[Patriot from Philly]

I suspect there were terrorists in the home but the marines were not careful when they used deadly force.

I will wait for the report. I don't trust the media to accurately report the story. They'll emphasis the parts they want and ignore other parts.

Hopefully, the military is leaking this report so it won't explode on the scene like Abu Ghrabib. I think the military is smarter now.

Actually, I suspect the actual report will not be as bad as this media spun leaks of the report.

[Marine_Uncle]

"Actually, I suspect the actual report will not be as bad as this media spun leaks of the report."
Second that. For heaven sakes, these cordon and search missions are brutal. Goons run into homes for protection, like any common criminal. What the *ell are our guys supposed to do, kick down a door and politely ask the ala babba to seperate from the innocent and give up. I can with no problem see the goons opening fire in close quarters and killing a few innocence, as the Marines where attempting to get at them, and the Marines are now being blamed.
I hope these Marines get off the hook in the end.
If any of them actually targetted a little kid or women, then let the good Lord deal with them in HIS way. For all we know each one of them may have been exemplatory Marines up to that point. Gotta run. Now working at Home Depot in Richmond area (Castor Arimingo store).... work work work.

[W04Man]

I'm sure that one of your PA congressman, Jack Murtha, provided this information to the LA Times. So I trust the info is slightly twisted against the Marines. You are wise to wait for the official report, and/or the trials. IF they have done wrong, they will be punished.

[cardinal4]

I will wait for the report. I don't trust the media to accurately report the story. They'll emphasis the parts they want and ignore other parts.

I agree..

[Spartan_117]

Agreed. However anyone who has spent time in the Corps knows that when it comes to stuff like this we will eat our own. Remember the Aviano EA-6B fiasco. The frigging lawyers (yes Marine laywers) are going to stick it to these guys. If there was negligence w/respect to the ROE and there was collateral damage, it won't matter...they are to be sacrificed.

[Phsstpok]

I will wait for the report. I don't trust the media to accurately report the story. They'll emphasis the parts they want and ignore other parts.

But if these guys are found innocent now there will be universal screams of "cover up."  This is not a crime by these 5 to 15 individuals, this is a "war crime" by the United States and we've already been tried and convicted.

Hopefully, the military is leaking this report so it won't explode on the scene like Abu Ghrabib. I think the military is smarter now.

The Pentagon released complete information (minus pictures) about Abu Ghrabe at the time, but four months later some raunchy pictures (some of which proved to be fakes) were "leaked" to the press and the "scandal" broke.  It didn't matter that the people involved were already under arrest and facing court martial... we were "covering up" this "war crime."

[xzins]

The facts so far gleaned from various sources over the last week are:

1. There was an IED that hit the Marines.
2. There was an ambush.
3. A firefight ensued.
4. The accusers of the Marines are civilians from the area out of which the firing came.
5. The enemy combatants do not wear a uniform, but they violate the Geneva accord in that point. Geneva has this rule about combatants BECAUSE it makes it more likely that civilians will be killed when combatants masquerade as civilians.

A letter from a combat arms commander recently returned from exactly the same area said:

• As you may know, my unit operated in the next AO over to the east from Haditha, (east of them on Phoenix, without giving too much OPSEC info).

• I can assure you this is a problem out toward Syria in the desert (Jazeera) where you have smugglers, black marketeers, terrorists and just plain folk dressed exactly alike...and it's been that way for centuries, as Haditha is right along one of the major trade/smuggling/transit routes from Syria to Tikrit, Bayji, Mosul and eventually Kirkuk. None of the aforementioned groups are particularly thrilled at having us disrupt their "livelihood". None, of course, wear uniforms as combatants. Some pay for this with their lives, and seem perfectly willing to allow innocents to die as a result.

• My experience with JAG's (Army ones) was that they were very in tune with what the commander's and individual riflemen were going through (at least in our BDE). As you know there are mechanisms to sort through this type of incident: 15-6, Article 32, Cdr's Inquiry. If the ROE was understood and enforced by the leadership, the benefit of the doubt always went to that kid on the spearpoint holding the rifle. It HAS to be that way, or we are setting these young men up for failure.

• There is more to this that we know, but the USMC is pretty good at sorting these things out and policing their own ranks. It troubles me though that the media and politicians are so involved in a battalion level incident.