Marines accused of 'massacre' in Iraq (Family of 15 & 3 yr old)

[kpete]

Iraqis Accuse U.S. Marines of 'Massacre'
By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Shortly after a roadside bomb killed a U.S. Marine in a western Iraqi town, American troops went into nearby houses and shot dead 15 members of two families, including a 3-year-old-girl, residents say.

The military is investigating possible misconduct by the Marines and confirms there is a video, which Time Magazine says shows the aftermath of the Marines' assault.

Residents contacted by The Associated Press described what happened after the Nov. 19 roadside bomb in the town of Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, as "a massacre."

Khaled Ahmed Rsayef, whose brother and six other members of his family were killed in the incident, said the roadside bomb exploded at about 7:15 a.m. in the al-Subhani neighborhood. A U.S. Humvee was badly damaged.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060320/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_fatal_raid
via:http://www.rawstory.com/comments/03000.htm

[villager]

1. My Lai, Iraq-style

Of course, in those days, there was actually a press in America that would report such things...

[INDIA]

2. I agree

Iraq had never seen such despicable acts of violence until we got there!!!

[madaboutharry]

3. There was a great cover up of My Lai, until

Seymour Hersh got wind of it. The helicopter pilot and his crew who intervened and stopped the massacre were ostracized by the military.

[villager]

4. thought about that after I posted. True enough, but once Hersh

...got wind, then it was all over the place, and action -- even though the C.O.'s were let off the hook (like today, hmm...) was taken...

Just don't know if we can even get to the "Hersh step" anymore, with all these outrages...

[madaboutharry]

6. Yeah,

the "Hersh Step" does seem unattainable these days.

[countryjake]

5. Also, this incident was reported to the media...

by the Pentagon as "one marine and fifteen civilians killed by IED (roadside bomb)" when it happened. How many reports do we hear every day about the death tally claimed by "Improvised Explosive Devices"?

We should be questioning every death explained to us by Washington!

[enough]

7. one sad k&r (nt)

[Mr_Spock]

8. I heard this story on NPR

I assume this is the story I heard where the Iraqi police were also accusing the American soldiers of assasinating the people. :(

[sabra]

9. sadly they are two separate stories... this one from November

and one from last week.

[Mr_Spock]

10. OMG. You know I've read what some marines think of Iraqi's on other sites

They have AWFUL things to say about them. It's SO hypocritical.

One minute they are defending Bush's action of "bringing freedom & Democracy" to Iraq,

the next minute they are calling them "dirt-bag rag-heads" and they say "they are all guilty" and justify beating and otherwise abusing them when they won't help them find the people who shot at them.

What a friggin' nightmare it is over there :mad:

Thanks Dumbya :mad:

[Rocknrule]

11. Cheney will probably demand an apology from the victims' families

for being in the way of Marine's bullets
:mad:

[countryjake]

12. Here's a link to video of the aftermath at Haditha...

I saw this report on CBS Evening News last week, the video was shown with warnings of its disturbing nature.

"In One Village, Video Tells A Story"
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/20/eveningnews/main1419509.shtml

"The U.S. military confirmed to CBS News that it has paid compensation to the families of those killed in this incident - and compensation is only paid when the dead are not enemy combatants."