Marine cover-up over Haditha deaths?

[Roon]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq completed a review Friday of an investigation into a possible cover-up of the alleged Marine killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in the western town of Haditha.

Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli forwarded his findings and recommendations to Gen. George W. Casey, the top commander in Iraq, according to a statement.

Chiarelli forwarded his findings and recommendations to Gen. George Casey, the top commander in Iraq, according to a statement.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13758518/

[msongs]

1. wonder what ol' paul hackett has to say about this?? nt

[sabra]

2. Report finds US Marines failed to probe Haditha-CBS

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N07233664.htm


Report finds US Marines failed to probe Haditha-CBS

BAGHDAD, July 7 (Reuters) - A U.S. military report into the killings of up to 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha last year found that senior Marine officers failed to investigate conflicting and false reports of the killings, CBS News reported on Friday.

Despite evidence that initial reports the civilians died in a roadside bomb attack were false, the investigation found that no Marine officer in the chain of command questioned the original account despite several "red flags," CBS said.

...

CBS said the report found there was no effort to correct an inaccurate U.S. military press release, which repeated the initial false report that civilians were killed by a roadside bomb when in fact they were all killed by gunshot wounds.

The distribution by one Marine officer of $38,000 in compensation payments to the victims' families was further clear evidence that the original report was wrong, CBS cited the investigation as saying.

[Hissyspit]

3. NYT: General Faults Marine Response To Iraq Killings

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/08/world/middleeast/08haditha.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

The Review
General Faults Marine Response to Iraq Killings
By ERIC SCHMITT and DAVID S. CLOUD

WASHINGTON, July 7 — The second-ranking American commander in Iraq has concluded that some senior Marine officers were negligent in failing to investigate more aggressively the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians by marines in Haditha last November, two Defense Department officials said Friday.

The officer, Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, concluded that in the deaths, including those of 10 women and children and an elderly man in a wheelchair, senior officers failed to follow up on inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the initial reporting of the incident that should have raised questions.

- snip -

It was not clear Friday whether General Huck or Colonel Davis, or Maj. Gen. Stephen T. Johnson, the senior marine officer in Iraq at the time, would be personally implicated. But if they were to be disciplined, they would be among the most senior American officers punished since the Iraq war started in early 2003.

An officer who served in Iraq with the Second Marine Division at the time of the killings in Haditha noted that a spate of recent cases in which American troops were being investigated for killing unarmed Iraqi civilians — including the rape and murder of a young Iraqi woman and the killing of her family in Mahmudiya — had raised concerns that commanders may be under pressure to make an example of Marine officers in the Haditha incident.

"We're all waiting anxiously to see how this one gets taken on," said the officer, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to talk about the unit or any part of the investigation. "Major General Huck is about as thorough and detailed a guy as you are ever going to see."

MORE

[ixion]

4. got that? so the problem is not the killing... it's the procedure

used to investigate the killing. :eyes:

And people wonder why the rest of the world hates our guts.

[Goat52]

5. A Vets thought...

Being a 23 year vet, I understand why the discipline is falling apart all around the troops in Iraq. They are caught up in a no win situation--with little support from Bush (except photo ops) and superman like demands from the military. Suicides are up over there and now the obvious trend to this kind of situation.. rapes and murders.. are starting to emerge as well. Our troops are good people--but remember that..they are human. and as humans they have a stress point of no return. No excuses for those who go beyond that point -- they need to be punished--but I think it's time to look at their command structure and how much in command these people really are over their troops!! And we don't need to help matters by mixing these good people with neo-nazis... ugh but that is another story...

[cassiepriam]

6. Welcome Goat. Where is the command structure?

I grew up in the military and I just do not understand why the troops are not being supervised. Why they are totally out of control?

It can only mean that the officers have given up. Like Viet Nam, let the troops do what they want. I also suspect that drug/alcohol use is rampant. And steroid use as well. The poppy fields are next door so the opiates are readily available.

And I do not believe it is a trend, but much more widespread. I have been saying this for some time and it is proving to be the case. The signs have been there for some time now.

These are explanations not excuses. These crimes against the Iraqi people are heinous. I hope to God that if I were placed in simliar situations I would not lose my humanity.

[annabanana]

8. Welcome to DU

This administration has misused the military shamelessly. As usual, the crunch always comes in the lower ranks. I really hope that the honest men & women there will help America straighten this mess out.

[thepurpose]

7. Well isn't about time some senior officers be made an example of?

Trust me these guys might be forced to retire, but they ain't going to jail over this. The troops will as they should. The senior officers will only get a slap on the wrist and that will be a slap in the face of the Iraqi people.

[Rose Siding]

9. This must have been leaked by either Chiarelli or Bargewell

I can't imagine the list of people with access to the report is large enough for anyone to escape scrutiny if this wasn't sanctioned. So good for them!

The best reason I can think of for one of them wanting to make this public, would be to prevent any additional cover-up of their findings. What's troubling is this:

snip>
He said the investigation found that errors were made in the reporting and follow up of initial allegations after the killings and suggested some were of a criminal nature.

“It essentially bolsters the ongoing criminal investigation and lays bare some of the administrative faults that existed during November 2005,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the findings have not been publicly released.

“What some of these people did wrong is certainly not illegal or criminal, but administratively their actions are something that Gen. Chiarelli wants to look at,” the official said.

If only "some" of the people are found to have done nothing illegal or criminal, but "some" (highly placed) did, OK. The first paragraph of this section indicates that's the case. But I don't see how playing any part at ALL in the cover-up of a crime of this magnitude isn't illegal.

[cal04]

10. U.S. military ready for "pain" over Iraqi killings

Commanders can expect a "day of pain" once the top U.S. general in Iraq reviews a report that finds they failed to act on complaints their troops killed 24 civilians at Haditha, a U.S. military official said on Saturday.

The report into whether officers failed to investigate or even covered up for Marines accused by Iraqis of killing men, women and children in cold blood was passed to General George Casey on Friday, the military said in a brief statement.

Disciplinary action now seems likely, officials said, over failures by 2nd Marine Division officers in their command duty.

"The Marines will go through their day of pain," said a military official in Baghdad familiar with recommendations made by ground forces commander, Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli.

http://go.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=1311331§ion=news&src=rss/uk/worldNews