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Indybay Feature

Camp Pendleton Baby Killer Marines Set Free!

by Vince Pipard
Indymedia around the Globe has been diligent in covering the numerous War Crimes committed by the US Troops against the occupied populace of Iraq, including the November 19, 2005 Haditha Massacre of 24 Iraqi Civilians by US Marines. In that noble spirit, we need to broadly publicize and loudly spread the news that, little by little, the sneaky Americans have let 7 of the 8 US Marine perpetrators of the Massacre of Iraqi Civilians at Haditha go free without any punishment, hoping the rest of the World does not notice.
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This past week, on June 17th, criminal charges against Marine Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessini were thrown out on a legal technicality, and now there is only one U.S. perpetrator of these War Crimes left to face trial, as all of the other killers and those who engaged in the Coverup have now been set free, (perhaps free to kill again.)
This latest outrage is just more example that shows that there has been virtually no serious accountability in either this or most of the numerous other criminal cases involving the murder of Iraqi civilians and Iraqi POWs in War Crimes committed by the US Marines, the US Army or by sub-contractor henchmen during the five years since the invasion and occupation began. In the Haditha case 24 Iraqi Civilians were deliberately executed in cold-blood by Marines as revenge for an IED roadside bomb attack that killed one US Marine, (Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas). The murdered Iraqi civilians, (whose bodies showed that they were shot at close range), included 7 children, including 3 year old Aisha Salim, shot dead while her mother futilely tried to shield her with her own body.
This atrocity at Haditha is just one in a long list of war crimes committed by US forces against the occupied Iraqi population, crimes that include the well-known torture chambers of Abu Ghraib; the gang-rape of 14 year old Iraqi teenager Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, by US soldiers who then shot her in the head, burned her body with kerosene and shot her parents and sister to cover up the crime; the murder of captured Iraqi Air Force Major General, Abed Hamed Mowhoush, who was unceremoniously beat and stuffed head-first into a sleeping bag, tied in the bag with electric cord and then sat on and smothered to death by US Interrogators who didn't like his answers; the forcing at gunpoint by US Army personnel of 19 year old Zaidoun Hassoun, to jump to his death off of a Bridge into the Tigris river; and of course, the destruction of most of the City of Fallujah and killing of thousands of its inhabitants as revenge for the hanging from a bridge of the corpses of 4 members of the Blackwater mercenary force, (a private army that enjoys total legal immunity as it kills Iraqi civilians in much the same way as early US Western Settlers shot and killed Buffalo, (for sport, and often while drunk).
In a number of these cases the US government has paid "blood money" reparations to the victims relatives; however, there has been little if any actual punishment for the many individuals and military units who carried out the crimes, and none should be expected, as these "trials" appear to have been mostly just for show and public consumption, (except in the rape/murder/body-burning case where a few Army perpetrators received lengthy sentences).
It appears that Justice for most Iraqi victims of US War Crimes will never be found in American Courts, especially our Military Courts. Justice for Iraq will only be found in the eventual, and inevitable, military defeat and expulsion of the US occupation on the ground through a guerrilla war of attrition by the Iraqi Resistance, and by a War Crimes Tribunal along the lines of the Nuremberg Trials to hold the US government and it's military accountable for crimes against humanity.
In summary, Justice in Iraq will not be found until the last US Marine is wetting his pants as he flees on a Helicopter out of Baghdad in a scene reminiscent of Saigon in 1975.

(note:Hard evidence: photo is of a marine standing one of the sites in Haditha where five of the 24 unarmed civilians were killed on November 19, 2005 contained in an investigative report)
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Even tho i think it's important that every low and medium level perpetrator of torture and other war crimes be tried for what hey did, i think it's far more important important to try the makers of theses policies and practices. I think a war crimes tribunal should be created that should try George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and all their co-conspirators including their co-conspirators in Congress like Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, John McCain, and Hillary Clinton. According to the Constitution, Congress raises the funds to fund everything the government does, including explicitly the military. That makes any member of Congress who has voted for ANY funding of this war liable for prosecution for war crimes.
by Bob Owens
A few points. Having a charge dismissed because of "undue command influence" is not a technicality, but a protection for being railroaded, something that you would not doubt prefer if a certain Pennsylvania Democrat wasn't behind forcing charges to be brought against Chessani by exerting his political power.

In addition, the photo shown in this article does not show a close-range shooting as you infer. This photo a significant amount of time after the entire incident was over, and these men were not shot a close range. The Marine position was (I'm trying to recall specifics) roughly 100 yards away, near the homes in the right side of the frame. This Marine is guarding the scene about an hour after the attack.

I'm not an apologist for the Marines at Haditha, and think they killed people that should not have died. Keep in mind, however, bad things happen in war, and innocents can still be killed within the rules of engagement, without it being illegal. It is very unfortunate, but another reason war is regarded as a last result, especially by those who must fight them.
- As military officials investigated the Haditha killings in Iraq, one of the Marines involved has spoken out about what he saw last year.

Only hours after Iraqi civilians were killed, a second team of Marines was sent in to take the victims' bodies to a local morgue.

Lance Corp. Ryan Briones was among the Marines sent in to recover the bodies, and he told the Los Angeles Times he is still haunted by what he saw, including a young girl who was shot in the head.

" ranged from little babies to adult males and females," Briones told the newspaper. "I can still smell the blood."

Briones says he and another Marine were told to photograph the bodies. Military officials say those photos -- which they say show people shot at close range in the head and chest -- clearly contradict initial reports that the civilians were killed by a roadside bomb.
by Mario Delgado
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US Torture State Celebrates 4th of July
by elena arellano
When are you going to get your facts correct? How can you call yourself a journalist when you do not investigate your sources? You presumed just because an article showed up in Time Magazine it was true. There was little truth in what was written. As you continue to perpetuate false information, these young men continue to have their names and lives ruined.
re Briones: He used this incident for his betterment in order to get out of charges for stealing a car, leaving the scene of an accident and drunk driving. You hold this young man as a hero when in reality he is a criminal who decided to join the military instead of going to jail.

When do we as Americans go back to telling the truth and you are innocent until proven guilty? Where we ever really there. This experience has taught me not to believe anything I read, hear or even see in the media. The news agencies have become not about reporting the truth, but how much money can I make. I think it is time we hold those accountable who spew inaccuracies as facts since they were to lazy to investigate the information and deem its accuracy.
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