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Videotape Forces Pentagon to Investigate Claims U.S. Marines Shot Dead 15 Iraqi Civilians
The U.S. military is conducting a criminal investigation into allegations that marines shot and killed 15 civilians, including seven women and three children, in the Iraqi town of Haditha last November in an apparent act of revenge for the death of a U.S. soldier by a roadside bomb. A videotape obtained by Time Magazine shows that many of the victims were still in their nightclothes when they died. We speak with the Time reporter who broke the story.
The U.S. military is conducting a criminal investigation into allegations that marines shot and killed 15 civilians, including seven women and three children, four months ago in Iraq.
The killings occurred early on the morning of November 19th, after a roadside bomb struck a Humvee carrying US troops in the western Iraqi town of Haditha. The bomb killed one marine and injured two others.
The next day, the Marines said in a statement that 15 Iraqi civilians died in the initial blast. They said that after the explosion, gunmen attacked the US convoy with small arms fire, prompting the Marines to return fire, killing eight insurgents.
But relatives, survivors and doctors who saw the bodies say that is not true. They say the 15 men, women and children were killed when marines burst into their houses after the blast and shot them dead in their nightclothes.
Human rights activists say that if the accusations prove to be true, the incident would rank as the worst case of deliberate killing of Iraqi civilians by US service members since the war began.
Soon after the incident, the mayor of Haditha led an angry delegation up to a nearby Marine camp to seek redress. Their protests were ignored and the US military stood by its original contention, that the civilians were killed by a roadside bomb. The story would have ended there had it not been taken up by Time magazine.
Time obtained a videotape shot in Haditha by an Iraqi journalism student one day after the incident. The tape shows that many of the victims, especially the women and children, were still in their nightclothes when they died. The scenes from inside the houses show that the walls and ceilings are pockmarked with shrapnel, bullet holes and blood.
In January, Time presented a copy of the video along with witness testimony to US military command in Baghdad. A preliminary military investigation was launched. It established that the men, women and children were indeed killed by the marines, though it described the deaths as "collateral damage." Now the case has been referred for criminal investigation by the Navy to establish whether the 12 marines involved were guilty of misconduct.
We are joined by one the reporters for Time magazine who broke the story. Aparisim Ghosh is the chief international correspondent for Time magazine. He has spent the last three and half years in Iraq. He joins us in our firehouse studio.
We called the Pentagon and invited them on the program. Pentagon spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Barry Venable declined to join us saying it would be "inappropriate" to comment while an investigation is underway.
* Aparisim Ghosh, chief international correspondent for Time magazine.
LISTEN ONLINE:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/21/1418210
Read Time's story "One Morning in Haditha"
http://www.time.com/time/world/printout/0,8816,1174649,00.html
The killings occurred early on the morning of November 19th, after a roadside bomb struck a Humvee carrying US troops in the western Iraqi town of Haditha. The bomb killed one marine and injured two others.
The next day, the Marines said in a statement that 15 Iraqi civilians died in the initial blast. They said that after the explosion, gunmen attacked the US convoy with small arms fire, prompting the Marines to return fire, killing eight insurgents.
But relatives, survivors and doctors who saw the bodies say that is not true. They say the 15 men, women and children were killed when marines burst into their houses after the blast and shot them dead in their nightclothes.
Human rights activists say that if the accusations prove to be true, the incident would rank as the worst case of deliberate killing of Iraqi civilians by US service members since the war began.
Soon after the incident, the mayor of Haditha led an angry delegation up to a nearby Marine camp to seek redress. Their protests were ignored and the US military stood by its original contention, that the civilians were killed by a roadside bomb. The story would have ended there had it not been taken up by Time magazine.
Time obtained a videotape shot in Haditha by an Iraqi journalism student one day after the incident. The tape shows that many of the victims, especially the women and children, were still in their nightclothes when they died. The scenes from inside the houses show that the walls and ceilings are pockmarked with shrapnel, bullet holes and blood.
In January, Time presented a copy of the video along with witness testimony to US military command in Baghdad. A preliminary military investigation was launched. It established that the men, women and children were indeed killed by the marines, though it described the deaths as "collateral damage." Now the case has been referred for criminal investigation by the Navy to establish whether the 12 marines involved were guilty of misconduct.
We are joined by one the reporters for Time magazine who broke the story. Aparisim Ghosh is the chief international correspondent for Time magazine. He has spent the last three and half years in Iraq. He joins us in our firehouse studio.
We called the Pentagon and invited them on the program. Pentagon spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Barry Venable declined to join us saying it would be "inappropriate" to comment while an investigation is underway.
* Aparisim Ghosh, chief international correspondent for Time magazine.
LISTEN ONLINE:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/21/1418210
Read Time's story "One Morning in Haditha"
http://www.time.com/time/world/printout/0,8816,1174649,00.html
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Right...the "enemy".
Fri, Jun 2, 2006 4:58PM
Marines Cleared...
Fri, Jun 2, 2006 4:34PM
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