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The Haditha Killings (also called Haditha Incident, Haditha Massacre) were an alleged attack on Iraqi civilians by United States Marines in the town of Haditha, Iraq on November 19, 2005. It has been claimed that a squad of Marines killed 24 Iraqi non-combatants after their convoy was attacked by Iraqi insurgents using an improvised explosive device, resulting in the death of Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas.

A Marine Corps communique had initially reported that 15 civilians were killed by the bomb's blast and eight insurgents were subsequently killed when the Marines returned fire against those attacking the convoy. However, media reports have contradicted this story. In March 2006, the U.S. military opened an investigation into the incident.

Developments

As of 1 June 2006, news outlets are reporting that 24 Iraqis were killed, none as a result of the bomb explosion. The news comes in anticipation of the results of the military's investigation, which is said to find that the 24 unarmed Iraqis—including women and children aged 2 to 76—were killed by 12 members of Kilo Company in the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.

According to the Los Angeles Times, military and congressional sources distinguished between two squads: the original Marine squad involved in the explosion and shootings, and a Marine intelligence squad that took photos shortly after the shootings. According to LA Times sources, although the intelligence squad's photos were inconsistent with the Marine squad's report of a firefight, no investigation occurred until after a March 2006 Time Magazine story alleging a massacre. According to the story, military officials blamed the delay of the investigation on the Marine squad's efforts to cover up the events:

Military officials say they believe the delay in beginning the investigation was a result of the squad's initial efforts to cover up what happened.

However, both military and congressional sources said that the intelligence team that took photos after the firefight did not appear to participate in any improper action:

ilitary and congressional sources said there was no indication that the members of the intelligence team did anything improper or delayed reporting their findings.

In the same LA Times story, Republican Representative John Kline of Minnesota was quoted as saying:

There is no question that the Marines involved, those doing the shooting, they were busy in lying about it and covering it up — there is no question about it. But I am confident, as soon as the command learned there might be some truth to this, they started to pursue it vigorously. I don't have any reason now to think there was any foot dragging.

Photos taken by the soldiers themselves and video shot by Iraqi student journalist and human-rights worker Taher Thabet the day after the killings have been put forth as evidence that the killings were methodical and without resistance. The term "execution-style" has been used by US military officials to describe the killings.

The intentional killing of civilians, or indeed of any unarmed people, is prohibited by modern laws of war derived from the UN Charter, the Hague Conventions and the Geneva Conventions, and constitutes a war crime. The Marines and officers are expected to face courts martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is U.S. military law. Due to a Status of Forces Agreement with the Government of Iraq, the troops will not be subject to Iraqi law.

On May 17, 2006 U.S. Congressmember John Murtha, a retired Marine colonel and critic of the war, stated at a news conference that an internal investigation had confirmed the story.

On May 29, 2006, The Times published the result of its investigations and interviews with eye witnesses. It noted that the "official investigation has already resulted in the removal of Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Chessani, the commanding officer, and Captain Luke McConnell and Captain James Kimber, two company commanders, from their duties in the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines Regiment of the 1st Marine Division." Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, the squad leader, is currently being investigated.

Currently several official investigations are underway. The first, under US Army Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell, is investigating how the incident was reported through the chain of command. A second investigation, headed by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is looking into the criminal aspects of the incident, and are expected to finish their report in June. A third investigation is being launched by the Iraqi government.

Justifications

James Crossen, who was sitting next to Terrazas, was also injured by the roadside bomb. In an interview with King5 television in Seattle, he alleged that children in the area often helped insurgents by counting vehicles in a convoy. Crossen suggests that it is likely women and children had given information about US patrols to insurgents, and that this information led to the roadside bomb attack. When asked whether he had any emotion about the villagers who were killed, Crossen responded "No... Probably half of them were bad guys and you just don't know, so it really doesn't cross my mind. Being so far away and it being so hot... you just lose control sort of and kind of stop caring what happened and I'm pretty sure that's what happened over there."

Terrazas' father has been quoted as saying that other Marines had told him they were fighting with insurgents who used civilians as human shields.

Ethics

The US Army has announced that coalition troops in Iraq are to undergo ethics training following the incident in Haditha. BBC analyst Ian Pannell suggests the move is likely to be greeted with cynicism by many Iraqis, as the troops have long been accused of deliberately targeting civilians.

Comparisons with My Lai massacre

Many news reports compare the Haditha Killings to the My Lai Massacre. In an interview with Michael Sallah (who won the Pulitzer Prize for his work on My Lai), the reporter says that "you would have difficulties finding a single newspaper in Germany or elsewhere in Europe which does not deal with My Lai, Abu Ghraib and Haditha in the same commentary."

See also

• Human rights in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq
• Command responsibility
• Hamdania incident
• Ishaqi incident
• Mukaradeeb

References

1. U.S. military mourns 'tragic' Haditha deaths, CNN. Accessed June 1, 2006.
2. ^ McGirk, Tim. Collateral Damage or Civilian Massacre in Haditha?, Time. Accessed June 1, 2006. Cite error: The named reference "Time2060319" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
3. Poole, Oliver. 'Worst war crime' committed by US in Iraq, Telegraph.co.uk. Accessed May 27, 2006.
4. Death certifcates describe in horrific detail how Haditha civilians were killed, CNN. Accessed June 1, 2006.
5. Pentagon sources: Civilians likely killed without provocation, CNN. Accessed May 27, 2006.
6. ^ Perry, Tony and Julian E. Barnes. Photos Indicate Civilians Slain Execution-Style, Los Angeles Times. Accessed May 27, 2006.
7. Ghosh, Aparisim. Picking up the Pieces in Haditha, Time online. Accessed May 30, 2006.
8. ^ Miklaszewski, Jim and Mike Viqueira. Lawmaker: Marines killed Iraqis 'in cold blood', MSNBC (NBC News). Accessed May 17, 2006.
9. Bowman, Tom. Pentagon Investigates Alleged Massacre in Iraq, All Things Considered, National Public Radio Accessed May 19, 2006.
10. Goldenberg, Suzanne. Marines may face trial over Iraq massacre, The Guardian. Accessed May 27, 2006.
11. Hamdani, Ali and Ned Parker, Marines and the 'massacre': a neighbour tells of aftermath, Times online. Accessed May 29, 2006.
12. Perry, Tony. House to Look Into Probe of Pendleton Marines, Los Angeles Times. Accessed May 20, 2006.
13. Video: Local marine injured Haditha talks of massacre, 30 May, 2006
14. Alicia Caldwell, Father of Marine backs son's Iraq comrades, 31 May, 2006
15. US probes new Iraq massacre claim, BBC News. Accessed June 2, 2006.
16. "In Vietnam war es genauso", Spiegel Online, Accessed 2006-06-05.

External links

• Video Taken By Journalism Student Key as 12 Americans Face War Crimes Probe in Iraq, Editor & Publisher.
• Radio interview with Aparisim Ghosh about Haditha, Democracy Now!.
• Marines are good at killing. Nothing else. They like it, Telegraph (UK).
• Haditha and My Lai: Lessons from the Law of War , JURIST.
• Haditha: How did it happen?

• Current events
• 2003 Iraq conflict
• 2005
• Alleged war crimes