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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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June 26th,
2007 - Galloway Recalls Tour in Iraq With ‘Haditha’ Unit |
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Galloway Recalls Tour in
Iraq With ‘Haditha’ Unit By Sarah Weber Editor & Publisher June 26, 2007 12:15 PM ET New York - In January of
2006, about two months after Marines killed 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha,
veteran reporter Joe Galloway arrived at the Iraqi town. Galloway, who was touring
several military bases in Iraq to speak with soldiers for Knight Ridder,
arrived at Haditha in the aftermath of one of the most controversial battles
of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Moreover, Galloway met with and was given a tour
of the base by two of the men who now stand accused of failing to thoroughly
investigate and report the incident at Haditha to higher authorities. To Galloway, whose tours of
duty in Vietnam for United Press International (UPI) resulted in his penning
the acclaimed book “We Were Soldiers Once … and Young,” nothing seemed awry
at the military base housing the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. A Time
magazine reporter, Tim McGirk, was in the process of querying military
officers about evidence he had gained about he alleged massacre at Haditha,
but the story had not yet surfaced in the press. “It seemed normal to me,”
Galloway, now living in Texas, told E&P last week, though he added that
the normalcy was couched within the uncomfortable conditions in which the
Marines were living at the base, which was commonly referred to as Sparta.
“They weren’t living well, it must be said.” That being said, Galloway said
that he “did not detect one thing wrong in that company ... “Everybody I talked to,
about a couple dozen guys, nobody said a word about [the alleged Haditha
massacre]. There had been mention that it was a pretty tough area, and they
had taken casualties. But that was like every area in Iraq.” When Galloway saw the
revelations of what might have happened at Haditha in the newspapers several
months later, he said that he was “surprised and shocked.” As members of the
Kilo Company of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment were charged with various
counts of wrongdoing in the Haditha incident, Galloway realized that he had
spoken with a couple of the accused. Captain Lucas McConnell, the
31-year-old commander of Company K at the time of the incident, had given
Galloway a tour of the Sparta base during the January visit. According to
Galloway, McConnell - who is accused of failing to ensure that the possible
violations of war conduct were thoroughly reported and investigated - was a
polite man who gave him a “nice welcome.” Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey
R. Chessani, 43, whose Article 32 hearing into whether he should be
court-martialed for his actions was just completed, also met with Galloway
and had his picture taken with the reporter and McConnell. Once again,
Galloway said that he “saw nothing out of the ordinary.” Chessani is currently the
highest ranking officer being charged in the Haditha case. Charges include a
violation of a lawful order and two counts of dereliction of duty in relation
to his failures to adequately report the incident in Haditha, see that it was
passed onto higher authorities, and direct a thorough investigation. Though Galloway describes
himself as semi-retired, he is still active as a columnist for the McClatchy
Washington Bureau. Recent columns have the titles “Re-Open Investigation of
Abu Ghraib” and “Another Flight from Reality by President Bush.” “I’m not going to pre-judge
what happened in Haditha,” Galloway was quick to say. But when questioned on
the belief of many that the lower-ranked soldiers are being punished for the
crimes of their superiors, he said that “in any bureaucracy, unlike cream,
blame settles near the bottom.” Galloway also addressed
factors that he felt were relevant to the case of Haditha, from the multiple
tours of duty that many of the men had committed to, to the way the armed
forces has been stretched thin. “I think that multiple tours
into combat [are] a terrible stressor,” Galloway told E&P. “You take
young men and send them over and over and over into the cauldron of combat -
and especially in a place like Haditha - you’re going to have things happen
that would not ordinarily happen.” As the Article 32 hearings
on the alleged Haditha massacre wrap-up for three members of Kilo Company,
and as news surfaces from those hearings of the military’s stonewalling of
reporters who originally investigated Haditha, Galloway’s insistence on
stronger investigative reporting rings true. “One hundred and forty
journalists have died in Iraq,” Galloway said, “sadly, most of them Iraqi.
It’s a very different war, very dangerous. “But what I want, and what I
would like to see, is a hell of a lot more spine and backbone and toughness.
Go do your job. Let the chips fall where they will.” External link: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003603001 |