that is so destructive of their ability to judge and control their actions?
Cause living as a marine in Iraq, having IED's go off right in your face, watching your best friends die, torn to pieces, really messes up your head.
Oh the MSM wants an incident like My Lai BIG TIME!! They can't wait to paint the Marines as George Bush's gestapo gone wild!!
While the incident, IF TRUE, is of COURSE a horrible CRIME, it must be said that EVEN during WAR, the UNITED STATES of AMERICA punishes it's SONS and DAUGHTERS that are defending their nation and FIGHTING that WAR, IF they commit a CRIME!!!
It is as simple as that. To make it something more [which the MSM WILL] is contemptible.
I'm just afraid of the witch hunt that's sure to follow these young , brave Marines. If they're guilty, the UCMJ will handle it. But if they're innocent, the stigma will still follow them. It's almost on par with an innocent man being accused of rape. Even though proven innocent, the stain of accusation will be with them for the rest of their lives.
It's funny, I fear for my boy (and all of our young heroes that are serving), but now it's the MSM that I fear, not the terrorists.
And yet, not a word supporting the other 99.9% of troops not implicated in anything coming close to this.
Why even bother with an investigation? The media is trying this in the public without the Marines ever getting a chance to state their side.
If guilty I have no doubt they will will be dealt with appropriately. But, as in every other case, they should be considered innocent until proven guilty.
I somewhat agree.
That is why as others have said that Freepers should go to war over this. From an international perspective this should only be seen as a good thing-- WHY?
All of the alternatives to this are worse.
Al Sadr's militias do not investigate themselves. Al Qaeda does not investigate its Beany Baby bombings of children. Sunni death squads do not investigate themselves.
Innocents are being killed. Innocents will be killed.
The only question is whether these will be investigated. The news in this case is that it is being investigated. That is absolutely good news.
All other interpretations of this news event are pro KILLING INNOCENTS, because the apparent alternatives ALL lead to uninvestigated crimes against innocents.
Freepers must fight in the global communication world against anti-American interpretations like they themselves are the soldiers. This is where the war is truly taking place.
Troubling if true. This could be a real morale buster for our Troops and media bonanza for Murtha and the leftists who long for any American failure.
Let's get real. Whether the Marines are guilty or not is irrelevant. The purpose for this story is to (1) get the Muzzies all riled up to kill more Americans. (2) Get the 'RATS their "powah" back. (3) Help the sagging sales of the new Ditzy Chicks CD. (4) Help Fat Jack Murtha restore his public image after trashing our troops.
I agree.
What does not smell right is the execution style slaying.
Granted, I have no frame of reference whatsoever, but it just not sound right.
WORTH REPEATING--
"One witness, Aws Fahmi, heard his neighbour, Yunis Salim Khafif, plead for his life in English, shouting: "I am a friend, I am good."
After hearing this, Aws Fahmi went over after the Marines left him in peace and shot his neighbor and his family for being collaborators.
If they can make up a story, so can I.
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.
24 posted on 05/29/2006 8:50:22 PM PDT by The Spirit Of Allegiance
Let's all reserve judgement on this. I realize that there are those on the political left who are salivating and hyperventilating over this but it could be that this is just another "Dan Rather moment."
I really don't want to believe this. And guess what? I don't have to unless and until it is proven. The MSM on the other hand, is hoping and praying it is true.
"The pictures of the dead, which are being closely guarded by the US military criminal investigation service"
If so, how do they know what the pics contain??????
Agreed.
And the major difference lost on the MSM, between us and the terrorists, we consider this a crime (if it happened) and will punish those who did it.
They consider murder of women and children an act of heroism to be rewarded by Allah.
The same could be said for Mai Lai.
The Communists murdered thousands in Hue alone.
This an attempt by the MSM to show our 'moral relativism' with the evil forces in the world (we are not the 'good' guys).
You will never see a single protester anywhere in the world decrying the treatment of civilians by the "insurgents".
Kidnapping, torture, decapitation. All in the name of holy war.
The left's side is shielded from all such criticisms.
Add to that a readiness among the world press (at home an abroad) to readily believe and publish all negative reports about our military (despite a high failure rate, see the keywords "war on error"). Fake but accurate rules the day. And serves as propaganda for terrorists.
No FReeper will defend murder. But you have to wonder at what happened between the time of the 'massacre' and the pictures were taken.... 24 hours
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