Claim : Photo Montage Of Haditha Massacre Made Into Music Video Clip
Nothing "Out Of The Ordinary" About US Marines Killing 24 Unarmed Civilians
Young Iraqi students were ordered out of a taxi passing through Haditha and executed by US Marines, now facing murder charges back in the United States
For almost four months, the US military simply didn't want to know about the morning in November, 2005, when Marines stormed homes crowded with women and children in the Iraqi village of Haditha and killed almost everyone in sight :
The Marines had just watched a friend die in a roadside bombing. Was this reason enough, then, for at least four Marines to go and slaughter 24 men, women and children?Marine officials have accused the troops of failing to identify their targets before using grenades and guns to kill 14 unarmed people in the houses, including several young children in their pajamas, in a span of about 10 minutes, according to the documents.
Safah Yunis Salem, 13, who said she played dead to avoid being shot, was the only person to survive the Marine attack on the second house. Her sister Aisha, 3, was shot in the leg and died; her brother Zainab, 5, was killed by a shot to the head. She said she lost five other members of her family in the room, including her mother.
"He fired and killed everybody," Safah said. "The American fired and killed everybody."
Insurgents might have been hiding in the houses nearby, but how to explain the corpses of a 74 year old man confined to a wheelchair and a 3 year old cowering next his mother?
Even before the house-t0-house massacre occurred, at least two Marines lined up five young men they had ordered out of a passing taxi and shot them all dead when they had their arms and hands in the air.
One Marine admitted that he had urinated on one of the corpses.
If independent Iraqi journalists, and reporters back in the United States, had not investigated the story then it is likely that the murder trials now crawling through the US courts might never have taken place.
For the US Marines, that might have been the best possible outcome; that this sort of horror story never saw the light of day back home. But new technology, and the 'wired soldier' of the 21st century made sure that what happened that morning in November, 2005, could not be kept quiet.
Like Abu Ghraib, the horrific scenes of death and depravity were caught on digital cameras, and then they were traded, swapped, and widely circulated. At least one montage of images of the dead kids was set to rock music by the accused murderers fellow Marines.
Among the images, there is a young boy with a picture of a helicopter on his pajamas, slumped over, his face and head covered in blood. There is a mother lying on a bed, arms splayed, the bodies of three young children huddled against her right side. There are men with gaping head wounds, and a woman and a child hunkered down on their knees, their hands frozen around their faces as if permanently bracing for an attack.The images of the massacre were circulated amongst soldiers for months, yet none stepped forward publicly to denounce what was clearly a massacre of civilians, despite the fact that the actions taken that morning had further befouled the name and reputation of the US Marine Corps.
Why did no-one step forward? Why did it not become an issue with the US Military until the media made it one?
Because, according to some senior officers, there was nothing "out of the ordinary" about the massacre :
If that's the case, then how often have similar massacres occured in Iraq where charges were not laid, and where evidence such as video and digital images have not surfaced?The Kilo Company commander, McConnell, told his Marines on the day of the attacks that they had done a good job...
Marine officers said Chessani, the Marines' battalion commander, informed his superior, the regimental commander, of the civilian casualties the day they occurred and was told by that officer, Col. Stephen W. Davis, that no investigation was needed.
"There was nothing out of the ordinary about any of this, including the number of civilian dead, that would have triggered anything in my mind that was out of the norm," Davis told military investigators, according to a transcript. "There is nothing about this incident that jumped out at any point to us."
How many other slaughters of dozens of Iraqi women and children were deemed not to be "out of the ordinary"?
If you follow the Iraqi and Arab media then the answer is yes.
Four Marines under the age of 25 now face charges of murder.
One Marine faces 13 charges of murder.
As with Abu Ghraib, no senior ranking officers of the US Military or Central Command are expected to be charged, nor forced to show up in court to explain the actions of those they are supposed to be in command of.
Lawyers representing the accused Marines are expected to argue that not only were the young men following direct orders, but that their military training had instilled in them a "shoot first, ask questions later" mentality when facing a potentially hostile situation where insurgents may be close by.
That last argument will prove to be the most controversial, and the easiest for defence lawyers to prove. They have, potentially, tens of thousands of American Marines who could provide witness testimony to declare that they are trained to kill, rather than capture, and that they are taught to regard most Iraqi civilians as potential insurgents.
The rules of engagement drilled into the minds of young American soldiers will become one of the key arguments of the forthcoming trials.
Timeline Of Events In Haditha Case
Controversial Haditha Massacre Investigation By Vanity Fair Magazinee : "The Dead Did Not Look Peaceful...They Looked Bloody And Grotesque"
Eight US Soldiers Facing Charges Over Haditha Massacre Expected To Blame Senior Officers
Residents Of Haditha Demand US Hand Over Massacre Marines : "We Will Tear Them Apart"
Marine Called Haditha Shootings Appropriate
Lawyers Defending Marines Claim US Defence Department Leaked Confidential Report On Massacre To Media To Damage Their Clients' Cases
