The Wildly Conflicting First Reports Of Haditha

Sweetness & Light ^ | June 20, 2006 | N/A

[Sam Hill]

Why were the first accounts of the "massacre" at Haditha so radically different from what we are now told transpired?

From Al Jazeera by way of MidEastWire.com's Daily Iraq Monitor:

November 20, 2005

In a statement, the US Army has said that a US Marine was killed when an explosive charge went off in the city of Hadithah. Additionally, eight gunmen were killed in clashes with the US troops. Sources in the city said that the US troops bombarded four houses, killing 31 Iraqis, and that many dead bodies are strewn on the streets. Meanwhile, the US Army statement said that 15 Iraqis were killed in an explosion that targeted a US patrol in the city.”

[This is immediately followed by a live telephone interview with “journalist” Walid Khalid in Baghdad conducted by anchorperson Layla al-Shayib in the Doha studios. When queried about the Hadithah incidents, Khalid says: “Yesterday evening, an explosive charge went off under a US Marines vehicle in the Al-Subhani area, destroying it completely. Half an hour later, the US reaction was violent. US aircraft bombarded four houses near the scene of the incident, causing the immediate death of five Iraqis. Afterward, the US troops stormed three adjacent houses where three families were living near the scene of the explosion. Medical sources and eyewitnesses close to these families affirmed that the US troops, along with the Iraqi Army, executed 21 persons; that is, three families, including nine children and boys, seven women, and three elderly people.

“Furthermore, the US troops threw their dead bodies onto the street and in the courtyards of the houses. They also set the three houses on fire, destroying them completely. Then, the US troops opened fire on a vehicle in which five schoolchildren were travelling on their return trip from school. After the vehicle stopped, the US troops opened fire on the schoolchildren, causing the death toll to rise to 31 Iraqi civilians, not to mention 11 others who were wounded, and the arrest of 21 suspects near the scene of the incident. The city is now under stringent curfew. The US troops prevented the evacuation of those wounded or killed from the streets. Besides, an announcement aired through loudspeakers at noon today said that the residents of this area must evacuate it quickly.”] - Al Jazeera, Qatar

It should be noted that "Journalist" Walid Khalid has a history of reporting purported US "atrocities" for Al Jazeera.

We can also see how Mafkarat al-Islam first reported the news, via the pro-terrorist albasrah.net:

Al-Hadithah

Following Saturday night Resistance attack that left five Marines dead, US troops arrest and shoot 31 Iraqi civilians, Mafkarat al-Islam reports.

In a dispatch posted at 5:30pm Mecca time Sunday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that ar-Ramadi General Hospital had confirmed that US occupation forces had executed 31 Iraqis, ranging in age from 18 to 40, following an Iraqi Resistance attack on American Marines in al-Hadithah in which a Jeep was destroyed and five Marines were killed on Saturday night.

The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported eyewitnesses as saying that after that deadly Resistance attack, US occupation troops had launched a wave of house-to-house raids and arrests, pulling the men out of their homes. The witnesses said that the men were then blindfolded, lined up against the wall of a house and shot to death.

The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent denied a report carried by al-‘Arabiyah satellite TV, which said that the men had been killed in the course of a battle. All the dead were civilians who had been shot dead in an execution, the correspondent stressed.

At ar-Ramadi General Hospital in the provincial capital, the correspondent received confirmation that all the dead had been civilians and that they had been executed in an apparent act of revenge for the Resistance attack. The bodies of the 31 men remained dumped on the sidewalk by ar-Ramadi General Hospital until dawn Sunday while US forces prevented anyone from approaching them, despite the pleas of local residents and of the wives, mothers, and children of the martyred men.

The correspondent added that US forces had arrested three Iraqi journalists who attempted to get onto the street where the bodies lay in order to photograph them The correspondents were reporter for the newspaper ad-Dar al-‘Iraqiyah, the correspondent for the newspaper al-‘Iraq, and a correspondent working for the Reuters news agency. All had been impelled by their journalistic obligation to record the scene on film, Mafkarat al-Islam noted, but the US troops did not recognize their journalistic status and arrested them to prevent pictures being taken.

The mention of a Reuters reporter/cameraman actually tracks with an article we noted earlier.

But almost nothing else comports with what we have been told since, including even the day of the week the event is supposed to have happened.

And one has to wonder why none of these reporters came forward to report this alleged massacre. And that they didn't for the seven months from November until Time's report in May. In fact, they still haven't.

Why is that? They may even have photographic documentation of the incident. Aren't they very important witnesses?

Where are they?

[Sam Hill]

Related Articles:

• Hammurabi's Other Member?
• Time's McGirk Re-Invents His Haditha Video Source
• Marines' Lawyers Question Haditha Tape Source
• The Washington Times On Time's "Massacre"
• Time's "Corrections" About Haditha
• Reuters Reported "Bodies In The Street" At Haditha
• Why Did "Rights Group" Sit On Its Haditha Story?
• The Questionable Sources For Time's Haditha Scoop
• Haditha Lawyer Wants More "Compensation"
• Haditha Doctor Was Arrested, Hates US

[Sam Hill]

Haditha ping.

[veronica]

Meanwhile, barbarities of the most depraved sort is perpetrated on our soldiers by Islamofascists. Where's the outrage by the "human rights" organizations????

[smoothsailing]

Good Post, great website!

[Names Ash Housewares]

"Where's the outrage by the "human rights" organizations????"

Masters of hypocrisy. Their lack of concern for our soldiers and others and ignoring of so many people freed in Afghanistan and Iraq exposes them as the left wing activists they are.

[spinestein]

[Why were the first accounts of the "massacre" at Haditha so radically different from what we are now told transpired?]



Maybe because the accounts of a "massacre" are LIES?

[river rat]

It's beginning to look like a viable solution to evacuate any "salvageable" Muslims from the Middle East -- and destroy the rest, in place...

Semper Fi

[NormsRevenge]

Good job!

Haditha
BumP

[Michael.SF.]

What in the sam Hill?

Didn't you post this yesterday?

[Sam Hill]

I posted something similar, but it had some slight errors, so I asked to have it pulled so I could correct it.

[tina07]

If our forces were wildy killing every Iraqi in sight, why didn't they just shoot the reporters too. All lies!

[Sam Hill]

Where is the outrage of the several reporters who supposedly saw what is in these reports?

One which worked for Reuters.

They supposedly took photos?

Where are they? Why haven't we heard from them?

Why did they sit on this for months and then let Time come along and get the scoop of the year?

It doesn't add up.

[Michael.SF.]

Thanks Sam.

It is a good post and full of good information!

[Anti-Bubba182]

"..And one has to wonder why none of these reporters came forward to report this alleged massacre. And that they didn't for the seven months from November until Time's report in May. In fact, they still haven't..."

The answer of course is that they lie and have no interest in a story beyond its immediate use. The Muslim press is not reliable on any issue dealing with Coalition military actions in Iraq. They are not to be believed without corroboration.

One good thing about all the contradictions you and other bring up is that Murtha looks more and more like a hysterical and sleezy opportunist.

Haditha Report: No Cover Up

Brit Hume brought up the substance of the above tonight and showed contradictions between Murtha's statements and the Report of the General in charge. Murtha should begin to look like more and more of a fool..

[Sam Hill]

"Murtha should begin to look like more and more of a fool."

He's much worse than a fool.

[Anti-Bubba182]

I hear that. The more that lands on him the better. There is a real, but long shot chance he may lose his seat.

That would be a Giant blow to the Democrats who are nurturing hopes of retaking the House. Maybe Murtha gets to be the next Tom Foley.

[RedRover]

Murtha getting tossed out of his air conditioned office and on to his fat backside would be the greatest November surprise.

[Enchante]

Let me guess: al-Reuters and other "journalists" didn't think they had a real scoop, they knew it was pure jihadist propaganda. Even thought they tried to put out some feeble versions at first, they did not dare pursue it aggressively because they knew that going down that road would lead to their own exposure as jihad-propagandists.......

[Sam Hill]

"Let me guess: al-Reuters and other "journalists" didn't think they had a real scoop, they knew it was pure jihadist propaganda. Even thought they tried to put out some feeble versions at first, they did not dare pursue it aggressively because they knew that going down that road would lead to their own exposure as jihad-propagandists..."

That sums it up nicely.

And remember, even the relatives of the victims only seemed to get up in arms when they weren't satisfied with the compensation the US paid for "collateral damage."

Their lawyer (and covenient witness) wanted amounts like what the Americans got from the Lockerbie shoot-down. (His words.)

When they didn't get it, it looks like they decided they would try another approach, and went to Time Magazine with claims of a massacre.

[Anti-Bubba182]

That would be epic! It is a long shot. He is a thirty year incumbent with a big warchest. He got a lot of pork for his district.

I am hoping that public outrage overtakes him. Marines are supposed to be loyal to each other. Murtha is all too eager to throw Marines under the train in his quest for the position of Majority Leader. He had huge political benefits from his time in the Marine Corps. He should have some loyalty and give the Marines the presumption of innocence instead of saying in public they killed civilians in "cold blood".