Make Some Noise!

Ok. That's it. No more being measured in my comments. I don't care how many nice marines there are out there. I am sorry the marine photographer was traumatized by the photos and carrying the bodies out. (actually, thank god, at least he was able to feel something related to human decency- there is hope for him yet). I know Oceanside exists in large part because of the Marines, but COME ON, PEOPLE.

The Marines KNEW within two days of Haditha and DARED to put out reports that they had "killed insurgents" and that civilians had "died" in a bombing.

HORSESHIT.

They came, they saw, they killed.

And, do not try my patience with the bad apple theory.
In a previous post, I stated that I thought higher ups had to have known, in part, based on the photographers and the drone. And today, the New York Times has this to say:

WASHINGTON, June 2 — Marine commanders in Iraq learned within two days of the killings in Haditha last November that Iraqi civilians had died from gunfire, not a roadside bomb as initially reported, but the officers involved saw no reason to investigate further, according to a senior Marine officer.

The commanders have told investigators they had not viewed as unusual, in a combat environment, the discrepancies that emerged almost immediately in accounts about how the two dozen Iraqis died, and that they had no information at the time suggesting that any civilians had been killed deliberately.

But the handling of the matter by the senior Marine commanders in Haditha, and whether officers and enlisted personnel tried to cover up what happened or missed signs suggesting that the civilian killings were not accidental, has become a major element of the investigation by an Army general into the entire episode.

You can read the rest here