Did Marine Haditha Photographer Have A Personal Motive?

AP/Sweetness & Light ^ | June 6, 2006 | N/A

[Sam Hill]

Yet another accuser in the Haditha story turns out to have somewhat suspect motives. This time it's Lance Cpl. Roel Briones, who claims to have been ordered to photograph the victims bodies.

The most recent story about Briones from the DNC's Associated Press:

Lance Cpl. Roel Briones.

Marine: Post-Traumatic Stress Drove Me To Commit Felonies

June 5, 2006

HANFORD, Calif. -- A Marine who followed orders to photograph corpses after an alleged massacre by U.S. forces in the Iraqi town of Haditha is now facing some trouble of his own.

Lance Cpl. Roel Briones is accused of stealing a truck and crashing it into a house while on leave in April. He was charged Friday with felony auto theft, hit-and-run and drunken driving. His mother, Susie Briones, told the Fresno Bee that post-traumatic stress from the war drove him to commit the alleged acts.

His mother said his best friend was killed the day of the Haditha attack and he was still grieving when he was sent in to clean up the bodies of 23 Iraqi civilians last November.

The owner of the smashed home said Briones' claim of post-traumatic stress disorder doesn't leave him off the hook.

And from an earlier AP story:

Susie Briones holds a picture of her son Lance Cpl. Roel Ryan Briones, 21, on Monday, May 29, 2006 at her home in Hanford, Calif.

Mom: Stress Drove Marine to Commit Crimes

Jun 4th

HANFORD, Calif. (AP) - A Marine who followed orders to photograph corpses of Iraqis allegedly slain by members of his unit last fall claims post-traumatic stress drove him to commit felonies while on leave, his mother said.

Lance Cpl. Roel Ryan Briones, 21, is accused of stealing a truck and crashing it into a house in Hanford in April.

He was charged Friday with felony auto theft, hit-and-run and drunken driving, according to Kings County District Attorney Ronald Calhoun.

Briones' mother, Susie, told The Fresno Bee this week that her son hit his breaking point during the April incident.

His best friend was killed Nov. 19, the day of the attack in the western Iraqi city of Haditha, and he was still grieving when he was sent in to clean up the bodies of the Iraqi civilians.

Susie Briones said her son told her he saw the bodies of 23 dead Iraqis that day. Twenty-four were slain.

U.S. authorities have launched two investigations _ one into the deadly encounter itself and another into whether it was the subject of a cover-up.

Ryan Briones is seeing a psychologist in San Diego to help deal with the stress, and military officials are aware of his deteriorating mental health, his mother said.

Calhoun said he was aware of Briones' situation, adding that the Marine has agreed to be evaluated by a psychiatrist to determine whether he has post-traumatic stress and whether it played a role in the alleged crime.

Briones, who has returned to Camp Pendleton, is scheduled to appear in court June 19. The Fresno Bee said he could not be reached for comment Friday.

Others have noted many weird aspects to Corporal Briones' previous statements about being ordered to photograph the Haditha victims, and his further claims about his camera being stolen.

It is highly questionable that the Marines would order a rank and file soldier to do such a thing. And to use his own (non-official) camera to document such an important, possibly criminal event.

It is also highly improbably that they would enlist someone who could himself face future charges in such an effort.

And, lastly, it is very unlikely that they would allow such valuable evidence as these photos to disappear.

This latest news, however, may very well shed light on Briones' motives.

Apparently all of Briones' statements to the media about being ordered to photograph the Haditha corpses were made after his drunken hit and run felony in April. (His first appearance in the press seems to be an interview with the Los Angeles Times on May 29, 2006.)

If Briones was so traumatized by what he saw in Haditha, why did he wait six months to tell anyone about it?

Isn't it possible that once the Haditha story came out, Briones latched onto it as a way to beat his felony rap? That he could use the excuse of post-traumatic stress disorder after what he witnessed in Haditha?

In any case, isn't it typical that the media either did not know or did not deem it newsworthy that Briones might have some other agenda is telling his tale?

Once again, they didn't want any such details to cloud their morality play about murderous Marines on a "cold-blooded" rampage.

[Sam Hill]

More reason for doubts.

[Sam Hill]

A "more Haditha background" ping.

[edpc]

I have seen some pretty ugly crap working around the medical field. Never once did it make me want to steal a car and crash it into a house.

[pissant]

So far, Briones is by far the most honorable witness, when compared to the assorted Iraqi riff raff that the MSM has latched onto.

[Beckwith]

I appreciate this guy's service.

But he's just another punk looking for a get-out-of-jail-free card.

[Sam Hill]

I know what you mean. But the competition is pretty weak:

The Questionable Sources For Time’s Haditha Scoop | Sweetness & Light
http://www.sweetness-light.com/archive/budding-journalist-sat-on-haditha-tape

[garyhope]

It's the age of excuses isn't it?

It's always something.

Whatever happened to taking responsibility for your own actions?

Whatever happened to keeping your mouth shut?

[Publius6961]

I have seen some pretty ugly crap working around the medical field. Never once did it make me want to steal a car and crash it into a house.

You don't buy that either?
I am sure if this person's priors are looked into, he will be found to be not among the more sterling marine recruits.

If there is a crime to discuss here it is the abysmal apparent low standards that the Marine Corps has adopted.

[Publius6961]

So far, Briones is by far the most honorable witness, when compared to the assorted Iraqi riff raff that the MSM has latched onto.

Which isn't saying much.
It is still on the negative side on a scale of 1-5...

[TheCrusader]

"I have seen some pretty ugly crap working around the medical field. Never once did it make me want to steal a car and crash it into a house."

What if that 'ugly crap' you dealt with was being perpetrated by a barbaric enemy who was all around you, every day for a year or more, and trying very hard to turn you into 'ugly crap'? What if all of that carnage you saw were your close friends? War can stress out a man beyond his capabilities to cope with that stress, that's why the military will compensate many of these guys when they develop PTSD.

I'm not really excusing the guy's behavior, just explaining it. I had a good friend who came home from Vietnam and he did things like paint his face black and hide in the shrubs in front of his house. Another guy from my home town became a sniper at a local highway. He fired real bullets at passing cars; before he left for Vietnam he was a decent young man. Again, I'm not 'excusing' these behaviors as much as explaining that war 'changes' some men, sometimes permanently. When they commit violent crimes later on this PTSD should at least be taken into account; not to exhonerate them, but just to mitigate their punishment a little bit.

[MikeA]

Starting to sound like a Duke LaCrosse kind of inconsistent and tainted accuser.

[kcvl]

Lance Cpl. Roel Ryan Briones, 21, is charged with auto theft, hit and run and drunken driving in connection with the April 3 crash of a pickup into a Hanford home. Briones also faces a felony charge of possession of marijuana for sale in 2003, Kings County District Attorney Ronald Calhoun said.

snip


Craig Dalle, owner of the smashed home, said Friday that he isn't buying Briones' story of suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"I've been in the military 16 years," said Dalle, a Navy lieutenant and pilot. "I was a rescue diver; I've recovered bodies. I've flown combat in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. I've seen atrocities, I've seen friends killed. ... But I have yet to go get drunk, steal a car, demolish a house and blame it all on post-traumatic stress.


http://tinyurl.com/zarnx

[kcvl]

Because Briones was arrested on drug charges before he went to Iraq, Dalle said, it is hard to give him "the benefit of the doubt."


Briones likely has post-traumatic stress disorder, but it's not a defense for his actions, said Dr. Landy Sparr, director of forensic psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University and former director of the Emergency Room Psychiatry Program at the Portland VA Medical Center.

[kcvl]

Court records show that Briones was arrested in July 2003 and charged with felony possession of marijuana or hashish for sale and misdemeanor obstructing or resisting a police officer.

[RS]

Interesting article, but I'm not sure of the point -

Are they trying to say his pictures are invalid because he stole a truck ?

Are they trying to make some point that these were NOT taken at the scene at the time ?

[Sam Hill]

Thanks, as always. Those are great gets.

[Sam Hill]

"Interesting article, but I'm not sure of the point - Are they trying to say his pictures are invalid because he stole a truck ? Are they trying to make some point that these were NOT taken at the scene at the time ?"

There are no pictures. There is no evidence that Briones ever took any or that he was ever ordered to take any.

The point it that Briones might have made it all up in May after Haditha hit the news, to help him beat his rap for his auto theft, drunk driving, hit and run rap in April.

And given his prior as pointed out by KCVL, it is sounding more and more likely.

[rawcatslyentist]

>"His mother said his best friend was killed the day of the Haditha attack and he was still grieving when he was sent in to clean up the bodies of 23 Iraqi civilians last November."

Apparently those unarmed civilians can be just as deadly as armed satan worshipers aka terrorists!

Armed satan worshipers aka terrorists, wouldn't lie, would they?

[Mrs. Darla Ruth Schwerin]

I'm waiting for the hysterical MSM to say that the mass graves of Saddam's killings were really all done by Marines...