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Politics : FREE AMERICA -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Oral Roberts who wrote (7234)	5/31/2006 2:27:58 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14758

Father of Marine Backs Son's Iraq Comrades Forbes/AP ^ \| 5/31/06 \| Felicia Caldwell The father of a U.S. Marine killed by a roadside bomb in western Iraq in November believes his son's comrades did nothing wrong despite a criminal investigation into events that left more than 20 Iraqi civilians dead, including women and children. "It's very hard for me, I don't even listen to the news," Martin Terrazas said of reports of the mass killings in Haditha, in Iraq's Anbar province. "The insurgents were hiding in there with the kids." Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas was killed when his military convoy hit a roadside bomb in the western Iraqi city of Haditha. Initial accounts from Marines indicated that a fight with insurgents ensued and that 15 civilians and eight insurgents were killed in the explosion and subsequent firefight. But now, separate investigations seek to determine whether the Nov. 19 killings were criminal and whether the Marines involved and their commanding officers tried to hide the truth. The Pentagon has said little publicly. The New York Times reported Wednesday that evidence uncovered in February and March contradicts the claims made by Marines about how the Iraqis died. Citing an unnamed senior U.S. official, the Times reported that a review of the incident by Col. Gregory Watt in Baghdad has uncovered evidence that casts doubt on initial reports by Marines involved. "There were enough inconsistencies that things didn't add up," the unnamed official said, according to the Times. The report cites death certificates that show all the Iraqi victims had been shot, many in the head and chest. Luis Terrazas, the uncle of the Marine killed in Nov. attack and a former Marine himself, said Marines are trained not to lose their cool under pressure. "Jarheads don't just go out and kill because they get frustrated," said Luis Terrazas, 39. "Their training is exquisite. It just doesn't make sense." Martin Terrazas, who said he has met with many Marines from his son's unit, said the men didn't give him many details of the attack. "They wouldn't go into details," Martin Terrazas said. "I just needed to know if my son suffered. They just said it wasn't a pretty sight." The Marines also told the grieving father that they did what was necessary to survive. "Hearing my son's comrades is very hard," Martin Terrazas said. "Those Marines just did their job. Some of these kids were saying, 'We have to live with it.'" The parents of two Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton in Calif. told The Associated Press that their sons were ordered to take pictures of the scene and help remove the bodies. The parents of Lance Cpl. Roel Ryan Briones, 21, and Lance Cpl. Andrew Wright, 20, said memories of the killings have haunted the Marines. Briones' mother said her son did not witness the killings. Wright's parents declined to say what their son saw that day. Miguel Terrazas was in the midst of his second tour of duty in Iraq when he was killed. His family says he knew how dangerous his duty was, having survived an ambush during his first tour. When he came home before his second deployment, the young Marine told his family not to worry. "He said, 'No matter what...don't worry,'" Luis Terrazas said, fighting back tears.

To: Oral Roberts who wrote (7234)	5/31/2006 2:30:55 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 14758

Baby Left for Dead After Family Killed Associated Press ^ \| May 31, 2006 \| Unknown GARDEN GROVE, Calif. - A 1-year-old girl spent up to three days alone with the bloody bodies of her murdered family, her face kicked or beaten and lips cracked from dehydration, police said. "She was left for dead," Lt. Mike Handfield said Tuesday. "If she would have been here any longer, she could have perished from lack of food and water." Police found the bodies of a man in his 30s, a woman in her late 20s and a 7-year-old boy on Monday when they conducted a welfare check at the family's home, located on a street lined with two-story, stucco houses about 35 miles southeast of Los Angeles in Orange County. Police said they expected to release the names of the victims on Wednesday, after autopsies were completed and relatives were notified. The girl was treated at a hospital for dehydration and facial injuries and taken into protective custody. The girl smiled at the officer who found her, Handfield said. "She clung to him and he hugged her. She was glad to be next to a warm human body, to have somebody with her." Because of the girl's dehydrated state, detectives believe the killings may have occurred Friday evening - the last time the family was heard from. Investigators did not know the motive for the attack, and no arrests had been made. Authorities did not say what type of weapon was used in the attack but ruled out a murder-suicide. There were no signs of forced entry, and evidence at the scene suggested that the family knew the attacker or attackers, Handfield said. The slain man had a history of arrests on nonviolent charges and had once spent time in prison. Handfield declined to elaborate but said investigators do not believe the crimes were connected to the killings.