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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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July 9th, 2006 - Haditha Probe
Finds Leadership Negligent |
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Haditha Probe Finds
Leadership Negligent By Thomas E. Ricks Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, July 9, 2006; A13 The U.S. military officer
overseeing the investigation into 24 civilian killings in Haditha, Iraq, has
concluded that Marine leadership failed multiple times, including in pre-deployment
training, in the tone set by commanders, and in how information was reported
up the chain of command, defense officials said. Army Lt. Gen. Peter W.
Chiarelli, the No. 2 officer in Iraq, found that commanders and staff at the
regimental and division levels were negligent in how they conveyed orders
about how to deal with Iraqi civilians and also in how they responded to
conflicting reports they received from units about the Haditha incident, the
officials said. Most of Chiarelli's
"Findings and Recommendations" endorse the conclusions of an
investigation led by Army Maj. Gen. Eldon A. Bargewell, the officials said.
Bargewell concluded that Marine commanders should have asked more questions
about how and why 15 Iraqi civilians - the number first reported - were
killed, especially after a discrepancy emerged between the first report, that
they had been killed by a roadside bomb, and a later report, that they all
had died of gunshot wounds. Chiarelli told colleagues that he was stunned to
learn that no investigation of the incident had been conducted even after it
was evident that the facts of the matter were in dispute, an official said. Bargewell's report also
criticized the Marine Corps for letting stand a statement, released in
November by one of its public affairs officers, that the Iraqis had been
killed by a roadside bomb, instead of correcting the record when it was clear
the statement was incorrect. Chiarelli has long been
concerned that the U.S. military was inadequately prepared to conduct an
effective counterinsurgency campaign in Iraq. He also included thoughts about
how better to prepare troops and commanders, the official added. "You've got to prepare
for the fight you're in today," said a second defense official,
summarizing Chiarelli's findings on the military's inadequate training for
counterinsurgency operations. "It's totally different" from
fighting in Iraq two or three years ago, he said. The Army, for example, tends
in its training to emphasize using heavy firepower against the enemy,
although classic counterinsurgency doctrine teaches that soldiers should use
the minimal amount of force necessary to accomplish the mission. Also, the Army early in Iraq
tended to focus on killing or capturing insurgents, although counterinsurgency
doctrine teaches that the best way to deal with an insurgent is to persuade
him to change sides or to desert. Also, in contrast to a spate of cases of
abuse of detainees, counterinsurgency theorists recommend treating captured
fighters well, to encourage them to desert and to persuade others to give
themselves up. Above all, people are seen as the prize in the war, not as its
playing field. When stacked up, Bargewell's
exhaustive investigation stands more than four feet high. His report will not
be released, but, later this week, Chiarelli is expected to release a
redacted version of his 30-page report. On Friday, Chiarelli gave his report
to Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top U.S. commander in Iraq, but Casey
is not expected to ask for major changes, the officials said. The two generals' inquiry
into the role of the Marine Corps chain of command in the incident is
different from a criminal investigation being conducted by the Naval Criminal
Investigative Service (NCIS). That investigation involves more than 45 agents
and is expected to conclude this summer, Pentagon officials have said. No charges have been filed,
but people familiar with the case say they expect charges of homicide, making
a false statement and dereliction of duty, among others. Defense attorneys
are expected to respond that the Marines involved were operating within the
rules of engagement they had been given. Staff Sgt. Frank D.
Wuterich, a squad leader who was at Haditha, told his attorney last month
that several civilians were killed last November when his squad went after
insurgents who were firing at them from inside a house after a Marine convoy
was hit by a roadside bomb. Wuterich said there was no vengeful massacre,
even though women and children were killed. He instead described a
house-to-house hunt that went awry on a chaotic battlefield. "It will forever be his
position that everything they did that day was following their rules of
engagement and to protect the lives of Marines," Neal A. Puckett, who
represents Wuterich, said then. NCIS is investigating
members of Kilo Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Marine Regiment,
based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. While in Iraq, the battalion was attached to
the 2nd Marine Division based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Chiarelli blames Gen.
Richard A. Huck, who then commanded that division, for leadership failure,
the official said. Huck recently retired from the Marines and could not be
reached for comment yesterday. The Bargewell investigation
began in January after a Time magazine reporter began asking questions about
the Haditha incident. Time's report appeared in March. A few weeks later, Lt.
Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani was relieved of command of the 3rd Battalion of the
1st Marines, Kilo Company's parent unit. Two subordinates also were removed.
The Marines did not specify why the actions were taken, beyond saying that
the officers had lost their superiors' confidence. But Haditha did not become a
major issue until May, when Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), who had turned
sharply against the Iraq war, said at a news conference that Marines had
"killed innocent civilians in cold blood." Murtha is a former
Marine and had been briefed by a senior Marine officer on the probe. Spokesmen for the Marine
Corps and for the Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in
Iraq and the rest of the Middle East, declined to comment. Some of the
details of Chiarelli's findings were reported Friday night by CBS News and
the New York Times. © 2006 The Washington Post
Company External link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/08/AR2006070800904.html |