Haditha - Navy has wrapped up it’s investigation
Looks like we should be hearing something on this soon.
A U.S. naval investigation team has wrapped up its investigation into the murders of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, allegedly at the hands of U.S. Marines, U.S. military officials told CNN.
The case has been handed over to a military prosecution team that will look further into the allegations and see if there is enough evidence to build a case, the officials said Tuesday.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service will assist with additional interviews as the prosecution proceeds with the investigation.
Once the findings are reached, Lt. Gen. John Sattler — the commander of Marine forces in the U.S. Central Command region — will determine whether any Marines will be charged. There is no timetable for when that decision will be made.
Military officials expect some of the Marines to be charged. {my italic}
Hindering the investigation is the fact that relatives of the victims will not allow the bodies to be exhumed for examination because their religion forbids it.
I’m not sure what the sentence which I italicized does for this story since it is rumor and innuendo vs fact other than lead us to think the Marines are guilty. This investigation is just to determine if any of the Marines are to be even charged with a crime.
I see that they’re hanging on to the word “murders.” Seeing as how it has yet to be ascertained whether appropriate rules of engagement were utilized, wouldn’t the word “killings” be more appropriate?
But then again, the media has an agenda, doesn’t it?
Comment by Leo Pusateri — August 2, 2006 @ 8:44 am
The media just can’t stop themselves, can they? I was so angry when I saw how they “reported” that, I could’ve spat nails and 10 penny ones at that!
Comment by yankeemom — August 2, 2006 @ 10:45 pm