Posted on 06/07/2006 3:52:28 PM PDT by aculeus
AN OFFICER who once led the US marine platoon later accused of killing 24 civilians in Haditha has said his unit acted with restraint and a firm moral compass in earlier engagements.
First Lieutenant Jesse Grapes, 27, led his 43-man platoon during months of fighting so fierce that three were killed and about half were wounded.
He left the platoon in August, three months before the incident in which some men who had been under his command are alleged to have killed innocent Haditha civilians in anger over the death of a fellow soldier.
"I can honestly say that throughout my time with the marines I knew, they served themselves and their country with honour and courage, and were guided by a strong moral compass," he said on Tuesday, in his first interview since news of the Haditha killings sparked fresh outrage over the US war in Iraq.
"I can think of a number of incidents where it could have been easy for them to lose that moral compass, and they never did."
Lieutenant Grapes, who now runs a school in Silicon Valley, California, said that in more than five months of "intense" patrols around Falluja, only once did he see a soldier fire a gun in anger.
In that incident, just outside Falluja, he said Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas - whose death later appeared to trigger the rampage in Haditha - angrily shot an Iraqi leaving the scene after setting off an explosive device that killed a member of the platoon. Terrazas later received a commendation for his actions.
"He was probably the most popular marine in the platoon of 43," said Lieutenant Grapes, who volunteered for the military immediately after the September 11 attacks. "It was almost impossible not to love him."
Despite his pride in his platoon, Lieutenant Grapes said it was possible some of the marines were involved in misdeeds in Haditha. The military is now investigating the killings and some expect murder charges to be laid against key figures.
"These marines have been under a great amount of duress for long periods of time and seeing lots of terrible things," he said.
"It's not exonerating it in any way, but it provides some back story. I'm personally heartbroken that this occurred for all parties - for the Iraqis, for the marines involved."
The death toll among Iraqi civilians continues to soar. May was the bloodiest month in Baghdad since the war began, with nearly 1400 civilians murdered in targeted killings and many more dying in bomb blasts.
Since the start of the year Baghdad's main mortuary has received the bodies of nearly 6000 people, most of whom have died violently, official figures say.
One recent report says US troops mistakenly killed as many as seven Iraqi civilians a week at checkpoints last summer. This death rate has since been brought down to one a week after changes in how checkpoints were manned. The statistics reflect a heavy toll on civilians who fail to notice or understand orders to stop their cars and are shot by troops nervous about suicide bombers. A manual on how to operate checkpoints, produced by the US Army, is to be distributed to troops soon.
Reuters, The Guardian
Thanks for posting this.
Took the Australians to go get some REAL Information.
Our reporters are cowards.
"Lieutenant Grapes, who now runs a school in Silicon Valley, California, said that in more than five months of "intense" patrols around Falluja, only once did he see a soldier fire a gun in anger."
Pretty fair article, but two nit-picks (there are others):
1) Is there a zip code(s) for Silicon Valley, CA?
2) Not uncommon for a Marine to see only one soldier fire a gun (sic) in anger.
Semper Fi,
"1) Is there a zip code(s) for Silicon Valley, CA?"
I lived in Silicon Valley in the mid-80s. It is an imprecise term that refers to the high tech center about 50 miles or so south of San Francisco. I considered the centers of Silicon Valley to be San Jose and Santa Clara. Also included in Silicon Valley would be Sunnyvale, Los Gatos and Mountain View.
Essentially, the San Francisco Bay is about 50 miles long, with San Francisco and Oakland at the mouth of the bay (in the North). Silicon Valley covers both sides of the South end of San Francisco Bay. Milpitas,an old-fashioned industrial town on the East side of the bay, is not considered part of Silicon Valley (too far North on that side). On the West side of the bay, the dividing line would be harder to draw.
Silicon Valley is more an undifferentiated extension of megalopolis than a group of towns. In a sense, the notion of a town like Santa Clara or Sunnyvale is arbitrary---just lines on a map. San Jose is an exception.
As usual, I did the search but didn't see the prior posting.
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