Posted on 06/02/2006 9:13:25 AM PDT by kellynla
U.S. Marine Corps headquarters in Washington did not learn of the killing of Iraqi civilians by Marines in Haditha until early March, a timeline that appears to exonerate the highest ranks of the Marine Corps from any cover-up or failure to act.
The U.S. military command in Baghdad learned of the civilian killings in February and began two investigations: one criminal and one administrative.
The administrative probe by Army Brig. Gen. Eldon Bargewell is focusing on whether any information was covered up along the Marine Corps chain of command. This is because the 2nd Marine Division issued a press release Nov. 20 saying Iraqi civilians had been killed in Haditha the previous day by an improvised explosive device (IED) and in a firefight with insurgents.
Officials now acknowledge that the statement was inaccurate. Evidence shows the civilians were killed deliberately by Marines' gunfire during sweeps after an IED killed one of their battlemates.
One key question is: Did senior Marine Corps officers hear of the accusations and fail to act between the time of the Nov. 19 incident and February, when a Time magazine reporter brought the charges to the attention of the Baghdad command?
A timeline that the Marines provided yesterday to The Washington Times would appear to exonerate Gen. Michael W. Hagee, the Marine Corps commandant, and his staff.
Col. David Lapan, a Marine Corps headquarters spokesman, said the commandant and his staff were apprised in early March by Marine commanders in Iraq. He said Gen. Hagee subsequently received briefings on the criminal probe and then dedicated a tour of Iraq to telling Marines the importance of ethical conduct and the rules of war.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
ping
I'm sure Murtha will fall all over himself rushing to the microphone to apologize.
That's news to me. Unless Rowan is only speaking about certain "civilians" and not all of them. I haven't yet seen any evidence showing who fired the shots.
Doesn't matter. Once the story is out, regardless of the factual basis of it, it takes on a life of its own. I'm sure liberals are ecstatic about this. If this is ever shown to be false, it will handled by the MSM like the NYTimes retractions buried in the paper a few weeks later. Leave the original story in the minds of the public, but don't confront anyone with the truth, unless the truth happens to conform to the original story of course.
Ah yes, I remember the old days when things like this had to be proven to be true.
March 3: A preliminary report is completed and recommends further investigation.
March 9: Gen. Chiarelli receives that report and directs further review. That review is ongoing.
March 10: Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are notified of the case.
March 11: President Bush is told of the case by National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley.
Innocent until PROVEN guilty.
"When in doubt, attack." General George S. Patton
And that 'evidence' would be...???
Uncorroborated claims by unnamed 'senior military officials'? Uncorroborated claims by Iraqis with unknown motives? Just what evidence is he saying exists?
Not too long....The MSM considers itself the fourth co-equal branch of government....
I have family visiting so am not caught up on new details regarding this case. But I have noted (and so have other freepers probably) that:
1) Military officers said they were talking to people in that neighborhood and community for months after the incident and never heard that Marines shot civilians in cold blood. That is in itself suspicious and I wonder if it's a case where people's stories have "evolved" over time.
2) Just yesterday someone pinged me that no autopsies were conducted and the military is trying to get the bodies exhumed. I was stunned. How is it that anyone suspects the Marines killed these civilians in cold blood without ballistics reporting? Are we just going on Iraqi reports?
Silly rabbit! Those rules only apply to serial killers, pedophiles, or Democrat politicians. Not active duty military personnel!
Exactly. You never want to get the big dog off the porch.
My husband stated, Since the town of Haditha, is noted to be insurgent occupied, maybe the insurgents killed the women and children in question. Then they told the Iraqui's, "See what the soldiers did to these women and children?" And with the MSM being as skitzophrenic as they are, they'd just run with the chance to do an, I told ya so on the Military...
...I'd never believe anything concerning much of anything printed by that deranged excuse for media we have...
Good point. The rabid extremists foam at the mouth demanding death at the slightest sniff they feel is offensive. It's hard to believe this 'incident' would be swept under the carpet. If the locals really believed this were a 'massacre' the nearest mosque would be whipping the faithful into a fullblown frenz-fest.
Exactly, not a question of if but when.
As an interesting sidebar, info is that CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) is offering (read - demanding) that they do sensitivity training for all Marines going into theater.
BTW they already are doing it at Marine Corps University at Quantico.
Based on their historic pro-jihadism and anti-American sentiments, who is sleeping at the switch at USMC HQ?????
Check out the CAIR site for yourself
Don't.
You'll just turn blue and pass out.
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