Thursday, June 01, 2006

The Haditha Massacre

The news made me sick in my stomach. By now we have become used to occasional deeply troubling stories from Iraq but this one is different.

Politics is not my forte, but I understand within my limitations, the value of existence and that the core of my living is supported by an environment promoting life with respect.

On May 26, Los Angeles Times reported:

Marines from Camp Pendleton wantonly killed unarmed Iraqi civilians, including women and children, and then tried to cover up the slayings in the insurgent stronghold of Haditha, military investigations have found.

Officials who have seen the findings of the investigations said the filing of criminal charges, including some murder counts, was expected, which would make the Nov. 19 incident the most serious case of alleged U.S. war crimes in Iraq.


The report continued:

In its initial statement to the media, the Marine Corps said the Iraqi civilians were killed either by an insurgent bomb or by crossfire between Marines and insurgents.

But after Time magazine obtained pictures showing dead women and children and quoted Iraqis who said the attack was unprovoked, the Marine Corps backtracked on its explanation and called for an investigation.


Now that isn't new. Similar stories of innocent civilians being killed have been reported before--collateral damage, as the war hawks call it, a small price to pay for Liberty and Freedom.

The following day, I turned pale.

On May 27, Los Angeles Times followed up the story:

Photographs taken by a Marine intelligence team have convinced investigators that a Marine unit killed as many as 24 unarmed Iraqis, some of them "execution-style," in the insurgent stronghold of Haditha after a roadside bomb killed an American in November, officials close to the investigation said Friday.

The pictures are said to show wounds to the upper bodies of the victims, who included several women and six children. Some were shot in the head and some in the back, congressional and defense officials said.

One government official said the pictures showed that infantry Marines from Camp Pendleton "suffered a total breakdown in morality and leadership, with tragic results."


You can read the chilling details and the further follows-ups in the Los Angeles Times.

The algorithm is simple: Liberty and Freedom at the cost of innocent Lives. This side and that side. It doesn't matter which side you are on. You suffer either way.

President Bush seems to have taken notice. AP reports via Yahoo news:

"I am troubled by the initial news stories," Bush said in his first public comments about the deaths of about two dozen civilians at Haditha last November. "I'm mindful that there's a thorough investigation going on. If, in fact, laws were broken, there will be punishment."

It appears that the President has expressed his genuine concern. But given the record of his administration, in particular, the reluctance to function within the laws and constitutional premises, and living in a heap of lies which grows every day, I am skeptical.

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