Videotape Leads to Pentagon Probe of Iraqi Deaths
Military Investigates Marines' Role in Incident That Killed 15 Civilians

By JONATHAN KARL, ABCNews.com

WASHINGTON (March 20) -- A bloody videotape shot by a local Iraqi journalism student has prompted the Pentagon to launch a criminal investigation into an incident that left at least 15 Iraqi civilians dead in the city of Haditha.

 


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Watch Video: Grim Footage From Haditha

Jump Below: Quotes on the Killings

More Coverage:
· TIME's Exclusive Report | Iraqis Tell of Killings

Talk About It: Post Thoughts
 
 

The details of what happened four months ago in Haditha are just now coming to light with the release of the videotape by an Iraqi organization called Hammurabi Human Rights.

The tape shows the bloodied and bullet-marked homes that had been allegedly stormed by the Marines, and includes comments by local residents.

"This is my father," a boy says on the tape. "He didn't do anything wrong. Why did they kill him?"

'These Are Children'

The video shows the bodies of some of the dead, including one of three children killed.

"These are children," one man on the tape says. "Are you telling me these are terrorists?"

It all started Nov. 19 when a roadside bomb hit a convoy of 12 Marines in Haditha, killing 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas.

The official press release said simply: "A U.S. Marine and 15 Iraqi civilians were killed yesterday from the blast of a roadside bomb."

Prompted by Magazine

 
What They Said  
 
 
''First, [U.S. Marines] went into my father's room, where he was reading the Koran, and we heard shots. ...I watched them shoot my grandfather, first in the chest and then in the head. Then they killed my granny.''

-- Eman Waleed, 9, who says she saw U.S. troops kill seven members of her family Nov. 19 in Haditha, Iraq

1/6  
Sources: TIME, ABC News, AP  
 
Military officials now acknowledge the Iraqis were not killed by the bomb -- but, they now say, by crossfire as U.S. Marines stormed the surrounding homes.

The military did not launch an investigation until two months after the incident, when Time magazine showed officials the video and eyewitness testimony.

"We launched an investigation of our own with the help of a human rights group," said Aparisim Ghosh, a writer for Time. "We spoke to some eyewitnesses. And it turns out all the people killed were killed by the Marines in small arms fire and, in a few instances, by an explosive that was tossed into the home by the Marines themselves."

Senior Pentagon officials would not comment on the details of the case but said they take the allegations very seriously, which is why they've launched the criminal investigation.

It still is not clear the Marines used excessive force, but the locals seem to have made up their minds.

"They came and started shooting all of a sudden," one local said. "They didn't even knock on the door. They killed them wholesale."

According to a military spokesman, the Marines involved still are deployed in Iraq.


03-20-06 16:33 EST


Copyright 2006 ABCNEWS.com

It never fails to amaze me how the press will go to the scene of an attack and interview the locals.  They never even suspect that these people could have been involved in the attack or at least supported the attackers.

''First, [U.S. Marines] went into my father's room, where he was reading the Koran, Bullshit, loading an AK is more likelyand we heard shots. ...I watched them shoot my grandfather, first in the chest and then in the head. sounds like good shooting Then they killed my granny.'' more likely granddad or dad took her out with a random spray from the AK

Time magazine = idiots

Sorry, if Time magazine and some jihadi filmmaker told me the sky was blue, I wouldn't believe it till I checked myself.  It's bullshit.

These shitheads know who plants these roadside bombs. They can warn someone. When they get pressed on it they are all of a sudden the innocent victims of the brutal US Marines.

It's too bad we can't fight like we should. We should bulldoze the entire town when there is a roadside bomb attack.

This war would also end if the fucking press wouldn't work for the goddamn terrorists around the world. The news is the terrorists propoganda tool and they get free use. I so fucking hate the press. Soldiers and civilians lives pay for thier chance at a pulitzer. Fucking cannibals!

Sounds like another Time Warner, carefully crafted, anti American pro-jihadi, agitprop piece. Why not require al jizzzera to fashion their own anti-Americanisms?

The video shows nothing.  Its nothing but propaganda by the people who were killed.  People that were likely part of the roadside bomb or were shooting at the marines.

Fuck em.

They put a f*Cking commercial in front of a video like this!?

''First, [U.S. Marines] went into my father's room, where he was reading the Koran,and we heard shots

See now kid, that's what that koran shit will get you...

Originally Posted By KC-130 FLT ENG: ''First, [U.S. Marines] went into my father's room, where he was reading the Koran,and we heard shots See now kid, that's what that koran shit will get you...

+1

If we abused the second amendment the same way the libs abuse the first, they would have banned firearms 100 years ago.

Quoted: It never fails to amaze me how the press will go to the scene of an attack and interview the locals.  They never even suspect that these people could have been involved in the attack or at least supported the attackers. ''First, [U.S. Marines] went into my father's room, where he was reading the Koran, Bullshit, loading an AK is more likelyand we heard shots. ...I watched them shoot my grandfather, first in the chest and then in the head. sounds like good shooting Then they killed my granny.'' more likely granddad or dad took her out with a random spray from the AK

+ 500,00

You said it better than I could have, thanks!

Quoted: These shitheads know who plants these roadside bombs. They can warn someone. When they get pressed on it they are all of a sudden the innocent victims of the brutal US Marines. It's too bad we can't fight like we should. We should bulldoze NAPALM the entire town when there is a roadside bomb attack. This war would also end if the fucking press wouldn't work for the goddamn terrorists around the world. The news is the terrorists propoganda tool and they get free use. I so fucking hate the press. Soldiers and civilians lives pay for thier chance at a pulitzer. Fucking cannibals!

Fixed it

Quoted: These shitheads know who plants these roadside bombs. They can warn someone. When they get pressed on it they are all of a sudden the innocent victims of the brutal US Marines. It's too bad we can't fight like we should. We should bulldoze the entire town when there is a roadside bomb attack. This war would also end if the fucking press wouldn't work for the goddamn terrorists around the world. The news is the terrorists propoganda tool and they get free use. I so fucking hate the press. Soldiers and civilians lives pay for thier chance at a pulitzer. Fucking cannibals!

You are wanting to institute a program called collective responsibility.   Thats a tool of overlords, not liberators.  

If its BS, it will get shot down.   If it is as the villagers describe it, then something should be done.

I think its most likely BS, but it should be looked into.

I doubt the validity of both stories for several reasons.

1. Iraqis lie about everything.
2. Iraqis have a monetary incentive to blame any and all deaths on the US, they get paid up to $2500.00 for collateral deaths.
3. Political motivations.
4. Possibly killed by insurgents, then rest of family threatened to falsely accuse US or face similar deaths.
4. Moral fibre of US troops. I don't see US troops doing this, and if they did, not keeping it to themselves. Someones conscience would force them to talk. Of course an infantry unit is pretty tight and would more than likely keep this to themselves.

But these 2 events need to be investigated by .mil, and if the charges are true, those that were responsible brought to justice because that is the law. But deep down inside I say screw them, I don't care if some Sunnis got blown away, they are the enemy and probably deserved it. These Soldiers and Marines are dealing with enough BS without this. This is war, and war is savage. But I also know what is morally right and we shouldn't let the nature of war allow us to become savages, like those we fight against.

I can understand how something like this could happen. When you fight an enemy that you never/rarely see you get frustrated. When you take casualties and are unable to retaliate you get frustrated. The longer this goes on, the angrier you get. All you want to do is make the enemy pay for the blood you have shed. When you are in a Sunni area, everyone seems to be the enemy. Locals watch the enemy emplace IEDs and do nothing, so they are complicite in the attack. I have had to walk away from detainees because of this anger before I killed some detainee. War is truely hell, especially for those that fight it.

Let them do their investigation and we'll see who was wrong.  Maybe they are FOS and maybe they are not.

Hopefully it's bullcrap...

The drive-by media, hoping to stir up chaos.

tag

the media is the most dangerous enemy we face bar none

Barbarian acts?


What about cutting heads off?   I guess thats humane?

Sometimes Iraqi civilians would get caught in the crossfire between Iraqi Army and insurgents.
Sometimes they would die. These things DO happen.
This is what happens, when you allow terrorists to operate in your neighborhood. If they don't like it, they can turn in the terrorists.


But NEVER would the civilians complain about it afterwards.
They knew the Iraqi Army does not pay compensation for these things.

The Marines do.

"they killed them all wholesale"

looks like our troops are well trained..





fu¢k em .. they know what goes on and dont say a word.. they most likely knew about the IED .. and just watched them drive by..


i was just reading the k...  hell...   thats why they killed you you fu¢ker!

Tag.

What that old Polish proverb my dad used to tell me??

Tough Shitzky!

Its war people!

Yep, Baby killers, that's all the US can do.  

Nevermind the fact the terrorists hide behind their women and children to commit their barbaric acts.

Oddly enough I turn on my computer this evening and find that this is not only not the most important news item of the day, it is no longer even appearing among the headlines.

Was it SO obvious that even the rest of the MSM shied away from it?

I expected Bill Roggio to post something to rip it, but he didnt even bother.

I'm gonna wait to respond to this but I smell bullshit.

Iraqi police said that US troops had shot 11 people,

"I couldn't see their faces very well - only their guns sticking in to the doorway <snip> "We were lying there, bleeding and it hurt so much. Afterwards some Iraqi soldiers came. They carried us in their arms. I was crying, shouting, 'why did you do this to our family?' And one Iraqi soldier tells me, 'we didn't do it. The Americans did it'."

Apparently part of the problem is that the original military investigation declared the initial claim of the cause of death to be false. (Originally, the deaths were claimed to be roadside bomb, not small arms).

If the military had gotten it right the first time, there would be less 'believability' in massacre claims.

NTM

Quoted: These shitheads know who plants these roadside bombs. They can warn someone. When they get pressed on it they are all of a sudden the innocent victims of the brutal US Marines. It's too bad we can't fight like we should. We should bulldoze the entire town when there is a roadside bomb attack. This war would also end if the fucking press wouldn't work for the goddamn terrorists around the world. The news is the terrorists propoganda tool and they get free use. I so fucking hate the press. Soldiers and civilians lives pay for thier chance at a pulitzer. Fucking cannibals!

Good idea.
That'll win the war real quickly.
Acts like that wouldn't drive more people to the side of the insurgency, now would it?

ETA: I highly doubt any of our boys did this in the manner described.
I do accept that perhaps it could have happened, collateral damage like, but thats war.
It sucks, but oh well.
I concur with what cinncinatus has to say on the issue.

Quoted: Quoted: These shitheads know who plants these roadside bombs. They can warn someone. When they get pressed on it they are all of a sudden the innocent victims of the brutal US Marines. It's too bad we can't fight like we should. We should bulldoze the entire town when there is a roadside bomb attack. This war would also end if the fucking press wouldn't work for the goddamn terrorists around the world. The news is the terrorists propoganda tool and they get free use. I so fucking hate the press. Soldiers and civilians lives pay for thier chance at a pulitzer. Fucking cannibals! Good idea. That'll win the war real quickly. Acts like that wouldn't drive more people to the side of the insurgency, now would it? ETA: I highly doubt any of our boys did this in the manner described. I do accept that perhaps it could have happened, collateral damage like, but thats war. It sucks, but oh well. I concur with what cinncinatus has to say on the issue.

Oh get off your fucking pulpit. I know we can't do that. It's not rocket science. I said "It's too bad we CAN'T fight like we should".

I really hope this is bullshit.

The IED was right across from one of the houses. If a fucking bomb blew up in front of my house I would expect whomever the bomb was intended for to to think Ambush and come out fighting.

War right outside your door has ALOT of risk. I bet NEXT time they ask the bad guys to plant the bomb down the road. I hope their neighbors take note also.

Liberals SUCK!