BBC runs special report on Iraqi civilians killed by US troops

[TheBaldyMan]

In a special report for BBC's Newsnight following up the Time magazine report by Bobby Ghosh on the killing of 15 Iraqi civilians in Haditha in November 2005.

Interviews with two Iraq war veterans after a recent anti-war march in Louisiana raises concerns about the conduct of operations in Iraq.

Spc. Michael Blake an Iraq vet. served in the Balad area, site of an alleged attack that left 11 Iraqi civilians dead - three of them children, he described that what generally happened after an IED attack was anything that moved would be shot up.

Spc. Jody Casey served as a scout/sniper in Baquba area and said that at first 'you could pretty much kill who you wanted' and had been advised always to carry a shovel and AK assault rifle as cover story for any shooting of innocents so he could claim that they were an insurgent or had been digging a scrape to house an IED.

Both soldiers are members of IVAW, Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Newsnight contacted the US DoD for comment and received this reply,

"The US Army Criminal Investigation Command is currently reviewing the allegations and collecting additional information. It is completely logical for subordinates to misunderstand the instructions of highers; we remain resolute in our efforts to assist the Iraqi people in developing a stable, democratic form of government."

In a studio discussion later in the report Ben Griffin, former SAS member who quit over Iraq war was critical of heavy handed techniques: specifically the disproportionate use of force by the US forces on the ground. Phillippe Sands, Professor of International law at UCL, said that if allegations are true then it is a categoric commission of war crimes. David Rivkin, former Whitehouse legal advisor and becoming well known to regular Newsnight audiences as an unashamed apologist for the Bush Administration described the accounts by 'several individuals who are obviously disgruntled former veterans'.

Later in the discussion things got even more interesting when Mr. Sands said once the investigators report the question will be how far up the chain of command with commensurate responsibility does this go. Did the troops get the green light from higher up in the chain of command.

BBC's report on the killings in Haditha and Balad

for those with Java and RealPlayer the programme can be viewed here at Newsnight's homepage (first 16 mins of 45 min) on edit: this is only availiable for 12 hours after my post
but may be availiable as a separate item later on the website.