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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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January 29th,
2007 - Marines Order Probe into Leak of Government’s Haditha Report |
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Marines Order Probe into Leak
of Government’s Haditha Report Associated Press January 29, 2007 Camp Pendleton – The Marine
Corps said Monday that it has ordered a probe into how a government report on
the killings of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha was leaked to the news
media. Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the
top general at Camp Pendleton, ordered the investigation after several
defense attorneys complained that sensitive information about their clients
had been leaked, Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson said. The Washington Post
published photos and eyewitness accounts Jan 6. from the military's
investigative file that had not been made public. One photo showed five
Iraqis who had been shot dead near a taxi. Four enlisted Camp Pendleton
Marines were charged Dec. 21 with unpremeditated murder, and four officers
were charged with failing to properly report the killings. Jack Zimmerman, attorney for
Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum, said Mattis ordered the investigation Jan. 23. “I was very pleased that he
shared our thought that the investigation should never be released,” said
Zimmerman. The killings are the biggest
U.S. criminal case involving civilian deaths to come out of the Iraq war. A
total of 24 Iraqis – including women and children – were killed by Marines on
Nov. 19, 2005. Marine lawyers have said the
troops were responding with legitimate force after a roadside bomb killed one
of their squad. A person who answered the
phone after regular business hours at the Post deferred comment to the
paper's public relations department, which was closed. External link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20070129-2246-ca-marines-haditha.html |