US Marines to face trial over killings at Haditha
Wednesday, 31 May 2006
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US Marines will be court-martialled over the massacre of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Haditha, it was reported last night.
The BBC said it had learnt that American soldiers would stand trial over the killings, on 19 November last year. The Pentagon is close to ending its inquiries into the deaths and seems likely to conclude that its troops have a case to answer.
The dead included women and children said to be as young as two.
The Wall St Journal quoted officials close to the investigation as saying several Marines will likely be charged with murder. A separate investigation is examining claims of a cover-up by senior officers.
The incident could deal a more serious blow to US credibility in the Arab and Muslim worlds than did the Abu Ghraib scandal, when American troops tortured Iraqi prisoners.
Human rights groups are already referring to the killings in Haditha as "Iraq's My Lai" after the cold-blooded murder by US soldiers of more than 500 Vietnamese civilians in 1968.
My Lai changed the American public's perception of the Vietnam conflict and criticism is mounting in the US about the conduct of its troops in Iraq, who are placed under increasing strain as attacks on them by insurgents, especially roadside bombs, rise.
Three senior US officers were relieved of their command on 7 April and the actions of about a dozen members of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, are understood to be the focus of the investigation.
The US Army initially claimed that a roadside bomb killed one of its soldiers, Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas, and 15 civilians, and that the Marines "returned fire killing eight insurgents".
However, it is alleged that after the explosion, they actually rampaged through the town, throwing grenades and opening fire on families inside houses. Marines also shot and killed unarmed civilians in a taxi at the scene, according to John Murtha, an anti-war Democratic Congressman and decorated Marine war veteran in touch with military officials.
"They killed innocent civilians in cold blood and that's what the report is going to tell," he said. "It is as bad as Abu Ghraib if not worse."
John Kline, a Republican Congressman, told Time magazine that he had been briefed by military investigators and there was "no doubt" there had been an attempted cover-up.
The parents of two US Marines said their sons were left traumatised after being asked to clean up the mess. One of the men, Lance Corporal Roel Ryan Briones, said he had taken photos quickly confiscated by investigators and carried bodies out of homes.
"They ranged from little babies to adult males and females," he said. "I'll never be able to get that out of my head. I can still smell the blood."
His mother said: "He had to carry a little girl's body. Her head was blown off and her brain splattered on his boots."
The accusations further undermine trust between the occupying forces and the Iraqi government. Iraq's new Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki, launched a candid attack on what he said was a worrying number of civilian deaths from the gun barrels of American troops. "There is a limit to acceptable excuses," he said. "Yes, a mistake may happen, but there is an acceptable limit to mistakes."
Mr al-Maliki said his government was launching its own investigation into the Haditha massacre, adding: "We will ask for answers not only about Haditha but about any operation... in which killing happened by mistake and we will hold those who did it responsible."
General Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff President Bush's most senior military advisor did not dismiss the allegations. He said: "We'll get to the bottom of the investigation and take the appropriate action if there needs to be any."
