How can we justify going into Iraq, when troops do this?

From: telegraph.co.uk:

'Four marines singled out in Iraq massacre investigation'
By Philip Sherwell and Toby Harnden in Washington
(Filed: 28/05/2006)

'A four-man team of United States Marines led the killing rampage in the Iraqi town of Haditha which resulted in the deaths of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians..

'The troops went from house to house shooting ..... Some of the victims were killed, execution style, by shots to the head.'

'.. photographs taken by a marine intelligence team .. show bullet wounds to the upper bodies of the victims, who included several women and six children, some shot in the head and some in the back.'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/05/28/wirq28.xml

'Marines may face trial over Iraq massacre' '· Report likely to say troops shot 24 unarmed civilians · Murder charges likely after killings and cover-up ' Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington Saturday May 27, 2006 The Guardian [i]'The Los Angeles Times said the report would conclude that a dozen marines acted improperly and could face charges including murder, negligent homicide, dereliction of duty, and falsifying reports. 'Allegations of a massacre at Haditha, a largely Sunni town active in the insurgency, were first reported by Time magazine last March. But the full scale of what happened has been slow to emerge.'[/i] http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1784307,00.html

PDM, please understand that I do not condone the actions of these marines, nor any of the atrocities of this or any war. As in a book I recently finished, SOLDIER OF GOD, Americans and our allies pride ourselves that we do not attack innocents, but the truth is it always seems to happen - on both sides.

But I would like to point out that trial by publicity sometimes misses points. In the Viet Nam conflict, I was aboard carriers, and in a later hitch ships where I never got shot at or shot at anyone else. But I can still understand how soldiers in Viet Nam proper lived on the edge when "innocents" might walk up and blow them away. Living with that for sustained periods of time might take someone over the edge. I don't excuse them (nor whatever else might have happened to trigger this). But I will say that many of us never have to be in that situation.

I have been uneasy about us being in Iraq for the reason that I can see no way that we can honorably disengage.

I'll nevrr forget being on an LST that stopped to pick up a detachment of South Vietnamese marines, take them to another area and offload them (when we were pulling out and leaving them to finish what we had started). They AND we knew they would probably be dead or dying the next day.

Carl-Ultimately, we have NO idea what has happened. One of those Marines is from a town not far from me, and considering what he & his family have said so far (He's been interviewed 4 times), I have a really hard time believing this, especially considering the media scrutinize every step they take.
I pray that I am right on this, but understand where you are coming from.
We have no idea what the circumstances were, and don't know that those women & children weren't strapped with bombs.

I agree.

Satrina..i'm with you on this one,i know a couple of guys out there as well..they dont want to be there..the media is so against the soldiers out there now that its becoming impossible for them to try and do the job..i hope this really did'nt happen the way its being portrayed in the press if it did then the soldiers deserve to get the toughest sentances that can be passed on them...but we're not there and their lives are in danger every day also...

Well, when I read something like this. I tend to think that this really happened.

It's simply unacceptable behaviour if this sort of thing is being done in the name of the British and American people, and then covered up.


'One US government official said the pictures showed that marines from Camp Pendleton "suffered a total breakdown in morality and leadership, with tragic results", according to yesterday's Los Angeles Times.'

Hate to say it, but I agree with PDM.
Hoping I'm wrong - but I don't think this is going to be one of those little misunderstandings.

i'm afraid i think we're looking at the inevitable results of an immoral war. these stories were around during the first gulf war - a friend of mine gave up 15 years of armed forces carreer because he was fed up with gettging orders to carry out merciless actions against civilians. his words not mine and he's still in therapy. he told me recently he'll see himself as a murderer for the rest of his life.

something i thought was really bad about the recent iraq massacre is that they sent another set of troops in to collect the bodies. picture that you've had nothing to do with the incidentm, but you've just been ordered to bag up the body of a 2 year old with a single bullet wound to the head.

t s n ss t me that atrocities are being committed by us and british troops. i'd be hard pushed to think of any invading force in history that hasn't done the same.

all i can say, really, is not in my name.

I come from a military family-there is no-one in my family--currently serving or retired who would condone a deliberate massacre of civilians. Janimal is correct I think you would be hard put to find a war where atrocities were not committed, saying that does not excuse or condone the fact that they do occur. I have to believe the Dept of Defence and the chain of command will investigate and punish those responsible (as they are with Abu Graib). My only point would be let us not paint all those serving with the same brush--there are many honorable men and women putting thier lives on the line every day and they need our continued support. You may not have faith in your government, you may feel the war is illegal and immoral--but you should not condemn the entire military for the alleged actions of a few.