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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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September 22nd, 2006 - Marines Considered
Bombing Haditha Home: Officer |
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Marines Considered Bombing
Haditha Home: Officer By Dan Whitcomb Reuters Fri Sep 22, 2006 1:33 PM ET Los Angeles (Reuters) - U.S.
Marines were so locked in battle with Iraqi insurgents on the day 24
civilians were killed in Haditha that a U.S. Marine officer considered
bombing a house where the insurgents took refuge, he told investigators. Maj. Sam Carrasco, who was
overseeing troop movements in the area when two dozen men, women and children
were shot in Haditha, said he believed at the time the civilians died in
cross-fire between Marines and insurgents. Carrasco was not at the
scene of what Iraqi witnesses say was a massacre by U.S. troops, but was
questioned by military investigators over his report of the November 2005
killings. Reuters obtained a
transcript of an interview Carrasco gave two investigators in March. Reached
on Thursday, Carrasco declined to comment, citing the investigation. "We saw insurgents go
into a house, and we did not drop bombs on that house because we did not have
(positive identification)," Carrasco told investigators. "They had
engaged a previous unit and had run into a house with weapons." "We vectored the
(Marine) squad and they got shot up. I watched the whole thing happen as they
got shot up ... And now I'm kicking myself in the ass because we didn't drop
the bomb and we didn't lead with appropriate force because we didn't have
positive identification." Iraqi witnesses say Marines
shot civilians in their homes to retaliate for the death of a comrade, Lance
Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, in a roadside bomb. Investigators are weighing charges. There were multiple
firefights around the city that day and Carrasco was questioned over why his
report was not more thorough. ‘This has been a bad day’ Carrasco told investigators
that he was not aware of serious fighting in Haditha until more than 90
minutes after the bomb went off that morning and because of the ensuing chaos
learned of the civilian deaths only hours later. "I have got units all
over the battle space," he said. "I have got a company on the east
side of the river, we got a company on the south side of the river; both are
reporting explosions. "The enemy situation at
the time was one where we were expecting a coordinated complex attack
throughout the triad city. This is what we were afraid of. This is what is
developing." Carrasco said after he
learned of the civilian casualties he reported them to a superior. There were
U.S. troops and insurgent troops and Iraqi troops, he said, "And there
was civilians caught in the middle.'" "I said, 'I do not know
if they were killed by the (bomb) blast, how many got killed by the (bomb)
blast. I do not know how many were killed in the cross-fire, but it is fair
to assume that this has been a bad day if there is dead civilians in the
battle space.'" Carrasco told investigators
he had never considered the possibility that war crimes could have taken
place in Haditha until a Time magazine article months later. "At that point, at the
end of November ... I just, Roger that, next operation," he said.
"Let's talk about the memorial service for Terrazas. Let's try to keep
our boys alive. Let's try to do our jobs to the best of our ability and focus
on the next operation." (Additional reporting by
Adam Tanner) © Reuters 2006. All rights
reserved. External link:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N22430447.htm |