War Crimes Against the Civilians of Iraq


 * "Like Abu Ghraib, Haditha is not an aberration by a few 'bad apples' but the emblem of a wider, systemic crime, the natural fruit of an outlaw regime that has made aggressive war, torture, indefinite detention, 'extrajudicial killing,' rendition and concentration camps official national policy. This moral rot is Bush's true historical legacy."&mdash;Chris Floyd, Empire Burlesque, May 31, 2006.

Facts
According to the June 2, 2006, Reuters FACTBOX, the following is known about the massacre of Iraqis on November 19, 2005, at Haditha:


 * November 19, 2005 : "A roadside bomb kills Lance Corporal Miguel 'TJ' Terrazas, 20, from El Paso, Texas, during a patrol by Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division in Haditha. In the following hours, 24 Iraqis are killed. Marine investigators inspect the scene and take photographs."


 * November 20, 2005 : "Military says roadside bomb killed a marine and 15 civilians. Captain Jeffrey Pool says in statement: 'Iraqi Army soldiers and Marines returned fire killing eight insurgents.'"


 * December 2005/January 2006 : "Families of some dead paid $2,500 for each by U.S. military, Iraqi human rights activist says. U.S. officer says in May he paid out $38,000 in total compensation."


 * January 2006 : "Journalism student Taher Thabet, via an Iraqi human rights group, passes video of bodies and homes where they died to Time magazine. Time says Pool dismisses it as al Qaeda propaganda. But Baghdad military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson recommends investigation into possible foul play."


 * February 14, 2006 : "Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli, the No.2 U.S. commander in Iraq, initiates a preliminary investigation."


 * March 9, 2006 : "Chiarelli directs further review of the incident by the Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS)."


 * March 27, 2006 : "Time magazine publishes survivors' allegations that marines ran amok after Terrazas's death. Iraqi human rights group issues the video showing residents describing rampage and bodies. U.S. military confirms accounts from Haditha doctors to Reuters that all the civilians were shot, not killed by bomb. Witnesses say dead were in three houses and a car."


 * April 7, 2006 : "Three officers, 3rd Battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Chessani, Kilo Company commander Captain Lucas McConnell and Captain James Kimber are relieved of command."


 * May 26, 2006 : U.S. Department of Defense "official says marines face charges up to murder after media reports that investigators are about to recommend charges against about a dozen marines, including murder and lying in reports."


 * May 30, 2006 : "New Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki tells Reuters he is tiring of 'excuses' about 'mistakes' by U.S. troops and wants Iraqis to probe Haditha and similar incidents."


 * May 31, 2006 : President George W. Bush "says in his first comment on the affair: 'If ... laws were broken there will be punishment.'"

Also see:
 * Reuters FACTBOX with additional information posted June 2, 2006.
 * "Chronology of events at Haditha" posted June 2, 2006, in The Seattle Times.

More Allegations
At least two other incidents "are currently known to be under investigation," the Associated Press/CBS News reported June 2, 2006:


 * March 15, 2006 : At Ishaqi, near Balud, eleven Iraqis were killed. Pentagon officials told CBS News that "the civilians were killed accidentally during a March 15 raid by American special forces, but an investigation has turned up no evidence of wrongdoing."
 * June 3, 2006: The "military has determined U.S. soldiers followed proper procedure and will not face charges."


 * April 26, 2006 : At Hamandiya, near Baghdad, an Iraqi man "was reportedly dragged from his home and killed by U.S. military personnel. The Los Angeles Times and NBC News said troops may have planted an AK-47 and shovel near the body to make it appear the man was an insurgent burying a roadside bomb. Seven Marines and a Navy corpsman could face murder, kidnapping and conspiracy charges."

In a June 2, 2006, FACTBOX, Reuters reported on "some other incidents that have made headlines about U.S. forces' treatment of civilians in Iraq" since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Abu Ghraib
 * Bush administration war crimes in Iraq
 * enemy combatant
 * Enemy Prisoner of War Camps in Iraq
 * extraordinary rendition
 * global detention system
 * Guantanamo Camp Xray
 * Mark S. Zaid
 * Neal A. Puckett
 * Operation Iraqi Freedom: Iraqi casualties
 * Operation Iraqi Freedom: Year Four
 * President's Military Order of November 13, 2001, Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War Against Terrorism
 * The CIA Secret Prisons Leak
 * war on terrorism (many related SW links)
 * United States used weapons of mass destruction in Iraq
 * war crime

2007

 * "Inquiry Reportedly Cites Evidence Against Marines in Iraq Deaths," Associated Press (New York Times), January 6, 2007.
 * Richard Mauer and Hussam Ali, "Questions remain in wake of Iraq battle," McClatchy Newspapers, January 29, 2007.
 * Patrick Cockburn, "The Waco of Iraq? US 'Victory' Against Cult Leader was a Massacre," CounterPunch, January 31, 2007.
 * "Media uncritically reported Bush's statement touting Iraqi success in Najaf," Media Matters for America, January 31, 2007.
 * "Doubts over battle with messianic cult," UPI, January 31, 2007.
 * "Rumsfeld, others sued for 'war crimes'," UPI, November 14, 2006.
 * Dahr Jamail and Ali Al-Fadhily, "Government Lies Over Najaf 'Cult' Battle Exposed," Inter Press Service (AlterNet), February 2, 2007.
 * Paul von Zielbauer, "Propaganda Fear Cited in Account of Iraqi Killings," New York Times, May 6, 2007.