WASHINGTON, 2 June 2006 — A US military investigation into how Marine commanders handled the reporting of a deadly incident in western Iraq will conclude that some officers gave false testimony to their superiors, The Washington Post reported yesterday.
The American military first described what happened as an ambush on a joint US-Iraqi patrol, with a roadside bombing and subsequent firefight killing 15 civilians, eight insurgents and a Marine. The statement said the 15 civilians were killed by the blast, a claim the residents of Haditha strongly denied.
As a result, a top US commander in Iraq announced new “core values training on moral and ethical standards” for US troops.
The order came from Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, as the US military investigated whether US Marines might have intentionally killed unarmed civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005.
The killings, which included women and children, followed a roadside bomb attack on a military convoy that killed Marine Lance Cpl. Miguel “T.J.” Terrazas.
The command came about a week after the US Marine Commandant, Gen. Michael Hagee, traveled to Iraq and cautioned troops on the danger of becoming “indifferent to the loss of a human life,” following reports on the killings.
“As military professionals, it is important that we take time to reflect on the values that separate us from our enemies,” Lt. Gen. Chiarelli said.
“The challenge for us is to make sure the actions of a few do not tarnish the good work of the many.” Of the nearly 150,000 Coalition Forces currently in Iraq, about 130,000 of these troops are from the US.
The training will be conducted in units over the next 30 days and is aimed at reinforcing training service members received prior to their deployment.
Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki said he asked a ministerial committee to hold talks with the US military to set ground rules for raids and detentions.
The report was very bad news for President Bush, who is fighting sinking approval ratings nation-wide and an increasingly unpopular war in Iraq.
On Wednesday, Bush promised that any Marines involved in the alleged murders of Iraqi civilians would be punished. A senior officer said the case could undermine Iraqis’ support for the presence of American troops.
“I am troubled by the initial news stories,” Bush said in his first public comments about the deaths of about two-dozen civilians at Haditha last November. “I’m mindful that there’s a thorough investigation going on. If, in fact, laws were broken, there will be punishment.” With some in Congress alleging a cover-up, the Bush Administration offered assurances that facts will be made public.
Bush’s spokesman, Tony Snow, urged patience as the Marines conduct what he called a vigorous investigation. He said a report would come out in “a matter of weeks, not a matter of months.” Once that investigation is completed, a senior Marine commander in Iraq will decide whether to press charges of murder or other violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The probe into the actions of officers after the Haditha event is expected to conclude by the end of this week, the Post reported. The criminal investigation is expected to wrap up sometime this summer.
Among the 24 civilians allegedly murdered by US Marines in Haditha was a close relative of the new Iraqi Ambassador to the US, Samir Sumaidaie.
CNN broadcast Sumaidaie’s statement a few hours after he presented his credentials to US President George W. Bush this week. Sumaidaie said US soldiers “intentionally” killed his 21-year-old cousin.
“Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin and shot him. I do not accept the investigation result that finds the US Marines innocent,” the new Iraqi Ambassador said.
US military authorities estimate the Haditha massacre may even overshadow the scandal of Abu Ghraib. “We are worried that the mistakes may still increase,” Al-Maliki said, adding the acceptable excuses have a limit.
“They will ask for answers not only for Haditha but also for every operation that caused civilian deaths by mistake and find those responsible,” Al-Maliki said.
Investigations aside, the problems for US troops in Iraq are not over. Case in point: Tuesday’s shooting death of a pregnant Iraqi, apparently by US troops, as she was rushing to a hospital where husband, and their two young children, awaited her.
Nabiha Nisaif Jassim, a 35-year-old pregnant woman, and her cousin Saliha Mohammed Hassan, 57, became the latest victims of what many Iraqis think is the American troops’ disregard for life.
Iraqi police and witnesses said the US troops gunned down the woman and her cousin in their car. The US military said the car entered a clearly marked prohibited area but failed to stop despite repeated signals; shots were fired to disable the vehicle, it said.
Jassim’s brother, Khalid Nisaif Jassim, said he was speeding to get to a maternity hospital in Samarra when shots were fired at his car. He said the shooting happened on a side road that the US military closed two weeks ago. News of the closure, he said, was slow to reach the rural area just outside Samarra where his family lives.
