Translated material
Worse than Abu Ghraib
Cold-blooded killing of Iraqis undermines US efforts
A scandal is breaking out in the United States that could overshadow the story of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American guards in the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. Four to eight US Marines were among the suspects in the killing of 15 to 24 civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha in the Sunni Anbar province. Trying to calm the heat of passions, White House press secretary Tony Snow said that he personally called the headquarters of the US Marine Corps about this. There he was assured that “when the result of a full investigation appears, all the details will become public.” Snow added that President George W. Bush, having learned about the events in Haditha from press reports, entrusted the completion of the investigation to the Department of Defense.Iraqi Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called it “absolutely unacceptable” that “entire families are killed because someone is fighting terrorism.” “There is, after all, a limit to acceptable explanations for civilian casualties,” said the head of the newly formed cabinet, which Iraq calls the Government of National Accord.
The Haditha tragedy occurred on November 19, 2005. While a squad of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment was patrolling the town, a roadside bomb killed one American and wounded two others. A statement from the US command in Iraq, compiled by the Marines themselves shortly after the incident, stated that the explosion also killed civilians, including three children, including a 3-year-old girl, and a 76-year-old man. It was also alleged that immediately after the terrorist attack, the Americans came under fire from militants and killed eight of them in the ensuing shootout.
Bloody events similar to those described in the message of the American command occur in Iraq almost every day. However, in January, Time magazine published shocking photos and videos provided to it by Iraqi human rights activists. It followed from them that Iraqi civilians were shot in the head or chest, and many of them were forced to their knees before being shot. In other words, they became victims not of militants, but of American soldiers. A preliminary investigation began in February, and a criminal case was opened in March.
An American military investigator in Baghdad, Colonel Gregory Watt, managed to find out that soon after the tragedy, the operational command of the US Marines in Iraq handed over 38 thousand dollars in cash to the relatives of the victims - from 1.5 to 2.5 thousand for each killed. As the New York Times reported yesterday, Colonel Watt reported this to the commander of US ground forces in Iraq, Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli. He ordered the launch of a parallel investigation into the involvement of the command staff of the US Marines in Iraq in hiding the truth. In April, officers of the unit patrolling Haditha were removed from their positions after being suspected of misleading their command.
A preliminary investigation determined that the Marines shot and killed Iraqis in their homes, but classified the casualties as "collateral casualties." However, relatives of the victims and eyewitnesses testified that the Americans, avenging their fallen comrade, broke into the five houses closest to the site of the landmine explosion and shot their inhabitants, who did not even have time to get dressed. Two families were completely destroyed. This information gave impetus to the Pentagon taking over the case. Recently, one of the suspects, 20-year-old Corporal Andrew Wright, told the press that in Haditha he and 21-year-old Corporal Roel Ryan Brions were ordered to photograph the dead and remove the corpses. “There were small children and grown men and women there,” Wright said. “I will never forget this because I can still smell the blood.”
Republican Congressman John Kline, a former Marine officer, believes that there were no militants among the 24 killed. "If this heinous crime was actually committed by the Marines, it would not surprise me that they lied about the true circumstances of what happened," Cline said. Cline's fellow Democrat John Murtha, a former Marine colonel and prominent critic of the Iraq War, said the "cold-blooded murder of innocent civilians" is a "war crime." If proven, it would “undermine US efforts in Iraq far more than the Abu Ghraib scandal.” “Right now, 80% of Iraqis want us to get out, and 47% say, 'Killing Americans is OK,'” the congressman said.
“Sooner or later, a tragedy like what happened in Haditha was bound to happen,” Sergei Oznobishchev, director of the Institute for Strategic Assessments, told Vremya Novostei. “Military actions in a foreign country are not conducive to the protection of human rights and respect for the Geneva Conventions.” The expert predicted that harsh conclusions would be drawn regarding the perpetrators, since the war in Iraq is “President Bush’s personal war.” “But the Democrats will not miss the chance to use the “weapons” that have fallen into their hands to attack the Republican administration on the eve of the November congressional elections. By the fall, perhaps, material will accumulate that is no less explosive than now, and this will have an impact on the voting results,” noted Sergei Oznobishchev.