A preliminary military inquiry found evidence that U.S. Marines killed two dozen Iraqi civilians in an unprovoked attack in November, contradicting the troops' account, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.Why doesn't the President Support the Killing of Unarmed Civilians???
President George W. Bush said he was troubled by news stories on the November 19 killings of men, women and children in the town of Haditha, and a general at the Pentagon said the incident could complicate the job for the 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.
"Allegations such as this, regardless of how they are borne out by the facts, can have an effect on the ability of U.S. forces to continue to operate," Army Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, deputy director for regional operations for the military's Joint Staff, told a Pentagon briefing.
Forensic data from corpses showed victims with bullet wounds, despite earlier statements by Marines that civilians were killed by a roadside bomb that also claimed the life of a Marine from El Paso, Texas, Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, a defence official said.
"The forensics painted a different story than what the Marines had said," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The official said there were wounds that would not have been caused by an improvised explosive device. "Did someone shoot somebody just for the sake of taking him out?" the official said. "Bad things happened that day, and it appears Marines lied about it."
"I am troubled by the initial news stories," Bush said at the White House. "I am mindful there is a thorough investigation going on. If in fact laws were broken there will be punishment."
[ cf ReutersUk: U.S. probe finds unprovoked killings in Haditha ]
What happened to all of that We are going to get them, and get them all, including the women and children rhetoric of 'bring it on' and the rest of his actual Signing Statements about supporting the right to torture anyone, anywhere, that the president wants that done!!!
Why can't The President just be a man about this all and admit that we no longer want to be bound by any of that Failed Pre-911 Liberalism, what with it's Geneva Convention, and the UCMJ implementation and details, and that we are willing to bring it on anywhere and any how to anyone who is not going to support the Greatest Militaryr Leader, EVER!!!!