Haditha revisited

Surfacing reports are casting doubts on the claim that United States Marines massacred 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha last November. One of the reports involves the transcript of an interview with Major Sam Carrasco who oversaw troop movements in the area when the alleged massacre took place. Major Carrasco indicated that he believed at the time the civilians died in crossfire between Marines and insurgents.

He told investigators that during the battle between the insurgents and Marines that they considered bombing a house where insurgents took refuge, and physically saw the insurgents go into the house, but did not bomb it because there was not absolute positive identification. As a result, from that house, the Marine Unit got shot up, and the Major regretted not bombing the house. The fear of killing civilians took priority, and many Marines died as a result.

Iraqi witnesses at that time had indicated that Marines shot civilians in their homes to retaliate for the death of a comrade, Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas in a roadside bomb.

There is ample evidence that a firefight took place between unsurgents and Marines. Civilians were caught in the middle of the firefight. Their deaths, however, were not the result of Marines firing into houses, but the result of door-to-door combat against insurgents inside those dwellings as the Marines sought to clear the houses and stop the insurgent gunfire.

There is video evidence supporting the Marine's claims. There is also a source that states that some of the civilian casualties resulted when Marines came under fire from insurgents inside a house and tossed a grenade into the house to eliminate the threat. A similar incident played itself out at another house.

The Marines, upon entering the city, were aware of the tight control the insurgents exercised over Haditha, including freshly laid IED's under the newly asphalted roads wired into the city power lines lining the road. Haditha was a city run by insurgents who controlled the residents with terror.

The blood of those civilians lays squarely on the hands of the insurgency.

Unfortunately, the liberal media would rather condemn Americans over terrorists. I suppose, by their reasoning, treason is only a matter of perspective.