Posted on 05/27/2006 9:57:27 AM PDT by Carl/NewsMax
The press is already salivating over the prospect of the next Abu Ghraib-like public relations disaster for the U.S. in the war on terror - ballyhooing as yet unproven allegations that a group of U.S. Marines launched an "unprovoked" attack that killed 24 Iraqi civilians in town of Haditha on November 19, 2005.
But was the Marine response really "unprovoked" - as at least 40 press reports have claimed in recent days?
The Boston Globe reports that the confrontation was touched off when a roadside bomb struck a supply convoy of Kilo Company, Third Battalion, First Marine Regiment. The explosion killed Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas, 20, of El Paso, who was on his second tour in Iraq.
"Everybody agrees that this was the triggering event," Paul Hackett, an attorney for a Marine officer with a slight connection to the case, told the paper.
If the roadside bomb was the "triggering event" for the developments that followed, however, then how can it be said that there was "no provocation"?
And while that provocation may not have been enough to justify the wanton murder of innocent Iraqis, it's far from clear at this point that all of those killed were indeed innocent. Or that any innocents who did die were killed in cold blood.
In an April report that pre-dates the uproar over the Haditha allegations, a Marine press release describes the Iraqi town as "a hotbed of insurgent activity less than a year ago." That would be about the time of the so-called Marine massacre.
Plainly, not all the residents of this terrorist hotbed were as innocent as Marine media critics are now claiming.
The Los Angeles Times reports that after smoke from IED cleared, the Marines quickly determined that it was "a type that would have required someone to detonate it."
Following standard procedure, the troops searched nearby houses, the closest of which was 50 yards away.
That's close enough for its occupants to have tracked the Marine convoy and timed the explosion.
It's also worth remembering that the press has so far reported only one side of the story.
All the witness accounts seem to come from residents of Haditha [that hotbed of insurgent activity] - who paint the Marines as modern day incarnations of Nazi storm troopers.
Alleged witness Aws Fahmi, for instance, told the Boston Globe: "I heard Younis speaking to the Americans, saying: `I am a friend. I am good,' But they killed him, and his wife and daughters."
According to the Los Angeles Times, the video that first raised questions about the how the Iraqis died was shot by Haditha residents themselves. Could it have been staged? We still don't know.
Then there's this intriguing tidbit, again from the Times, which notes that after the IED was detonated: "Marines and Iraqi forces searched houses and other structures in the narrow, dusty streets [of Haditha] - jets dropped 500-pound bombs."
Whoever ordered those airstrikes must not have believed the houses of Haditha were filled with Iraqi innocents who knew nothing about planting roadside bombs.
Despite the swirling questions, the press seems eager to jump to conclusions, taking its cue from Rep. John Murtha - who went public last week with charges that the Marines killed innocent Iraqis "in cold blood."
ABC News, for instance, reported Saturday morning that the military investigators had already determined that the killings were unjustified, and that several Marines would likely face murder charges. But instead of quoting anyone in uniform, the report offered a soundbyte from a Human Rights Watch spokesman.
It's also worth noting that House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, who got the same insider briefing given to Murtha, says the "in cold blood" allegations are all wet.
"I totally reject that," Hunter told the L.A. Times.
The California Republican has pledged to conclude his own investigation in June. In the meantime he worries about the press using Haditha to further their campaign against the military.
"I don't want the actions of one squad in one city on one morning to be used to symbolize or characterize or tar the actions of our great troops," Hunter told a Washington news conference last week.
I think they are looking for something that will show how respectful they are of the Iraqi citizenry and they'd like an opportunity to beat up some of our Marines to convey this gesture.
That is my guess and I think the politicians will miscalculate the American public sentiment on this. They might even miscalculate the sentiment of many Iraqis who understand the tactics of the terrorists amongst them and understand the consequences of that terror.
If you plan to fight a war with no collateral casualties in a war with an enemy that is forcing a collateral casualties gambit, you might lose the war and you will certainly cause the needless deaths of our servicemen, as the enemy will continue to use the effective tactic.
Yep, MSM is going overboard again. It's been on the front page of the local newspaper ever since the story first broke.
Why do you call it "My Li" fashion? You speak as if the actions of the United States military that define atrocity. And how moral of you to jump on the bandwagon and show your humanity by condemning our troops if they acted inappropriately. And I am sure you are equally condemnatory of the killers who car bomb civilians every day in Iraq. Your morality is beyond reproach. You are indeed a model human being.
Now you get out of your scifi world and connect with reality. Just what do you think combat is? Something to be filmed for the nightly news? Something for the NY Times to editorialize about? Wow, we are in big, big trouble.
Brilliant post. There is hope for the world.
We need to remember that the Iraqis know the difference between the US forces and Saddam's forces.
So far the only three marines that I've heard of that have been named or punished in any way in regards to this incident are Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani who was in command of the 3rd Battalion and two of his company commanders who were relieved of their commands, as well. Authorities said a series of unspecified incidents had led to a loss of confidence in the three.
Again, unless you can back that up, it is hearsay. I am not saying you didn't hear it. But as far as I know, it was speculation or a rumor that was repeated by someone on the air.
Lots of trolls hitting this thread from DU
How big are these IED's. SOMEONE has to see the terrorist planting these things. If they just stand idly by, they are no better than the citizens of Dresden and deserve the same fate.
You have said it so well!
Dresden and Hiroshima were not 'politically correct".
Neither was 9-11!
I have a friend who is an engineer for NASA and I am told we have the technology to send a drone over the streets transmitting multiple radio frequencies to detonate any bombs that might be in the area. We don't use it. After all, why should Iraqis die when American soldiers can die instead?
Fighting between combattants, not execution of unarmed women and children and an elderly amuptee in a wheel chair. I hope you are right and this is just case of collateral damage. However, the fact that DOD is leaking like a sive, that the Marine Commandant has flown to Iraq to remind troops that they cant execute civilans, and three commanders have been relieved of their commands is not a good sign.
Say it to my face. Im not a member of DU. Never have been. Only visited the place two or three times to watch the whaling and knashing of teeth over judges and conservative other victories.
" I'll wait to hear the details come out. But I'm not going to fall into a Murtha-led media trap on this."
Amen
Following and tagging on to the word of a Traitor isn't a smart move
We are doomed to fail in Iraq as long as our troops have to fight the enemy, a seditious press, contemptuous politicians, self serving career officers and an apathetic public. I can guarantee you WWII was much more vicious than the war in Iraq. The only difference between WWII and the present conflict is that our troops in WWII only had to fight the enemy.
Since I don't believe anything from the Stone-age press, I will wait for the Marines story. Pretty easy for DNBC to judge somebody after they were bombed. Of course they will take their allies in the insurgency's side.
Pray for W and These Marines
Calm down. I have reported some others who I assume others have reported as well, because their accounts and posts on this thread are gone.
But don't spread rumors either :) Remember, this is as much a propaganda war we are in as anything else.
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