Posted on 05/16/2007 10:05:00 AM PDT by peod
Turning a Battle Into a War Crime May 16, 2007: One of the dirty little secrets about recent claims of massacres is that all too often, they really are not massacres. The latest case of this now appears to be Haditha, with testimony now emerging that shows that at least eight of the 24 "victims" were armed terrorists. If so, Haditha would have more in common with the 2002 battle of Jenin (also claimed to be a massacre) than it does with My Lai.
The efforts to falsely claim a massacre occurred in Jenin are instructive. After the 2002 battle, the Palestinian Authority claimed a massacre had occurred. The mainstream media and human rights groups quickly echoed their claims. However, further investigations showed that not only had the body count been exaggerated, but that most of those confirmed killed were, in fact, terrorists and not civilians.
In the case of Haditha, the testimony from an intelligence officer and a liaison officer that at least eight of the dead were terrorists calls into question the claims of a massacre and cover-up. In this case, it seems that the civilians' deaths may have been part of a firefight that resulted after an ambush. The initial Haditha investigations uncovered some apparent discrepancies in the Marines' stories, and a criminal investigation by NCIS was launched. This, and claims from human rights groups in the media, led to some criminal charges being filed earlier this year.
In this day and age, it doesn't take long for a misleading story to spread out. In 2005, Newsweek reported that guards at Guantanamo Bay flushed a Koran down a toilet, triggering riots that led to a number of injuries and deaths. Earlier that year, the false claims were about torture at the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, most notably in a speech by Senator Richard Durbin on the Senate floor. In both cases, the charges were investigated. In both cases, the claims proved to have little, if any, bearing to what really happened.
As was the case with Jenin, many of the claims of torture were found to be generally unfounded, and in the few cases where lines were crossed, corrective action had been taken, in some cases immediately (one such case involved an interrogator who smeared a detainee with red ink after that detainee spat on her). Worse, the lies were already spread around by the time the truth was determined and not reported.
If the testimony about Haditha bears out, then it will just be the latest example of media misreporting. At that point, though, the real cover-up will begin. Very little, if any, effort will be made to correct the record. Politicians like John Murtha, who repeated the most inflammatory charges, will get a pass. The troops are able to fight the terrorists, and usually win. Fighting false accusations from terrorists that get repeated by the media, human rights groups, and politicians is much harder. The worst thing about this is that the myth of the "Haditha massacre" will be used to by various terrorist groups for recruiting, and the new recruits mean that there is a greater chance that troops will get killed. – Harold C. Hutchison
with testimony now emerging that shows that at least eight of the 24 "victims" were armed terrorists.
Actually, this is not new information. Many of us knew it nearly a year ago. It has simply been ignored by the enemedia and john al-murthawi.
Americas liberal mainstream media, the enemy within.
If I see a terrorist shoot at the Army then I allow the terrorist to come into my home and help hide him. And the Army blows my house up killing me and all my family. Is it a massacre?
“At that point, though, the real cover-up will begin.”
Truer words...
This kind of piece belongs in Bloggers & Personal and your html formatting needs work.
And, oh, welcome to Free Republic.
Harold Hutchinson, “Hutch,” is a former Freeper who has moved on to be a regular columnist and blogger.
Welcome to FR, peod.
Welcome to Free Republic.
Good post!
A 12-year old survivor of the alleged massacre of innocent civilians by U.S. Marines patrolling Haditha has admitted she had prior knowledge of the plot to detonate an IED as their convoy was passing by her house on the morning of Nov. 19, 2005.
In a CNN interview broadcast Wednesday, Safa Younis - who says eight members of her family were killed by U.S. troops - recalled that she was getting ready for school as the Marine Humvee approached.
"I was planning to go to school. I was about to go out of bed. I knew the bomb would explode so I covered my ears," the youngster said, according to a CNN translator. "The bomb [then] exploded," she explained. "The bomb struck an armored vehicle. I don't know if it was a Humvee or an armored vehicle. When the bomb exploded, they came straight to my house."
Is that the Massacre formerly known as the Afghan Highway Massacre?
Wikipedia refers to this incident in Afghanistan as the “Shinwar Massacre”. Link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinwar_massacre
Ilario Pantano had a different take on the incident.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1832315/posts
Welcome to FR PEOD!
Thanks for the warm welcome =)
I’m not much on computers, so HTML formatting is Greek to me! I just saw some friendly faces in the fog of war and thought I’d tag along in support of the Haditha Marines...
Seems like a smart guy. Guess he got swept away in the Flood. Our loss.
Thanks for the PING and the post.
Welcome to Free Republic, peod! :^)
So good to see you finally made it!
I just love this person! Very supportive of our Haditha Marines. We’ve been through a lot together.
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