Nearly 18 months after the killings in the town of Haditha, Maj. Gen. Richard A. Huck is a witness in the case.I am still trying to figure out which is the more tragic part of this story....
His testimony came in a preliminary hearing for Capt. Randy W. Stone, one of four officers charged with dereliction of duty for failing to investigate the killings. Three enlisted Marines are also charged with murder.
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Gittins wants to show Stone did nothing wrong because Marines throughout the command chain knew about the killings but agreed not to order an investigation because the deaths were deemed to have been lawful.
Court documents show that Huck was briefed about the killings soon after they occurred and they did not seem suspicious to him. Huck told investigators that "no bells and whistles went off."
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On Wednesday, a Marine sergeant testified that his squad leader shot five of the Iraqi men in Haditha as they stood with their hands behind their heads and then told comrades to lie about it.
[ cf Top Marine General Testifies in Case of Haditha Civilian Killings ]
That we have Marines who are ordering troopers to Lie, or that we no longer care about how Civilians become Collateral Damage....
Even worse now that we must accept that it is going to be a long, long, long time till americans can, with any sense of emotional commitment, offer any support to the Government and it's Troops, when they try that "but you should trust us on this", having been repeatedly lied to time and time and time again.
Clearly until the Current Regime is committed to Actual Regime Change ( in that Leo Straussian NeoCon sense of the notion, with regards to actual transitioning at the full range of socio-cultural contexts) from a culture of dishonesty and dishonor to one based upon some commitment to morality, can americans actually support this ongoing tragedy and ABUSE that has been heaped upon the US Armed Forces by the failures of the Command And Control above, and the Failure to maintain the standards of the Services Within.
Clearly until the Current Regime has made that Regime Change, it is our duty to folllow the Classical 11 General Orders of A Sentry, and QUESTION THE AUTHORITY of anyone crossing our post. It is STILL our Republic, even if the current regime has no respect for it.
