WASHINGTON, 31 May 2006 — An internal military investigation has confirmed that US Marines killed as many as 24 Iraqis — including women and children — in the city of Haditha last November and then tried to cover it up.
The Haditha massacre was a disaster waiting to happen. Since this correspondent was embedded with the Marines at the onset of the US invasion into Iraq three years ago, cultural and Islamic training has never been integrated into the training program for US military personnel being deployed to the region. I know because I volunteer crash courses on Islam and the region’s culture for Marines deploying to the region. Tragically, many Marines sent to the region receive no cultural briefing before going in, and I’ve been told the Army’s program is even worse.
Every time I have given this class, Marines say they “feel more secure about their deployment.” It is natural to hate what you fear.
Now, parents of two Marines present at the Haditha massacre say their sons remain traumatized since being ordered clean up the corpses of the unarmed Iraqi civilians that members of their unit are suspected of killing.
Lance Cpl. Andrew Wright, 20, and Lance Cpl. Roel Ryan Briones, 21, parents say their sons told them the events of last November remain seared in their memories.
Briones’ best friend, Lance Cpl. Miguel “T.J.” Terrazas, was killed the day of the attack by the roadside bomb, his mother said. Briones was still grieving when he was sent in to clean up the bodies of the Iraqi civilians.
Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently said if certain Marines are responsible for the atrocity, they “have not performed their duty the way that 99.9 percent of their fellow Marines have.” This is probably true. And yes, I maintain great respect, and even a soft spot, for the many wonderful Marines I met in Iraq struggling to serve the Iraqi people humanely.
Yet I remain convinced that as long as American troops are not “armed with knowledge,” such terrible atrocities can easily reoccur.
