From The Washington Post – Marine Says Rules Were Followed 

Looks to me like these Marines were doing their jobs and trying to stay alive while doing it. 

Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, 26, told his attorney that several civilians were killed Nov. 19 when his squad went after insurgents who were firing at them from inside a house. The Marine said there was no vengeful massacre, but he described a house-to-house hunt that went tragically awry in the middle of a chaotic battlefield.

"It will forever be his position that everything they did that day was following their rules of engagement and to protect the lives of Marines," said Neal A. Puckett, who represents Wuterich in the ongoing investigations into the incident. "He's really upset that people believe that he and his Marines are even capable of intentionally killing innocent civilians."

When insurrgents use civilians as shields or hidey holes from which to fire upon collateral damage occurs.  Whether these cilivians were complicit or not, I would still rather the Marines stay alive and well rather than falter because an insurrgent is using a civilian as cover.  This gives the timeline of the day according to the Marines involved.  Here's one part of the timeline that I find interesting.  After the Marines had gone through the 2 houses where collateral damage was incurred (approximately 12-15 civilians):

After going through the houses, Wuterich moved a small group of Marines to the roof of a nearby building to watch the area, Puckett said. At one point, they saw a man in all-black clothing running from one of the houses they had searched. The Marines killed him, Puckett said.

They then noticed another man in all black scurrying between two houses across the street. When they went to investigate, the Marines found a courtyard filled with women and children and asked where the man was, Puckett said.

When the civilians pointed to a third house, the Marines attempted to enter and found a man with an AK-47 inside, flanked by three other men; the first Marine to enter tried to fire his weapon, but it jammed, Puckett said. The Marines then killed those four men.

The unit stayed at the scene for hours, helping to collect bodies as photos were taken.

I would like to know just why are these Marines in solitary confinement and shackles?  Are they still in this situation as reported late last week?

Previous Posts on Haditha:

Haditha vs Bakuba

Haditha News from June through December, 2005. Research the media can’t seem to do or maybe it’s because they got the answer they wanted.

Haditha – why was there no outrage about “massacre” from local Iraqi city leaders?

Interesting ‘Anomaly’ with Time Mag Haditha Story

Haditha – Rep. Murtha needs to read about 2LT Ilario Pantano

Rep. John Murtha’s Memorial Day Message – Marines are cold blooded murderers!

Help make Murtha pay for his libelous charges against Marines

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