On March 16th, the Daily Star of Lebanon had a front page story about a massacre that was similar in some respects to the Haditha incident.
Eleven members of an Iraqi family, including five children, were killed in a U.S. raid on Wednesday, police and witnesses said. The U.S. military said two women and a child died during the bid to seize an Al-Qaeda militant from a house. A senior Iraqi police officer said autopsies on the bodies showed each had been shot in the head.[...]
Associated Press photographs showed the bodies of two men, five children and four other covered figures arriving at Tikrit General Hospital accompanied by grief-stricken relatives.
The U.S. military said in a statement its troops had attacked a house in Ishaqi, the town 100 kilometers north of Baghdad, to capture a “foreign fighter facilitator for the Al-Qaeda in Iraq network.â€
“There was one enemy killed. Two women and one child were also killed in the firefight. The building … [was] destroyed,†the military said, adding the Al-Qaeda suspect had been captured and was being questioned.
Major Ali Ahmad of the Iraqi police said U.S. forces had landed on the roof of the house in the early hours and shot the 11 occupants, including the five children. “After they left the house they blew it up,†he said.
The problem with the thrust of the story – that US troops massacred innocent Iraqis – was that it was debunked in a matter of days:
Quite a few internal contradictions had popped up – the old lady’s age was 75 in one story, 90 in another. The child four months old, or, then again, six months old. One version had the victims tied up, another handcuffed – with neither cuffs nor rope apparent in any of the photos presented as evidence.The climax came when the still-mystified Coalition staff were hit with an accusation that they had skipped a meeting with local officials to discuss the incident.
“There was no meeting scheduled with any Coalition investigators today,†said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson. “There appears to be a distinct pattern of misinformation surrounding this entire incident.â€
And while the Haditha incident seems to be different in that the preliminary investigation has uncovered evidence that Marines did indeed undertake to massacre innocent civilians in a systematic and brutal way, the fact is we don’t know at this point what exactly those Marines were facing nor do we know how much of the story is true, if any of it is exaggerated, if the witnesses can be trusted, or a dozen other “ifs” that could mitigate the circumstances or even clear the Marines entirely, as our Rangers were completely cleared in the Ishaqi “massacre.”
I have written in the past about the attempts of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the Sunni insurgent’s attempts to spread disinformation about American forces and their operations. This effort is not only sophisticated by any standards, but also meets with some success due to the way that major media in Iraq is forced to cover the war.
I will not criticize the correspondents who are forced by the nature of the conflict and their nationality to remain in the Green Zone, having to rely on local “stringers” and other Iraqis for stories. But the danger in spreading al Qaeda propaganda in their almost total reliance on this system is so obvious that one can legitimately question their methods of confirmation. Here’s the Washington Post story this morning that was written by, among others “A Washington Post staff member in Iraq.”
Aws Fahmi, a Haditha resident who said he watched and listened from his home as Marines went from house to house killing members of three families, recalled hearing his neighbor across the street, Younis Salim Khafif, plead in English for his life and the lives of his family members. “I heard Younis speaking to the Americans, saying: ‘I am a friend. I am good,’ ” Fahmi said. “But they killed him, and his wife and daughters.”
Who is Aws Fhami? He is identified only as “a Haditha resident.” In an area that has proven to be a hotbed of insurgent activity, wouldn’t it have been prudent to tell us a little more about Mr. Fhami?
This is not to say that Mr. Fhami is lying. It is pointing out the obvious. Given the nature of the charges against the Marines, one would think that the absolute most stringent sourcing requirements would be in play.
Indeed, 8 paragraphs later in the story, we get the Post disclaimer:
The descriptions of events provided to The Post by witnesses in Haditha could not be independently verified, although their accounts of the number of casualties and their identities were corroborated by death certificates.
In other words, all the Washington Post knows for sure is that 15 civilians died and what their names were. And we’re going to go into national convulsions over this incident without a little more proof?
Clearly, the military is taking this incident very seriously. But I am left with an appreciation of the dilemma faced by military investigators; how do you get to the bottom of something like this when the witnesses for the prosecution may, in fact, be spreading disinformation of the enemy either wittingly or unwittingly?
The reports suggest there is video from the morgue. Here is a picture of the morgue in Tikrit where victims of the Ishaqi “massacre” were taken:
As if to highlight the possible discrepancies in this incident, the terrorists are using the video shot at the morgue in Haditha as a recruiting tool:
The insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq said it sent copies of the journalism student’s videotape to mosques in Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, using the killings of the women and children to recruit fighters.
Reading through the description of what happened from Mr. Fhami, one gets the impression that he was indeed an eyewitness – or someone well coached. It is not a denial of the incident to raise questions like this, not when the stakes are so high. If, as the story points out, the Marines found only one gun among the casualties, one wonders why highly trained, disciplined troops would enter a house with guns blazing and throwing hand grenades. There are missing elements to this story that the media is leaving out at this point; the situation as it appeared to the Marines who are under investigation.
I am struck by the way this story has been embraced so uncritically, especially by those who question everything else about the war including the rationale for it. Time will tell if indeed, we have another “My Lai” or whether it turns into another “Ishqari.”
UPDATE
Michelle Malkin rightly questions the timing of all the leaks associated with this case and rounds up reaction.
12:57 pm
[...] Rick at Right Wing Nut House points out how adept Al-Qaeda is at spreading misinformation: I have written in the past about the attempts of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the Sunni insurgent’s attempts to spread disinformation about American forces and their operations. This effort is not only sophisticated by any standards, but also meets with some success due to the way that major media in Iraq is forced to cover the war. [...]
1:03 pm
“And we’re going to go into national convulsions over this incident without a little more proof?”
No, we are relying on the results of the Penatgon investigation.
Duh…
1:17 pm
An “investigation” that is still ongoing and not due to be completed until the end of next month. And that’s just the premlim – doesn’t include any additonal investigations that would be undertaken if charges were preferred.
Duh..
And already people are comparing this to My Lai? Methinks some are too eager to believe anything that trash’s the military, the war effort, and by extension, the President rather than wait for the facts in this case to be revealed.
8:03 pm
Haditha Horror
If this is accurate, I believe that firing squads are in order. A four-man team of United States Marines led the killing rampage in the Iraqi town of Haditha which resulted in the deaths of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians, military…
8:49 pm
About Rights
I have said from the start of the news about Haditha that Murtha was wrong – very wrong – to have screamed out the pronouncement that Marines in Haditha were "cold blooded killers". I will maintain that position until the …
8:50 pm
[...] UPDATE: Others: Flopping Aces, Wizbang, Sister Toldjah, Right Wing Nut House, [...]
2:22 am
Is the investigation still ongoing? I understand that the decision whether to charge people may not have been made, but from what I have been reading in the LAT (not the most reliable source, I agree), the report has already been completed. Is that wrong?
8:26 am
Murtha’s tight connections to the Marines strongly suggested from the beginning that the massacre did happen, yet all these silly sites got out front with denials and outrage. When will people learn to shut up and wait? The best example may have been the recent Iranian “yellow star for Jews” nonsense. The guy at the Weisenthal center WANTED it to be true so bad that he confirmed it, and off the story went—all around the world.
8:40 am
What continues to amaze me is that people who don’t believe anything anyone in government says about Iraq would take this report as gospel truth from the get go.
That’s what’s surprising – not the fact that media was reporting a kind of story for which they’ve been proved wrong in the past. And there were very few conservative bloggers who didn’t qualify their criticism of Murtha – who after all leaked the information early in order to shamelessly gather headlines – with the caveat the if it was true, that the charges were very serious and the perpetrators needed to be punished.
But I guess that kind of nuance escapes the willfully self deluded.
And as for the Iranian badges story – the curious thing about it was that to this day, no one is exactly sure what the intent of the proposed law is. The proposal does in fact mention “islamic dress.” Whether badges were in the mix is probably a misunderstanding but it is clear that the intent of the law was to distinguish Muslims from non-Muslims.
And yes, I read the story in the Jerusulem Post that tried to spin this as some kind of “domestic textile” proposal, which is laughable considering that the proposed law clearly spells out how Muslims should dress. What still is not clear is just what the heck the details of this proposal are because it has disappeared down a black hole -conveniently, no?
12:20 pm
What about my question?
12:26 pm
Patrick:
From ABC News:
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=2006497&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
The incident is still under investigation, but several senior military officials say at least seven Marines could face criminal charges.
Although the investigation is not complete, the Pentagon has already briefed key members of Congress on the details of the investigation. After a briefing on Thursday, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner told reporters, “There are established facts that incidents of a very serious nature did take place.”
My understanding is that this is a preliminary investigation that won’t be completed until the end of next month at which point a decision will be made to charge the Marines.
I guess they figured the story was going to come out anyway – best that it come from the military than WaPo.
Rick Moran
1:14 pm
[...] I’ve already said I don’t want to beat up on Murtha lest it take the focus off the atrocities that were allegedly committed. But I also don’t want to see Pantano redux. Rick Moran notes a recent example of trumped-up charges against the Marines and urges caution. Dan Riehl has questions about the consistency of some of the facts that have been reported. And Patterico wants to know just how fully had been briefed before he went on TV and pronounced these guys guilty. [...]
4:09 pm
Maybe an important point is being missed here: were it not for Time, Los Angeles Times, Independent, etc. this massacre might have never surfaced, as it appears clear there have been attempts of cover-up. And it is possible that various others similar tragedies have gone unreported or covered-up.
Thus even at the risk of spreading news that later are rectified, it is important that the news talk about all these things, provided that journalists do their job properly. Let’s not forget that perpetrators of crimes and friends are not likely to reveal their crimes spontaneously.
An accurate investigation has been carried out by the Times, consistent with reports of other news providers and with leaks of pre-investigation reports by authorities.
Read here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2200170,00.html
2:54 am
It is hard to read the circle jerks you rightwingjobs call disacussion forums, with a straight face.
The amount of delusion and desperation for a win saw you rightwingjobs make a massive mountain out of a molehill like the apparent Macbeth hoax. Which was not a hoax on you ninnies but was instead an atempted hoax upon us, the anti-war activists. Nor did we need any help from the deluded set in order to decide the thing was bull, since we tend to seek the facts as a group before setting course, we also rejected it within an hour or two. Without need for help from people who believe in forged Niger Yellowcake documents, fake Bin Laden Videos and claims of Iraqi WMD’s.
Don’t babble on like dingbats at me if you disagree, I’m not here. Google the story.
At any time over the past week apart from the rightwingjob sites there was NO real interest in it.
There was no acceptance of the video as anything more than a likely hoax after about an hour at most on any serious sites.
We did enjoy all the attention we got from rightwingjobs who came over looking to mock, and found only bemusement. It was and is always frustrating to try and communicate with people who cannot separate the concepts of opinion and facts or realise that it is the opinions which should be molded to the facts not the other way around.
Now however it will be interesting to watch the same ones busier than a one legged man in an arse kicking contest as they justify instead the next story of atrocity with the same old “bad things happen..”, “a few bad apples only..”
How you clowns can go from “We would never do such a thing, that is why we ar better able to tell you what to do”. to the “Well it was just a few bad apples and look how we deal honestly with it” to the final justifications and excuses of how “hard it is to always be the global policeman, the stress makes us do it, but so what everyone else does it to, we ar no beter than anyone else”
Denial to minimisation to justification. All in an unbroken course without a moment of pause or reflection, never once considering the possibility one may be erring.
The so called LEFT is something YOU define as all those who simply oppose the destructive, historically failing policies which are putting you in a position of justifying things you should know in your hearts are not things you should be trying to excuse or ignore.
As if that wasn’t enough, you have the temerity to charge about and accuse this agglomerated left, which is not nor ever will be a cohesive group like you sheep, of being and doing all the very things which are the defining characteristics of the right.
We are not afraid of anybody, no terror here folks, unless it is of you.
We do not believe in hate or taking away freedoms or Totalitarian governments, that is your own preserve.
As for ignoring facts, history, common sense, reason or logic, these things too are for you normal fare.
I shall now move along and leave you cringing war mongering slaves of greed to prove me right after all.
7:01 am
“The so called LEFT is something YOU define as all those who simply oppose the destructive, historically failing policies which are putting you in a position of justifying things you should know in your hearts are not things you should be trying to excuse or ignore.”
This is eloquent. The best patriotism is pursuing truth, not partisanship or stubborn unwillingness to recognize mistakes.
Over and over again, a less pavid press gives news on torture, secret prisons, extraordinary renditions (even of children), gratuitous violence abuses, coverups, illegality, cronyism, incompetence.
Feeling outrage and voicing it is the most patriotic and moral thing one can do.
10:49 pm
#9 Rick Moran,
My take is similar. The dress code was intended to distinguish non-muslims from muslims.
I have not heard any further reports from Regime Chang Iran or other sources.
We shall see what happens if/when the law goes into effect.
============================
I’m wary of the whole Marines/war crimes stories. The head choppers are not above killing their own and blaming it on Americans.
That said if the story is true the Marines who were involved should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
BTW such killings in the heat of battle (or shortly after) does not square with “in cold blood”. If it was in battle or shortly after it wopuld have definitely be a hot blooded action. For which the punishments are less.
10:52 pm
I also note that at this time no charges have been filed.
I’d like to see the autopsy reports. The balistic evidence.
It is possible that the terrorists murdered these folks and then blamed the Marines. It is possible the terrorists were hiding behind the civilians.
If in fact the evidence points to the Marines then they should face severe punishment based on the appropriate charges.
So far all we have is hearsay.
5:20 am
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10:36 am
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