LAT: Marines Missed 'Red Flags,' Study Finds (Haditha Probe)

[sabra]

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-marines21jun21,1,4055540.story?coll=la-news-a_section

Marines Missed 'Red Flags,' Study Finds
Corps failed to inquire further into killing of civilians in Haditha, a disclosed summary says.

WASHINGTON — A report on the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians by U.S. Marines has found that senior military personnel in Iraq failed to follow up on "red flags" that should have indicated problems with and potential inaccuracies in initial accounts of the incident, according to a portion of the report's summary.

The report questions why senior military officers in western Iraq failed to investigate further what happened in the town of Haditha when they learned that civilians there had been killed in the November incident. A portion of the executive summary of the report, by Army Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell, was read to The Times by a Defense Department official who requested anonymity because the report had not been released publicly.

"Virtually no inquiry at any level of command was conducted into the circumstances surrounding the deaths," Bargewell wrote, according to the excerpt provided to The Times. "There were, however, a number of red flags and opportunities to do so."

...

The Bargewell report has not been released and is still being reviewed by Army Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, a top U.S. commander in Iraq. But military officials have said that though it suggests there was no deliberate cover-up by senior Marine officers, there were many failures in the follow-up.

[Kagemusha]

1. I know people will think that even this is itself a cover-up but

the old saw about not blaming on conspiracy what can be blamed more credibly on incompetence has a point. I mean, put bluntly, civilians are killed entirely legally there all the time. It's hard for commanders to suddenly get up and be seen to be essentially accusing their own men of wrongdoing without any basis... though any such basis would have to come from the men themselves and, well, that doesn't happen much does it?

The problem is the erosion of command responsibility.

[grytpype]

2. Virtually no inquiry was conducted!!!!

"A bunch of dead hajis, they turn up in piles every day, you think we investigate that? We're trying to stay alive over here!"

[saigon68]

3. There was Nothing to See-- They moved Along

LOL

[apnu]

4. OK its not a coverup, its a fuckup

That makes me feel so much better.

FUBAR indeed.

[saigon68]

5. No problem ---- sweep it under the rug

[keopeli]

6. Answer: Because it's a COMMON PRACTICE

As Bill O'Reilly will tell you (sarcasm), Haditha type incidents are much more frequent than we care to admit. The reason we don't know about them is because military officers look the other way in every case. Such an organized and consistent response means this behavior is actually POLICY.

Noone...NOONE...should be surprised by this. Fascists use the military in secret the same way they use government in secret. They hide everything and lie to the public. A good study of Goebbels will provide good instruction on this type of policy.

[gratuitous]

7. Well, jeez, if you're gonna make a big deal out of it

Okay, yeah, we probably should have figured out something was wrong, but you know, we're not in Iraq to worry overmuch about civilian casualties. These ragheads don't respect life the way us Murkins do, and every now and then you have to pump a few rounds into a dozen of them just to remind them who has the biggest dick on the planet.

Besides, it's all Clinton's fault.

"Party of personal responsibility" my sweet Aunt Fanny!

[Supersedeas]

8. another Cover thY Ass report