Iraq: Shocked by Haditha?
Alertnet
BAGHDAD, June 1 (Reuters) - U.S. forces are investigating whether Marines killed 24 Iraqi civilians at Haditha last year.
Here are some other incidents that have made headlines about U.S. forces' treatment of civilians in Iraq:
April 28, 2003 - Troops of the 82nd Airborne Division open fire as 100 or so demonstrators surround their base in the Sunni town of Falluja. Officers said they returned fire against two men with rifles and said up to 10 people were killed. The local hospital put the casualty toll at 13 dead and 75 wounded.
Jan. 3, 2004 - Zaidoun Faleh Hassoun believed drowned after U.S. soldiers pushed two men into the Tigris river at Samarra. Two soldiers were sentenced to up to six months for assault.
April 28 - U.S. television broadcasts photographs of U.S. soldiers abusing detainees in 2003 at Abu Ghraib prison. Several military police, the most senior a sergeant, were jailed or disciplined. Some cases go on. Commanders deny ordering torture.
May 19 - About 40 people killed in U.S. air strike on desert encampment at Mogr al-Deeb in western Iraq. Denying local accounts, including video footage, that the dead were innocently celebrating a wedding, U.S. military insists most were foreign Arab militants: "Bad people have parties too," a spokesman said.
Sept. 12 - Two U.S. helicopters fire rockets, killing at least five people among a crowd around a crippled U.S. armoured vehicle on central Baghdad's Haifa Street. Among the dead was journalist Mazen Tomeizi, hit while speaking to his camera. At first, the military said the pilots fired to destroy the Bradley vehicle. Later they said they were responding to gunshots.
Nov. 13 - Unnamed corporal from 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment filmed shooting apparently unarmed and wounded man in a mosque. Commanders ruled he could have "reasonably believed" the man and two others he shot there were hostile.
March 4, 2005 - U.S. soldiers at checkpoint kill Italian agent Nicola Calipari as he escorts freed hostage Italian journalist to Baghdad airport. Troops cleared of any wrongdoing.
June 25 - Mohammed al-Sumaidaie, 21, shot dead at home near Haditha. His cousin Samir al-Sumaidaie, now Iraqi ambassador in Washington, accuses Marines of "cold-blooded murder" but says the military ruled that they acted in self-defence.
Oct. 16 - Iraqi officials in the restive Sunni city of Ramadi say about 20 civilians, including children, killed in air strike near wreck of U.S. vehicle. Military says 20 militants killed when F-15 bombs group of men burying explosives in road.
Nov. 19 - Twenty-four Iraqis shot dead at Haditha. Marines of Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment first say 15 civilians killed by roadside bomb that killed a Marine and that they shot eight guerrillas. U.S. investigators now say 24 men, women and children were shot and seem ready to agree with locals that Marines on a rampage killed them in three houses and a car.
March 15, 2006 - Police say six adults and five children shot dead in U.S. raid on home in Ishaqi, north of Baghdad. The 101st Airborne Division says two women and a child died during arrest of al Qaeda militant. Investigation was announced but U.S. spokesmen were this week unable to update.
March 18 - Iraqi police said U.S. soldiers shot dead a 13-year-old boy and his parents in their home in the Sunni town of Dhuluiya, 90 km (55 miles) north of Baghdad, saying they were among eight people killed after a U.S. patrol was ambushed. The 101st Airborne said troops killed seven "attacking terrorists".
May 4 - 101st Airborne Division says troops kill two men and a woman after being fired on from house in Samarra, adding the dead were involved in attack. Police name two dead women aged 60 and 20 and a mentally-handicapped man and say they were unarmed. Relatives tell Reuters troops fired on them in a room.
May 30 - U.S. forces shoot dead two women in a car near Samarra. Troops say driver ignored signs to stop. Relatives and police say one of dead women was pregnant. [Reuters]
db: This is but a small sample of US military ethics as played out in Iraq. Even so, hat-tip to Reuters
BAGHDAD, June 1 (Reuters) - U.S. forces are investigating whether Marines killed 24 Iraqi civilians at Haditha last year.
Here are some other incidents that have made headlines about U.S. forces' treatment of civilians in Iraq:
April 28, 2003 - Troops of the 82nd Airborne Division open fire as 100 or so demonstrators surround their base in the Sunni town of Falluja. Officers said they returned fire against two men with rifles and said up to 10 people were killed. The local hospital put the casualty toll at 13 dead and 75 wounded.
Jan. 3, 2004 - Zaidoun Faleh Hassoun believed drowned after U.S. soldiers pushed two men into the Tigris river at Samarra. Two soldiers were sentenced to up to six months for assault.
April 28 - U.S. television broadcasts photographs of U.S. soldiers abusing detainees in 2003 at Abu Ghraib prison. Several military police, the most senior a sergeant, were jailed or disciplined. Some cases go on. Commanders deny ordering torture.
May 19 - About 40 people killed in U.S. air strike on desert encampment at Mogr al-Deeb in western Iraq. Denying local accounts, including video footage, that the dead were innocently celebrating a wedding, U.S. military insists most were foreign Arab militants: "Bad people have parties too," a spokesman said.
Sept. 12 - Two U.S. helicopters fire rockets, killing at least five people among a crowd around a crippled U.S. armoured vehicle on central Baghdad's Haifa Street. Among the dead was journalist Mazen Tomeizi, hit while speaking to his camera. At first, the military said the pilots fired to destroy the Bradley vehicle. Later they said they were responding to gunshots.
Nov. 13 - Unnamed corporal from 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment filmed shooting apparently unarmed and wounded man in a mosque. Commanders ruled he could have "reasonably believed" the man and two others he shot there were hostile.
March 4, 2005 - U.S. soldiers at checkpoint kill Italian agent Nicola Calipari as he escorts freed hostage Italian journalist to Baghdad airport. Troops cleared of any wrongdoing.
June 25 - Mohammed al-Sumaidaie, 21, shot dead at home near Haditha. His cousin Samir al-Sumaidaie, now Iraqi ambassador in Washington, accuses Marines of "cold-blooded murder" but says the military ruled that they acted in self-defence.
Oct. 16 - Iraqi officials in the restive Sunni city of Ramadi say about 20 civilians, including children, killed in air strike near wreck of U.S. vehicle. Military says 20 militants killed when F-15 bombs group of men burying explosives in road.
Nov. 19 - Twenty-four Iraqis shot dead at Haditha. Marines of Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment first say 15 civilians killed by roadside bomb that killed a Marine and that they shot eight guerrillas. U.S. investigators now say 24 men, women and children were shot and seem ready to agree with locals that Marines on a rampage killed them in three houses and a car.
March 15, 2006 - Police say six adults and five children shot dead in U.S. raid on home in Ishaqi, north of Baghdad. The 101st Airborne Division says two women and a child died during arrest of al Qaeda militant. Investigation was announced but U.S. spokesmen were this week unable to update.
March 18 - Iraqi police said U.S. soldiers shot dead a 13-year-old boy and his parents in their home in the Sunni town of Dhuluiya, 90 km (55 miles) north of Baghdad, saying they were among eight people killed after a U.S. patrol was ambushed. The 101st Airborne said troops killed seven "attacking terrorists".
May 4 - 101st Airborne Division says troops kill two men and a woman after being fired on from house in Samarra, adding the dead were involved in attack. Police name two dead women aged 60 and 20 and a mentally-handicapped man and say they were unarmed. Relatives tell Reuters troops fired on them in a room.
May 30 - U.S. forces shoot dead two women in a car near Samarra. Troops say driver ignored signs to stop. Relatives and police say one of dead women was pregnant. [Reuters]
db: This is but a small sample of US military ethics as played out in Iraq. Even so, hat-tip to Reuters
posted by exoplanet at 2:12 PM
<< Home