War Crimes is a word that was thrown around alot during the start of the war, and I am sure will be used many, many more times when people talk about Iraq in the years to come.
Recently, a report on the Haditha incident surfaced. Thing is, even though the marines involved were found to have killed dozens of unarmed civilians, simply because they were angry, the generals would not condemn them. In fact, most walked on the charges even with guilty sentences and were allowed to return to duty.
General's report on Haditha condemns Marines: report
http://news.**********/s/nm/20070421...eCn6RJHHjMWM0F
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Army general concluded the Marine Corps chain of command in Iraq ignored "obvious" signs of "serious misconduct" in the slayings of two dozen civilians in Haditha, Iraq, in 2005, The Washington Post reported on Saturday.
The report by Maj. Gen. Eldon A. Bargewell, obtained by the newspaper, also found that commanders fostered a climate that devalued the life of innocent Iraqis to the point that U.S. soldiers considered their deaths insignificant.
Bargewell's investigation found officers may have willfully ignored reports of the civilian deaths to protect themselves and their units from blame.
The investigation covered enlisted personnel through the two-star general commanding the 2nd Marine Division at the time.
Bargewell found no specific cover-up, but he concluded there also was no interest at any level in investigating allegations of a massacre, the Post reported.
Bargewell's report, now unclassified, focuses on the reporting of the incident and the training and command climate within the Marine Corps leadership. It does not address the November 19, 2005 incident in detail.
On that day, a roadside bomb exploded and killed one Marine in a convoy of Humvees. In reaction, a squad of Marines raided several homes and killed 24 Iraqi civilians.
The Marines have told investigators they believed they were taking small arms fire from the houses and were following rules of engagement when they responded.
The investigation began in March 2006 after an initial inquiry found the Marines did not intentionally kill innocent civilians.
A Marine Corps spokesman declined to comment, the Post reported. Marine officials have generally not discussed the incident because it is under investigation.
The ironic part of the report is that the general states...
found that commanders fostered a climate that devalued the life of innocent Iraqis to the point that U.S. soldiers considered their deaths insignificant.
Umm...how is this news? We see that every day with the bush admin in their press releases. The fact the military has created a discriminatory term 'haji' to refer to all Arab persons, much like racial slurs which exist in the U.S. to degrade a group of people should tell you the mindset. I find it ironic they are surprised that American troops have no problem with killing so many innocent civilians with all the propaganda and anti-Arabic sentiment that the administration and commanders put on the news, in the media, and in movies these days.
You find many Americans, if you GOOGLE the term 'nuke' and 'middle east' or 'iraq', saying that killing everyone there is acceptable. Even presidential candidate John McCain joked last week about bombing Iran. To find a marine doesn't value life in the region and feels it ok to kill anyone there should not come as a new revelation to anyone, especially the administration which itself has fostered such an environment that breeds such thoughts and feelings.
The irony being bush once again last week during the Virginia Tech shooting claimed 'all life is precious', like he did during his speech blocking stem cell research and abortion. I guess life he claims is 'so precious' only refers to individuals with white skin and who are born in the right areas.
