Rawstory: Military sources:more Iraq killings being probed(on yahoo)

[cal04]

Report hints at fourth killing incident... Developing...
Raw acquires unredacted photos of BBC report: Soon...

A new BBC report which purports to show images from a second unprovoked slaughter by American military forces in Iraq also asserts that the US military is investigating as many as two more such incidents, RAW STORY can report. A close examiniation of the video revealed a reference to several other investigations into Iraqi killings.

TRANSCRIPT:

BBC REPORTER: American military sources say this is one of three or four cases they’re investigating. Their line is quite clear.

MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM CALDWELL, US SPOKESMAN: “The coalition does not and it will not tolerate any unethical or criminal behavior. Any allegations of such activities will be fully investigated and any members found to have committed these violations will be held accountable.”

BBC REPORTER: Still, Iraqi civilians are killed with great frequency. Yesterday in Samarra, American soldiers shot and killed a heavily pregnant woman and her mother. She’d gone into labor and was being rushed to hospital by car. The driver got in the wrong lane at a checkpoint

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Military_sources_say_more_Iraq_killings_0602.html
Oh I hope not

U.S. accused in more Iraq civilian deaths
A third set of allegations that U.S. troops have deliberately killed civilians is fueling a furor in Iraq and drawing strong condemnations from government and human rights official. "It looks like the killing of Iraqi civilians is becoming a daily phenomenon," the chairman of the Iraqi Human Rights Association, Muayed al-Anbaki, said Friday after video ran on television of children and adults slain in a raid in Ishaqi in March.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060602/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_civilians_killed

[babylonsister]

1. Anderson Cooper's 360 covered this last night. Get ready, because

there's more to come. I guess the floodgates have opened, and there are lots of nasty incidents that have been shielded from us. The blindfolds are about to come off.

[SSG Rock]

2. Systemic problem or abberations?

I'm a retired Army NCO. Desert Storm Veteran, combat disabled (50%) and this is the first post I've made here.

Among my colleagues the debate rages. Is there a systemic problem in Iraq that results in young Americans, armed to the teeth, frustrated, angry, feeling unappreciated that results in them venting by shooting non-combatants? Or are these incidents abberations, and that the vast majority of our troops are performing magnificently? While I beleive the latter, I must admit my growing concern. Many of our troops are on their second, third even fourth rotation in Iraq or Afghanistan. We have never asked our troops to spend so much time in a hostile theater before and they are only human. The special on TV last week on Lima Company, the Marine Reserve Unit from Ohio with the dubious record of being the unit to suffer the most KIAs in OIF; in several interviews,individual Marines, admitted that they came very close to committing atrocities against non-combatants. I beleive much of this frustration is due to them being struck but not being able to strike back.

In the beginning I supported this war 100%. My support has slowly eroded, mostly due to Cheney and Rumsfeld. I beleive these two neocons captured the ear of President Bush and talked him into the invasion. I beleive they used scare tactics, and painted an ominous picture that convinced the president that he had to strike first to protect the American people. I know many people will disagree and will want to hold the POTUS personally responsible, but I just don't think he is smart enough to have pulled this off. Rumsfeld; don't even get me started on him. He has single handidly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. More on him later.

All I know is that I'm literally sick with sadness over these developments. I know that if found to be guilty that the Marines alleged to have committed this crime must pay. But they were thrust into an untenable position. Nobody comes out a winner in this one. I only hope that the military won't suffer too badly when all the cards are laid on the table, afterall, the military is the only federal institution that enjoys any modicum of trust from the American people, we can hardly afford to have it dashed.

[Booster]

3. Welcome to DU, SSG. I had this conversation with my Marine

nephew the other day. I asked him if the Marines could be doing this on purpose to bring the American people to their senses about this war. People who take pictures of their crimes don't do that so they can show them to their family when they get home. I love the Marines but it's time we as Americans all stood up and said ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, DAMN IT.

[babylonsister]

4. Welcome to DU, SSG Rock, and I'm glad you found this site.

I hope the responsibility for these atrocities committed lies with a few aberrant beings as I cannot generalize and blame every soldier. I think those found guilty should pay, as should their COs for not maintaining order.
Having said that, I cannot imagine being on a third or fourth tour in Iraq. I've also read several accounts of soldiers with diagnosed PTSD being sent back in spite of their problems.
It's a horrific situation either way that this admin put us in. And, unlike you, I pile full responsibility on the president, who likes to compare himself to Truman. Well, the buck does stops there. If he was too dumb to pull this off by himself, he actually should have listened to men like General Kinshecki (sp?) who warned him. And my full loathing also goes to Cheney and Rumsfailed. No one apparently had any idea of, or gave any thought to, the aftermath of shock and awe. And these are the guys running this war? For that matter, in my opinion we should never have been there to begin with.
I think we're all feeling a bit ill at what's occurring in our name, to our soldiers, and to the Iraqis. And for what? I see no end to this, certainly no good one.
I hope to see you around DU; you'll learn a lot, and get varying opinions, no doubt. But that's some of the reasons why I like this place.
:hi: