Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sandintoes who wrote (187604)	5/28/2006 12:13:25 PM
From: bentway	Respond to of 281500

I'm just posting news articles Sandy. I suppose you'd rather the entire affair be covered up, like the Marine leadership tried to do? The Marines involved apprently took photos of the women and children they'd just butchered with their own cell phone cameras. "A military source in Iraq told Time that investigators have obtained two sets of photos from Haditha. The first is after-action photos taken by the military as part of the routine procedure that follows any such event. Submitted in the official report on the fighting, the photos do not show any bodies. Investigators have also discovered a second, more damning set of photos, taken by Marines of the Kilo Company immediately after the shootings. The source says it isn't clear if these photos were held back from the after-action report or were personal snapshots taken by the Marines. The source says a Marine e-mailed at least one photo to a friend in the U.S. Almost as damaging as the alleged massacre may be evidence that the unit's members and their superiors conspired to cover it up. "There's no doubt that the Marines allegedly involved in doing this—they lied about it," says Kline. "They certainly tried to cover it up." Three Marine officers, including the company commander and battalion commander, have been relieved of duty in part for actions related to the deaths in Haditha. A lawmaker who has been briefed on the matter says the investigations may implicate other senior officers."

To: sandintoes who wrote (187604)	5/28/2006 12:53:36 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

So you've found the Marines guilty without a trial? Typical. Obviously Mr. Parson is taking great glee in trying to portray every US soldier stationed in Iraq to be a war criminal. But this has to be investigated, and the perpetrators, punished... SEVERELY!! From the reports we're hearing, the marines and their leadership conspired to cover up the incident, and that's indicative that they knew they had done something wrong. "This was a small number of Marines who fired directly on civilians and killed them," said Representative John Kline, a Minnesota Republican and former Marine who was briefed two weeks ago by Marine Corps officials. "This is going to be an ugly story."..... ....."There's no doubt that the Marines allegedly involved in doing this—they lied about it," says Kline. "They certainly tried to cover it up." Three Marine officers, including the company commander and battalion commander, have been relieved of duty in part for actions related to the deaths in Haditha. A lawmaker who has been briefed on the matter says the investigations may implicate other senior officers. But they're still in the investigative stage and we'll have to await the formal charges. But "politically speaking", we need to be proactive about "getting in front" of this issue and assuring the Iraqis, as well as the world, that we're going to do what it takes to get to the bottom of this. We would demand no less, were a group of police officers to be accused to have committing such an act. It just amazes me that these soldiers, and their non-commissioned and commissioned leadership have not imparted the importance of observing the Rules of Engagement. Abuses put the lives of every other soldier in the country at risk. And even in Haditha, which the majority of us considered absolute "indian country", there have to be rules about who was "fair game" and who wasn't. There was an absolute feeling amongst the Marines last fall of "blood lust" and revenge for the killings of 6 Marine Snipers in August near Haditha. One of the bodies of the Marines was taken from the location, mutiliated (as I recall) and then dumped on a road miles away. cnn.com And then there was the killing of 14 marines in their Amtrac by an IED around that same time on the approach to Haditha: usatoday.com I had heard rumours that Marines were in a furor over the events in Haditha and they were looking for some "pay-back". But we all trusted the Marine leadership to keep these feelings in their proper place. I don't know how many times I had to take the position of reminding some of the soldiers in my area that revenge is a double-edged sword that doesn't care what it cuts. That losing our professionalism would cost even more American lives in the long run. But you and I know that we're all human. And as such, we're all susceptible to just completely losing control. But we normally keep our inner demons in check for fear of breaking the law and suffering the repercussions. But war is a human state of existence where those with the bigger guns make the laws. And we know that insurgents have been guilty of committing massacres of innocent civilians since this way began and the media hardly pays attention. It's been left to the soldiers on the ground to impose order and doling out frontier justice to the insurgents wherever we find them. But there's no way any NCO or Officer on the ground can justify point-blank executions of unarmed civilians, let alone children. Bottom line, high level politicians wouldn't be standing by these accusations if it wasn't evident that there was enough information to warrant the consideration of criminal charges. But what we're going to have to find out are the REAL circumstances that led up to it, whether they actually took fire from this house, and the level of complicity by others in this act. If they came under fire and then "saturated" the house with fire, that's one thing. But if they took and IED hit, and then just shot up the closest house they could find, believing the detonation was triggered from there, then we have a serious issue. And I'm going to be very curious to see how far up the chain of command this alleged cover-up may have gone. Hawk