1 600 gefallene US-Soldaten im Iraq

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Republican Senator vowed on Sunday to hold hearings on U.S. Marines' role in the deaths of up to two dozen Iraqi civilians last November as a leading Democratic war critic alleged a military cover-up.

The U.S. military is investigating the November 19 incident in Haditha, about 140 miles northwest of Baghdad. The military has said 15 civilians were killed, while other accounts put the number at about 24.

Senator John Warner told ABC news the Senate committee he heads would probe "what happened and when it happened and what was the immediate reaction of the senior officers in the Marine Corps when they began to gain knowledge of it."

"I can assure the American public this morning, as chairman of the Armed Services Committee, I'll do exactly what we did with Abu Ghraib," the Virginia Republican told the network's Sunday program, "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."

Warner said the hearing would be held at a time that does not interfere with military justice procedures. He said the Marine Corps was investigating the killings and the U.S. Army Central Command was analyzing how the incident was handled.

A U.S. defense official said on Friday that U.S. Marines could face criminal charges, possibly including murder.

A criminal probe by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which handles criminal inquiries involving Marines, has not been completed and no final decisions on charges have been made, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Marine Corps commander Gen. Michael Hagee flew to Iraq on Thursday to tell his troops to kill "only when justified."    

Erneut Dutzende Tote bei Anschlägen im Irak

 Bei mehreren Anschlägen sind heute im Irak Dutzende Menschen ums Leben gekommen. In der Hauptstadt Bagdad starben mindestens 30 Personen bei einem Bombenattentat auf einen Bus. Zahlreiche weitere seien verletzt worden, berichteten irakische Fernsehsender.

Bei enem weiteren Anschlag in der Stadt Chalis nördlich von Bagdad starben elf Menschen, als ein Bus kurz nach der Abfahrt auf eine Bombe fuhr. Elf weitere Menschen wurden verletzt. In dem Bus saßen mehr als 40 Arbeiter. Chalis liegt in der Provinz Dijala mit der Hauptstadt Baakuba, wo sich Anschläge und Angriffe seit Monaten häufen.

Weitere Tote gab es bei weiteren Anschlägen und Angriffen ebenfalls in Bagdad und in den Städten Hilla, Beidschi und Samawa.

 

Washington (Reuters) - Nach monatelanger Verzögerung bei der Untersuchung eines angeblichen US-Massakers im Irak haben US-Abgeordnete angekündigt, den Vorwürfen mit parlamentarischen Mitteln nachzugehen.

Der Vorfall in der nordirakischen Stadt Haditha sei nach seiner Einschätzung schlimmer als der Folterskandal im Gefängnis Abu Ghraib, sagte der demokratische Abgeordnete John Murtha, ein mehrfach ausgezeichnetes ehemaliges Mitglied des Marine Corps, dessen Mitglieder die Erschießung von irakischen Zivilisten im November zur Last gelegt wird. Der Vorsitzende des Streitkräfte- Ausschusses des Senats, der Republikaner John Warner, kündigte am Sonntag Anhörungen zu dem Fall an.

"Ich werde Mord nicht entschuldigen", sagte Murtha dem Fernsehsender ABC News. "Und das ist genau das, was geschehen ist. Für mich gibt es keinen Zweifel daran." Er warf der Ermittlungsbehörde der US-Marine zudem vor, die Untersuchung nicht zügig vorangetrieben zu haben. "Es gab unmittelbar, nachdem es geschehen ist, Ermittlungen, aber die wurden dann unterdrückt."

In den US-Medien wird der Vorfall inzwischen mit dem Massaker von My Lai in Süd-Vietnam verglichen, wo US-Soldaten im März 1968 mehr als 100 Zivilisten ermordet haben. Wie My Lai damals zählt Haditha im Irak heute zu den Städten, die von der US-Armee als hartnäckiges Widerstandsnest bezeichnet werden. In Haditha im westlichen Grenzgebiet des Irak zu Syrien soll sich US-Angaben zufolge unter anderem bis ins vergangene Jahr hinein der irakische Al-Kaida-Chef Abu Mussab al-Sarkaui versteckt gehalten haben. Eine weitere Parallele zwischen den beiden Fällen liegt darin, dass die Armee auch den Vorfall in Haditha zunächst offenbar zu vertuschen versuchte.

Im Kern der Vorwürfe steht der Tod von 15 Zivilisten am 19. November, darunter Frauen und Kinder. Der Chef des Streitkräfte-Ausschusses im US-Repräsentantenhaus, Duncan Hunter, hat die Zahl der zivilen Todesopfer vor kurzem sogar auf 24 beziffert. Ursprünglichen Angaben der Armee zufolge wurden die Zivilisten bei Gefechten zwischen US-Marineinfanteristen und Rebellen erschossen, die in Haditha zunächst mit einer Straßenbombe einen Anschlag auf einen US-Konvoi verübt und die Einheit unter Beschuss genommen hätten. Diese Version wurde von der Armee am Tag nach dem Vorfall offiziell mitgeteilt.

Im März sickerte dann aber in US-Verteidigungskreisen durch, dass zu dem Ereignis Ermittlungen eingeleitet worden seien. Zugleich veröffentlichte die irakische Menschenrechtsorganisation Hammurabi ein Video aus Haditha vom Tag nach dem Vorfall, in dem die Bewohner der Stadt schwere Vorwürfe gegen die US-Armee erhoben. Demnach sollen die Infanteristen die Zivilisten kaltblütig und aus Rache für den Bombenanschlag erschossen haben. Auf den Bildern ist unter den Opfern auch ein etwa dreijähriges Mädchen zu sehen. Offenbar stürmte eine Einheit ein Haus und löschte zwei Familien vollständig aus.

Die "Los Angeles Times" berichtete, die Marine-Ermittler bereiteten eine Anklage wegen Mordes, fahrlässiger Tötung, Vernachlässigung ihrer Pflichten und der Vertuschung vor. Die US-Armee hatte bereits im April mitgeteilt, drei Marineoffiziere, der Kommandeur des Bataillons sowie beide Befehlshaber der Kompanie, zu der die beschuldigten Infanteristen gehörten, seien des Dienstes enthoben worden. Murtha, der mit dem Stand der Ermittlungen vertraut ist, sagte: "Unsere Truppen haben wegen des Drucks auf sie überreagiert und unschuldige Zivilisten kaltblütig ermordet."

Senator Warner sagte, unabhängig von den Ermittlungen der Marine untersuche das Zentralkommando des Heeres, wie die Armee mit dem Vorfall umgegangen sei. "Ich kann der amerikanischen Öffentlichkeit heute als Chef des Streitkräfte-Ausschusses versichern, dass wir genau das tun werden, was wir auch bei Abu Ghraib getan haben", sagte er. Im Zusammenhang mit dem Folterskandal wurden mehrere Armeemitglieder niederer Ränge von Militärgerichten zu Haftstrafen verurteilt.


 

also wenn der Oberfehlshaber nicht weiß, was da vorgeht, dann sollte er eigentlich zurücktreten...Armee wollte den Vorfall ja vertuschen und erst durch Zeitungsberichte kommt jetzt alles ans Tageslicht (ähnlich Abu Ghoraib, wo ja auch NICHTS von der US-Armee selbst aufgedeckt wurde, bis die Fotos in public wurden...)

Arschlöcher !


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Charges will be brought against U.S. Marines if an investigation into the alleged killing of unarmed Iraqi civilians uncovers wrongdoing, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Monday.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace also told CNN that he still did not know why it had taken nearly three months for the Pentagon to find out about the November 19 incident in the Iraqi town of Haditha, in which up to 24 civilians were killed.

"If the allegations as they are being portrayed in the newspapers turn out to be valid, then of course there'll be charges," Pace, the highest ranking U.S. military officer and primary military advisor to the president and defense secretary, said.

Pace said the Pentagon had not found out about the incident until Feb 10.



"We do not know yet why we did not know," he said.

The U.S. military has said 15 civilians were killed in Haditha, about 140 miles northwest of Baghdad. Other accounts put the number at around 24.

A U.S. defense official said on Friday Marines could face criminal charges, possibly including murder, in what would be the worst case of abuse by American soldiers in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.

"I don't suspect anything," Pace said. "I want to wait for the investigation. We will find out what happened and we will make it public, but to speculate right now wouldn't do anyone any good."

Pace, the first Marine to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said "99.9 percent" of US soldiers in Iraq were conducting themselves with honor and courage.




 

(CNN) -- Two British soldiers have been killed in a roadside bomb attack in Basra, the UK Ministry of Defence said.

The troops from the Queen's Dragoon Guards were killed in the explosion at 9:30 p.m. Sunday, the MoD said in a statement.

Two others suffered minor injuries. The deaths bring to 113 the number of British military personnel killed since the Iraq war began.

The statement said: "The Ministry of Defence can confirm that an incident took place in Basra yesterday at 21:30 local time.

"Two members of the Queen's Dragoon Guards were killed and two others suffered minor injuries in what appears to be an attack from an improvised explosive device.

"The soldiers were from the Queen's Dragoon Guards, part of the Basra City Battlegroup. The next of kin of those killed have been informed and they have asked for a period of time to come to terms with their tragic news. We will release further information as it becomes available."

UK Defence Secretary Des Browne said: "It was with profound sorrow that I heard of the tragic deaths last night of two British soldiers. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of these brave men."

The attack came a day after British and Iraqi forces seized their largest-ever haul of bomb-making equipment and weapons in a bid to improve the deteriorating security situation in Basra, the UK's Press Association said.

Two British privates, Adam Morris, 19, and Joseva Lewaicei, 25, died in a roadside bomb attack near the city just over a fortnight ago. There were also clashes between local people and British forces earlier this month after a Lynx helicopter was brought down in an apparent rocket attack.

Five military personnel died in the crash, and several Iraqis were reportedly killed in the ensuing riots.

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Two members of a CBS News crew were killed Monday and correspondent Kimberly Dozier was seriously wounded when a roadside bomb ripped through the U.S. military convoy in which they were traveling.

CBS identified those killed as cameraman Paul Douglas, 48, who was based in London, and sound tech James Brolan, 42.

The U.S. military has not confirmed any casualties in the powerful bomb, which destroyed a U.S. military Humvee as the convoy passed through Tahariya Square, just across the river from the Green Zone, around 11 a.m. Monday (3 a.m. ET).

The CBS employees were among at least 46 people killed in insurgent attacks in Iraq on Monday. (Full story)

The CBS team -- which was embedded with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division -- was reporting from outside their Humvee and they were believed to have been wearing protective gear when the blast went off, according to CBS.

Dozier, 39, sustained serious injuries and underwent surgery at a U.S. military hospital in Baghdad.

She is in critical condition, but doctors are cautiously optimistic about her prognosis, the network said.

Douglas had risked his life covering international conflicts for CBS since the early 1990s, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Rwanda and Bosnia, according to CBS News.

Brolan was a freelancer who worked with CBS News in Baghdad and Afghanistan in the past year. He also shared an award with the network for its coverage of last year's deadly earthquake in Pakistan.

Dozier has reported from Baghdad since 2003. She is based in Jerusalem.

Speaking on CNN's "Reliable Sources" in November 2004, Dozier described the dangers of trying to talk to ordinary Iraqis in Baghdad.

"The last time I tried to do that, to go to someone's home and sit down with that man and say, 'Are you thinking about leaving Iraq or staying?' the moment he saw me, blonde hair and my two armored vehicles ... he turned white," Dozier said.

"It means I can't go out and hunt a story. I'm having to wait for it to come to me, or I'm having to train Iraqi translators to go out and be my eyes, be my ears, ask the questions that I would ask if I could."

Earlier this year, ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt were seriously wounded when the U.S.-Iraqi military convoy in which they were embedded was hit by a roadside bomb near Taji, north of Baghdad.

Between 94 and 120 journalists and media support staff -- including drivers and translators -- have been killed in Iraq since the war began in 2003, according to journalists' organizations and watchdog groups.

 

From the few credible reports, from very few news agencies around the world that are keen on presenting truth, we know that Iraq is now descending into a black hole, thanks to the decadent, bloated, demon-possessed, Neo-Con followers, who might now be sitting on their easy chairs, cheering the death of over a hundred thousand innocent people.

An Iraqi reporter and a Japanese human rights activist have recently warned against the distorted image the world has about what’s happening in Iraq. They also warned against an imminent health catastrophe, with Iraqis now more vulnerable to cancer as a result to the exposure to depleted uranium shells the U.S.-led occupation forces had been using in Iraq, Uruknet wrote recently.

During the Persian Gulf War, the U.S. blasted vehicles with armor-piercing shells made of depleted uranium, which helped bring the war to a swift conclusion. The U.S. was the first country to introduce such deadly weapons. The war ended, but the devastating impact remains.

About 15 years have passed since the Persian Gulf War ended; but the battlefield remains a radioactive toxic wasteland.

While the Pentagon refuses to speak clearly about the true effects of depleted uranium, Iraqi doctors say that using it led to significant increase in cancer and birth defects in the region. Many researchers have also suggested that depleted uranium played a major role in Gulf War Syndrome, the still-unexplained malady that has plagued hundreds of thousands of Gulf War veterans.

Depleted Uranium is a highly dense metal that is the byproduct of the process during which fissionable uranium used to manufacture nuclear bombs and reactor fuel is separated from natural uranium.

DU remains radioactive for about 4.5 billion years.

Last week, Isam Rasheed, a freelance journalist, and Fumikazu Nishitani, head of Osaka-based NGO Rescue the Iraqi Children, briefed a public gathering in Osaka on the true situation in Iraq.

"It is now virtually impossible for foreign journalists to move around independently in Iraq," Nishitani said.

"Most (journalists) are embedded with U.S. forces or operate from the Green Zone, a walled fortress in central Baghdad. As a result, few people in the West, or in Japan, have seen the true extent of the damage and suffering in Fallujah, while the U.S. government continues to deny responsibility for the cancer and leukemia outbreaks."

"The world has seen little of the devastation wrought by U.S. troops on the city of Fallujah," Rasheed, also a photographer, said. "Entire neighborhoods were destroyed and the number of innocent civilians killed and maimed by the bombing was quite high."

The situation was a "major problem for Japan", Nishitani said, adding that the Japanese public, like the rest of the world, is kept in the dark about the true picture of what is going on in Iraq due to the fact that very few Japanese journalists are there, unlike Vietnam War, where many Japanese reporters were present at the battlefield and showed what was really going on, according to Nishitani.

"What are they doing in Iraq? The Iraqis don't know. When we heard the Japanese were coming, many Iraqis were happy because they thought this meant Japanese companies would be coming to Iraq and provide jobs and technology training," the journalist said.

"That hasn't happened, and there is a sense of bitter disappointment."

The two men presented photos of the U.S. offensive in the Iraqi city of Fallujah that took place in November 2004, and left thousands of Iraqis dead, and sent many others homeless.

According to U.S. and Iraqi officials, between 70 and 90 percent of Fallujah's population fled the city before the offensive broke out on Nov. 8 2004.

The two men also showed photos of Iraqis with cancer they had interviewed.

Many experts and Iraqi doctors say that the spread of cancer, particularly leukemia, is the result of exposure to depleted uranium shells from U.S. and British occupying forces that have contaminated the ground.

"Nobody has any idea how many Iraqis may have developed leukemia or fallen ill (with other diseases), because of the depleted uranium shells," Nishitani said.

"It's a major health catastrophe in the making." Rasheed said.

In Vietnam War it was the chemical poison Agent Orange. Today in Iraq it is plain old processed uranium. The U.S. Army must appreciate uranium hugely, for it is permanent. Uranium is radioactive- It kills people and contaminates their land - forever.

But how can the world know about the true extent of the devastation in Iraq, if reporters, who complain that harassment and intimidation by American soldiers in Iraq is growing, can’t do their job well. Journalists are the only people who’re able to transfer the Iraqis’ sufferings to the entire world.

The International Federation of Journalists had previously accused the U.S. government of hiding behind a "culture of denial" over the deaths of journalists in Iraq, and said the U.S. had to take "responsibility for its actions."

Too many journalists are dying "at the hands of the hands of US soldiers because of negligence or indifference ... And when journalists are killed, the military often seems ... unwilling to launch an adequate investigation or take steps to mitigate risk," Joel Campagna of the Committee to Protect Journalists was once quoted as saying.

“U.S. military fire is the second-leading cause of death. At least nine journalists and two media support staff have died as a result of US fire in Iraq in the last 23 months."

Has killing become part of the Pentagon “Press Policy”?

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- At least 50 people died Monday in a series of bombings and ambushes in Iraq, police and the military said.

Among the dead were two members of a CBS News crew, who were killed when a bomb ripped through the U.S. military convoy in central Baghdad. One U.S. soldier and one Iraqi civilian contractor also died in that attack.

CBS correspondent Kimberly Dozier was seriously injured in the attack. (Full story)

Monday's deadliest attack was near Khalis, about 50 miles north of Baghdad. A roadside bomb ripped through a minibus carrying Iraqis employed by a group opposed to the Iranian regime, killing 13 and wounding 15 others -- some critically -- according to a statement from the opposition group, the People's Mojahedin of Iran.

The bus was loaded with at least 40 passengers, according to an official with the Diyala Joint Coordination Center.

People's Mojahedin of Iran blamed "mercenary terrorists of the Iranian regime" for the bombing.

The group says it has been the target of 150 terrorist operations in Iraq, carried out "by the terrorists sent by the fascist regime ruling Iran."

Most of the other attacks Monday happened in Baghdad.

In the most recent attacks in Baghdad, two car bombs detonated in the Sunni neighborhood of Adhamiya, one targeting a mosque the other an Iraqi army patrol.

The blasts happened 30 minutes apart.

The first blast, targeting the army patrol, detonated at 1 p.m., killing 12 and wounding 24 others, a Baghdad police official said.

Five civilians were killed and seven others wounded outside the Abu Hanifa mosque in Adhamiya, according to a police official.

Earlier, a minibus was hit by a roadside bomb as it drove down a street in a Shiite neighborhood in northern Baghdad, killing seven civilians and wounding nine others, police said.

Two people died and one was wounded when a roadside bomb struck a minibus in southeastern Baghdad, Baghdad police said.

Another roadside bomb explosion killed an Iraqi police officer and wounded three others in central Baghdad, police said.

Another car bomb hit an Iraqi police patrol near the German Embassy in central Baghdad. Three people were killed and five wounded, police said.

In other violence, gunmen ambushed an Iraqi police patrol in western Baghdad, killing three police officers Monday morning, police said.

Ministry posts expected to be filled soon
Iraq Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih vowed Sunday that the posts of defense minister and interior minister would be filled in short order.

The positions are considered crucial because those who hold them would be in the vanguard of defeating the insurgency and establishing order in war-torn Iraq.

"My hope is that people outside would understand the scale of the difficulties we're dealing with, certainly on the security file," Salih told CNN's "Late Edition."

"Sometimes we need more time than people are willing to give us."

Last weekend, when the new Iraqi government was sworn in, the hope was that the top security jobs could be filled within a week.

Still, Salih said he had just spoken with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, "and he's committed to make the decision very soon."

Salih said it "is a safe bet ... but not by any means a foregone conclusion" that the defense minister will be an Iraqi Sunni and the interior minister a Shiite.

Their ethnicity is seen as critical, given that al-Maliki has vowed to disarm the militias loyal to Iraq's various ethnic groups -- one of the most difficult issues the new prime minister faces.

"The issue of organized armed groups who are acting outside the state and outside the law are becoming a serious problem for our politics and our society, and we have to deal with it," Salih said.

Candidates named
Bahaa al-Araji of the Shiite-led United Iraqi Alliance told reporters Sunday that the defense post candidates are Saadoun al-Dulaimi, the transitional defense minister; Mohammed Baraa al-Rubaie, a brigadier general in Iraq's pre-2003 army; and Osama Najafi, former minister of industry and minerals in the transitional government.

The candidates for the Ministry of the Interior are Mowaffak al-Rubaie, who had been national security adviser; and Tawfeeq al-Yassir, a former brigadier general during the Saddam Hussein era who served in the transitional government's security council, al-Araji said.

Al-Maliki will select candidates for a six-month trial basis, Al-Araji said.

There was no immediate reaction from the Sunni-led Iraqi Accord Front. Sunnis have objected to Shiite leadership of the Interior Ministry, which controls the national police force.

Other developments

Two British soldiers were killed Sunday in a roadside bomb attack in Basra, the UK Ministry of Defense said. (Full story)


The Senate Armed Services Committee will investigate allegations that U.S. Marines committed an atrocity last year in Haditha, the panel's chairman, Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia, said Sunday. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, also appearing on ABC's "This Week," alleged a "cover-up" and said the fallout could be "worse than Abu Ghraib." (Full story)


The trial of deposed leader Hussein continued Monday in Baghdad, with the defense bringing in more witnesses. (Full story)


Two U.S. Marines were missing after their helicopter crashed during a maintenance test flight in Iraq's Anbar province Saturday, the military said.  

Irakische Soldaten haben nach eigenen Angaben einen wichtigen Mitarbeiter des El-Kaida-Chefs im Irak, Abu Mussab el Sarkawi, gefasst.

„Einheiten des irakischen Heeres haben drei Terroristen der El Kaida festgenommen", sagte ein Sprecher des irakischen Verteidigungsministeriums am Montag der Nachrichtenagentur Reuters.

Darunter sei Kassim el Ani. „Er gehört zu den Meistgesuchten.“ El Kaida wird im Irak für zahlreiche Anschläge verantwortlich gemacht.

Elf Tote bei Anschlag auf Bus

Bei einem Bombenanschlag auf einen Bus unweit der Stadt Bakuba kamen elf Arbeiter ums Leben. 16 weitere Personen seien verletzt worden, als der Sprengsatz auf einer Straße rund 20 Kilometer vor der Stadt explodierte. Offensichtlich sei die Bombe an Bord des Busses versteckt gewesen, hieß es in Polizeikreisen.

Insgesamt seien 44 Menschen in dem Fahrzeug gewesen. Bereits am Vorabend war in der südirakischen Stadt Basra ein Sprengsatz detoniert. Wie eine Militärsprecherin am Montag mitteilte, wurden dabei vier britische Soldaten verletzt. Nähere Angaben zu dem Vorfall machte die Sprecherin nicht.  

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) -- President Bush, visiting America's most hallowed military burial ground to "honor this place where valor sleeps," said Monday the nation must persevere in the war against terrorists for the sake of those have already given their lives in the cause.

Noting that some 270 fighting men and women of the nearly 2,500 who have fallen since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, are buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Bush said, "We have seen the costs in the war on terror that we fight today."

"I am in awe of the men and women who sacrifice for the freedom of the United States of America," the president declared, drawing a long standing ovation from the troops, families of the fallen and others gathered at the cemetery's 5,000-seat white marble ampitheater.

"Here in the presence of veterans they fought with and loved ones whose pictures they carried," he said, "the fallen give silent witness to the price of liberty and our nation honors them this day and every day."

 

 
Bush said the nation can best honor the dead by "defeating the terrorists. ... and by laying the foundation for a generation of peace."

The president spoke after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. He ventured across the Potomac River on a sun-splashed Memorial Day just a short time after signing into law a bill that restricts protests at military funerals.

At the White House, Bush signed the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act," passed by Congress largely in response to the activities of a Kansas church group that has staged protests at military funerals around the country, claiming the deaths symbolized God's anger at U.S. tolerance of homosexuals.

The new law bars protests within 300 feet of the entrance of a national cemetery and within 150 feet of a road into the cemetery. This restriction applies an hour before until an hour after a funeral. Those violating the act would face up to a $100,000 fine and up to a year in prison.
 
 
Monday's observance at Arlington National Cemetery was not a funeral, so demonstrators were free to speak their minds at the site.

And several did.

Approximately 10 people from the Washington, D.C., chapter of FreeRepublic.com, a self-styled grass roots conservative group, held signs at the entrance of the cemetery supporting U.S. troops. A large sign held by several people said, "God bless our troops, defenders of freedom, American heroes."

They were faced off against a handful of anti-gay protesters who stood across a four-lane highway as people headed toward the national burial grounds.

The FreeRepublic.com group was trying to counter demonstrations by the Kansas-based group, led by the Rev. Fred Phelps. He previously had organized protests against those who died of AIDS and gay murder victim Matthew Shepard.

In an interview at the time the House passed the bill that Bush signed Monday, Phelps charged that Congress was "blatantly violating" his First Amendment rights. He said that if became law, he would continue to demonstrate but would abide by the law's restrictions.

Bush signed a second bill Monday that allows combat troops to deposit tax-free pay into individual retirement accounts. Supporters of the legislation argued that rules governing these accounts were punishing soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq who earn only tax-free combat pay.

 

Die Schande von Haditha"
Das US-Blutbad an Zivilisten

Am "Tag der Veteranen", dem nationalen Gedenktag der Amerikaner für ihre in allen Kriegen gefallenen Soldaten, wurden Millionen US-Bürger erstmals mit einem neuen, bitteren Kapitel ihrer Kriegsgeschichte konfrontiert. Ausgerechnet als überall vor Denkmälern und auf Friedhofen der amerikanischen Helden und Opfer gedacht wurde, verdichteten sich die Hinweise auf das schlimmste Kriegsverbrechen amerikanischer Soldaten im Irak. "Das ist schlimmer als Abu Ghoreib", klagte der demokratische US- Abgeordnete John Murtha - denn US-Soldaten sollen am 19. November 2005 im irakischen Ort Haditha 24 Zivilisten - darunter Kinder - grundlos getötet haben.

US-Präsident George W. Bush hatte noch am Donnerstag die Misshandlungen und Demütigungen von Gefangenen im Militärgefängnis von Abu Ghoreib als "schwersten Fehler" im Irakkrieg bezeichnet, für den die USA "noch lange zahlen müssen". Nun sprechen Menschenrechtsgruppen wie Human Rights Watch laut dem US-Sender ABC von einem "My Lai" im Irak - in Anspielung auf das Massaker der Amerikaner in Vietnam, dem 1968 etwa 500 Zivilisten zum Opfer fielen.

"Die Schande von Haditha" werde das Ansehen der US-Streitkräfte weiter schädigen, schrieb das Nachrichtenmagazin "Time". Die "Washington Post" nannte es das "vielleicht schlimmste Kriegsverbrechen" von US-Soldaten im Irak. US-Generalstabschef Peter Pace betonte am Montag, es werde noch ermittelt. Aber seine besorgte Miene ließ kaum Zweifel daran, dass das Pentagon das Schlimmste befürchten.

Zeugenaussagen und Militärberichte beschreiben übereinstimmend einen blutigen Samstagmorgen in der westirakischen Hochburg der sunnitischen Aufständischen am Euphrat. Am Morgen des 19. November gegen 07.15 Uhr explodierte demnach bei einem Einsatz einer Einheit des 3. Bataillons des 1. Marineregiments am Straßenrand ein Sprengsatz. Der 20-jährige US-Unteroffizier Miguel Terrazas aus El Paso wurde in seinem Militärjeep getötet, zwei weitere Soldaten verletzt. Die Fenster der umliegenden Häuser zerschellten durch die Wucht der Explosion. Daraufhin stürmten den Berichten zufolge die US- Marines das nächstgelegene Haus des 76-jährigen, schwerstbehinderten Abdul Hamid Hassan. Die Soldaten hätten gnadenlos alle sieben Menschen im Haus - darunter ein vierjähriges Kind - erschossen.

Im Nachbarhaus sei dann eine Familie mit sieben Kindern - das jüngste ein Jahr alt - getötet worden. Nachbarn berichteten US- Zeitungen zufolge von "markerschütternden Schreien aus dem Haus". Vier weitere Männer seien in einem anderen Haus erschossen worden, kurz darauf ein Taxifahrer und seine vier Fahrgäste. "Unsere Truppen haben wegen der Belastung überreagiert und kaltblütig unschuldige Zivilisten getötet", sagte zornig Murtha nach Gesprächen mit Militärermittlern. "Ich werde keine Mörder entschuldigen", betonte der Vietnamveteran und Verteidigungsexperte des Repräsentantenhauses.

Nach dem Blutbad hätten die Soldaten die Leichen von 24 Irakern ohne Erklärungen in einem Krankenhaus abgeliefert. Die Marines hätten zunächst behauptet, die Iraker seien bei der Explosion eines Sprengsatzes gestorben. Später hätten sie zu Protokoll gegeben, die Zivilisten seien durch Schüsse Aufständischer getötet worden. Irakischen Zeugen sei es zu verdanken, dass die Darstellung nicht habe aufrechterhalten werden können.

Nun müssen die US-Elitesoldaten mit einer Anklage wegen Mordes, Pflichtverletzung und Falschaussage rechnen - und möglicherweise mehrere Vorgesetzte bis hinauf in die Generalität mit Anklagen wegen Vertuschung der Vorfälle. Den Angehörigen der Toten sind der "Washington Post" zufolge schon Entschädigungen in Höhe von 1500 bis 2500 Dollar (1175 bis 1957 Euro) für jedes Todesopfer bezahlt worden.
 

ein Menschleben in Irak ist der US-Armee also 1500-2500 Dollar wert...ohne Worte...  

On this Memorial Day let us remember all fallen troops by insisting that the United States no longer engage in wars of aggression.  In this election year, the voters must make it abundantly clear to anyone running for office in the United States that candidates will not have their votes, funding or volunteer time if the politicians do not insist on a rapid withdrawal from Iraq and opposition to future wars of aggression.

Of the troops currently fighting in Iraq, a majority (72%) say that the U.S. should get out of Iraq within a year.  A majority of the U.S. public agrees.

Yet our elected officials - who are supposed to represent the people’s views - continue to vote for funding the war in Iraq and fail to speak out against aggression against Iran.  On this critical issue of war or no war there is a huge disconnect between the voters and the people elected to represent them and their views.

My stepson, Lance Corporal David Michael Branning, was killed on November 12, 2004 in the assault on Fallujah.  He was KIA when he and his buddy were ordered to kick in the door of a private home in that city. I imagine that in the last minutes of their lives, these two young men must have known that there might be people in that dwelling - people who were defending their home. These defenders fired on David and his fellow Marine. David was shot in the throat and the bullet exited his head; he died virtually instantly. His friend bled to death within minutes. David was 21 years old and the other young man was 20.  I don’t want other families to suffer the loss and pain that my family, and others, are suffering.  I don’t want other young men and women to suffer the fate of David and other Marines and soldiers – too many lives have already been lost.

My mission since David's death is to do all that I can to stop the madness that is sending more innocents to their unnecessary deaths.  After David was killed I quit my job to work fulltime in the peace movement.  I have been privileged to work on the “Eyes Wide Open” exhibit, which includes a pair of combat boots representing each troop who has been killed, and civilian shoes representing the Iraqi casualties in this war.  I do everything I can to honor David’s life as well as his death, and contribute what I can to make sure that the U.S. does not continue to perpetuate an aggressive military strategy that puts more young people, and civilians in the countries we attack, at risk.  The greatest monument to David and the nearly 2,500 U. S. troops who have been killed will be an anti-war movement that is well organized enough and powerful enough to end this war and prevent future unnecessary wars.

We have unacceptable reasons for staying the course in Iraq. We must withdraw immediately. We owe it to our military people, to the people of Iraq and the United States, and to our severely damaged reputation in the world.  We must retrieve and heal the soul of our country and elect only those individuals who stand for peace.

I urge all those who oppose the military occupation of Iraq and do not want to see future wars of choice to sign the “Voters Pledge” at www.VotersForPeace.US.  Thirty thousand people have already signed the pledge.  

Voters For Peace is a project made up of many of the major organizations in the anti-war movement – United for Peace and Justice, Peace Action, Gold Star Families for Peace, Code Pink, Democracy Rising as well as groups with broader agendas like the National Organization for Women, Progressive Democrats of America, AfterDowningStreet.com, the American Conservative and the Nation Magazine.  The goal of this coalition is to build a base of anti-war voters that cannot be ignored by anyone running for office in the United States.  We want millions of voters to sign the pledge and say no to pro-war candidates.

You can help right now by visiting www.VotersForPeace.US and immediately signing the Voters Pledge which states:

"I will not vote for or support any candidate for Congress or President who does not make a speedy end to the war in Iraq, and preventing any future war of aggression, a public position in his or her campaign."

And after you sign it, send it to everyone you know and urge them to do the same.  Together we can change the path of the United States – move us in a new direction, away from unnecessary wars and toward a peaceful co-existence that recognizes the precious value of every human life.

Tia Steele is member of Gold Star Families Speak Out (GSFSO), an organization of family members of United States military killed in this war. GSFSO is a chapter within Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), a 3,000-member organization of military families opposed to the occupation of Iraq.

 

CAMP PENDLETON, California (AP) -- Several Marines have been brought back from Iraq and placed in the brig at this Southern California base awaiting the outcome of an investigation into the death of an Iraqi civilian, a military official said Sunday.

No charges have been filed in the April 26 death at Hamandiyah, west of Baghdad.

Several Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, were placed in pretrial confinement and several are under pretrial base restrictions, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Division, 2nd Lt. Lawton King, said in a statement.

King would not say how many Marines were brought back from Iraq. The rest of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, remains on duty in Iraq, he said.

Details of the Hamandiyah incident have not been released. The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that investigators were trying to determine whether an Iraqi civilian was taken from his home and shot to death.

The newspaper, citing the Marines, said troops may have planted an AK-47 and shovel near the body to make it appear the man was an insurgent placing an improvised explosive device.

Iraqi civilians made the allegation during a meeting with Marine officers on May 1, five days after the alleged incident, the U.S. command said in a statement Wednesday. A preliminary investigation by Multinational Force-West found enough information to recommend an investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigation Service, the statement added.

King referred questions about the incident to Marine officials in Iraq. Military there said they could not confirm any details because the matter was still under investigation.

In a separate case, the NCIS is investigating members of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, also based at Camp Pendleton, in connection with killings at the Iraqi city of Haditha.

A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, told The Associated Press on Friday that evidence gathered so far strongly indicated that the Haditha killings were unjustified.

"Like the commandant of the Marine Corps, Marines aboard Camp Pendleton are concerned regarding allegations emanating from Iraq," King said. "The Marine Corps prides itself on its history and its demanding moral code, and we will continue to ensure that all our values are upheld."

 

Saddam trial

Defense witnesses at the trial of toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein testified for the defense on Monday, BBC reported.

Saddam and seven members of the former Iraqi regime are accused of a crackdown that led to the execution of 148 Shias in the village of Dujail following a 1982 failed assassination attempt on Saddam.

All the accused have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Eight witnesses took the stand Monday, testifying for Saddam, his half-brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and former chief judge Awad Hamed al-Bander.

The first witness was a former Revolutionary Court lawyer, who appeared on behalf of al-Bandar.

"The court allowed defendants to commission a lawyer and if a defendant was not able to hire a lawyer then the court would appoint one for him," said the witness, who spoke from behind a curtain to protect his identity.

"Bandar took the humanitarian aspect into consideration, and he was fair and made all judgments according to law,” he added.

The second witness was one of the defendants who appeared before the Revolutionary Court. He described how he had been acquitted by the judge at the time.

"I didn't want a lawyer because I was innocent but the judge gave me sufficient time to bring a defense lawyer to defend me," said the unidentified witness.

"I still remember he called me 'my son' and I was just a defendant."

For his part, Bandar insisted that the death sentences handed down to the Dujail villagers were fair, rejecting the prosecution’s assertions that the legal process had been a flawed show trial.  

The defense phase of Saddam’s trial started on May 15 and is expected to take some weeks. After that, there will be a long recess while the court considers its verdict.

If convicted, Saddam and his associates could face the death penalty.

International human rights groups say the trial is being conducted well below international legal standards.

 

Blutiger Montag
Mindestens 70 Tote im Irak

Bei Bombenanschlägen und Gefechten sind in Bagdad und anderen Städten Iraks mindestens 70 Menschen ums Leben gekommen. In der Hauptstadt starben 30 irakische Zivilisten, als eine Bombe ihren vollbesetzten Bus in Stücke riss, wie irakische Fernsehsender berichteten. Ebenfalls in Bagdad wurden ein Kameramann und ein Tontechniker des US-Fernsehsenders CBS bei der Explosion einer Autobombe in den Tod gerissen. Die CBS-Korrespondentin Kimberly Dozier wurde nach Angaben des Senders in New York schwer verletzt.

Sie waren als Journalisten mit einer US-Armee-Einheit in Bagdad unterwegs. Als sie aus dem Militärfahrzeug ausstiegen, sei der in einem nahen Auto versteckte Sprengsatz gezündet worden. Bei den Opfern handele es sich um die Briten Paul Douglas und James Brolan.

Bei einem weiteren Anschlag auf einen Bus kamen in der rund 60 Kilometer nördlich von Bagdad gelegenen Stadt Bakuba elf irakische Bauarbeiter ums Leben. Die iranische Oppositionsgruppe Nationaler Widerstandsrat Iran bezichtigte in einer in Berlin veröffentlichten Erklärung von Teheran gesteuerte Terroristen der Tat. Die Iraker seien "auf dem Weg zu ihrer täglichen Arbeit für die Organisation der iranischen Volksmudschaheddin in die Stadt Aschraf" gewesen.

Bei einem Attentat auf ein US-Militärfahrzeug in Bagdad wurden fünf irakische Passanten getötet. Der amerikanische Fahrer des Geländefahrzeugs überlebte verletzt, wie es hieß.

Bereits am späten Sonntagabend waren zwei britische Soldaten im südirakischen Basra bei einem Bombenanschlag ums Leben gekommen. Das teilte das Verteidigungsministerium in London mit. Damit wurden seit Beginn des Irak-Kriegs vor mehr als drei Jahren 113 britische Soldaten getötet. Großbritannien hat derzeit rund 8.000 Mann im Irak im Einsatz.

Zahlreiche weitere Menschen starben bei Anschlägen, Schießereien und Gefechten in verschiedenen Teilen des Landes. In Howeidscha in der Nähe der nordirakischen Stadt Kirkuk eröffneten US-Soldaten das Feuer, nachdem in der Nähe ihrer Patrouille ein Sprengsatz detoniert war. Zwei irakische Passanten wurden getötet, wie Augenzeugen berichteten. Daraufhin sei es zu Protesten von aufgebrachten Anwohnern gegen die Amerikaner gekommen.

In der westirakischen Rebellenhochburg Ramadi kamen bei Gefechten fünf Zivilisten ums Leben, darunter Frauen und Kinder, wie es hieß. Ein Angehöriger eines Opfers sagte, die US-Militärs seien von Aufständischen angegriffen worden und hätten zurückgefeuert, dabei aber irrtümlich drei Wohnhäuser getroffen.

Unterdessen wurde der Prozess gegen den früheren irakischen Machthaber Saddam Hussein und sieben Mitangeklagte am Montag vor dem Sondertribunal in Bagdad mit der Anhörung von drei Zeugen der Verteidigung fortgesetzt. Zwei von ihnen wurden anonym hinter einem Vorhang befragt. In dem Prozess geht es um das Massaker von Dudschail im Jahr 1982, als nach einem gescheiterten Attentat auf Saddam 148 schiitische Einwohner der 60 Kilometer nördlich von Bagdad gelegenen Ortschaft getötet worden waren.
 

In the wake of the new U.S. scandal in Iraq, the Haditha massacre which involves the U.S. Marines’ unjustified killing of about 25 Iraqi civilians, the United for Peace and Justice, (UFPJ), a coalition of more than 1400 international and U.S.-based organizations opposed to the U.S. "government's policy of permanent warfare and empire-building," issued a press release, likening the brutal massacre in the Iraqi town to My Lai Massacre committed by the U.S. soldiers on hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians in 1968, in the village of My Lai, during the Vietnam War.

The Mai Lai massacre prompted worldwide outrage and reduced American support at home for Vietnam War. The Haditha massacre is expected to leave the same impact all over the world.

Bush’s administration is facing setback as the event of Haditha massacre indicates that there has been a cover-up of events.

The U.S. Democrat Senate John Murtha, who was recently quoted as saying that the U.S. marines tried to cover up the killing of some 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Haditha, stated today that Haditha massacre is a new scandal after Abu Ghraib abuse cases that will add up to the U.S. record of abuses.

The U.S. military has launched two investigations into the case: a criminal probe investigating the killing which is nearing an end, and an administrative inquiry that is looking at whether the Marines unit involved tried to cover-up the killings.

Although the investigations haven’t been completed yet, U.S. lawmakers who are prominent critics of the American President, assert that the U.S. Marines tried to cover up the killing.

Below is the UFPJ Press Release:

Haditha Massacre Is Iraq's Mai Lai

19 May 2006, New York, New York--Appearing on "Hardball with Chris Matthews" on Wednesday, Rep. John Murtha (D-Penn.) confirmed that, in an incident occurring in Haditha, Iraq, last November, Marines killed 23 Iraqi civilians, including women and children, "in cold blood" as revenge for the death of a Marine from an IED. Asked by Matthews, whether by "in cold blood" he meant that the killings were like those in the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War, Murtha said they were. Military sources consulted by other media outlets have confirmed those claims.

At a press conference on Thursday, May 18, Congressperson John Murtha (D-OH) said, "It's much worse than reported in Time magazine. There was no firefight. There was no IED that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood. And that's what the report is going to tell."

"The massacre of up to 500 Vietnamese civilians in the village of My Lai was the tip of an iceberg of atrocities," said Rahul Mahajan, a United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) spokesperson. "The same is true of the Haditha massacre. Although it is the largest documented example of the deliberate mass murder of civilians (there are smaller ones), it joins a series of actions that, while short of this degree of cold-blooded brutality, involve neglect and indifference so pervasive and deep that it amounts to depraved indifference to Iraqi life."

Reports of the massacre include shooting people and leaving them to bleed to death on house raids, checkpoint killings, and indiscriminate return fire in crowded civilian neighborhoods.

Larger-scale offensives like the two assaults on Fallujah in 2004 and, to a lesser extent, operations in Tall Afar and other northern cities last summer and fall also caused massive civilian fatalities. In the April 2004 assault on Fallujah, the lesser of the two, it is estimated that 1000 people were killed, at least 600 of whom were civilians.

The Marines involved in the massacre originally tried to cover it up, claiming that the unarmed men they killed were insurgents and that the women and children killed were "collateral damage." Those claims were only challenged because they were contradicted by video evidence (of the corpses in the morgue). This raises serious questions about how often incidents like this occur and are successfully covered up.

According to British officers serving in Iraq, most recently Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster in an article in Military Review, U.S. troops show a widespread pattern of institutionalized racism toward Iraqis. This is part of the explanation of the atrocity. On top of that, the Iraq occupation, like the Vietnam War, repeatedly leads to "atrocity-producing situations," where crimes like the Haditha or My Lai massacres become almost inevitable. Marines who are guilty of murder should be severely punished, but the policy-makers should not be let off the hook. As long as the occupation continues, crimes like the Haditha massacre will as well.

United for Peace and Justice,  (UFPJ) is the U.S. largest peace and justice organisation, gathering more than 1,400 groups. It was founded in October 2002, and spurred hundreds of protests and rallies around the U.S., including the two massive marches against Iraq war on February 15, 2003, and August 29, 2004, during the Republican National Convention.
 

HANFORD, Calif. (AP) -- Two Marines were severely traumatized after following orders to photograph corpses of unarmed Iraqi civilians whom members of their unit are suspected of killing, their families said Monday.

The parents of Lance Cpl. Andrew Wright, 20, and Lance Cpl. Roel Ryan Briones, 21, both members of a Marine unit based at Camp Pendleton, said their sons were sent into the western Iraqi city of Haditha to help remove the bodies of as many as two dozen men, women and children who were shot.

While there, the two were ordered to photograph the scene with personal cameras they happened to be carrying the day of the attack, the families told The Associated Press in separate interviews. Briones' mother, Susie, said her son told her mother he saw the bodies of 23 dead Iraqis that day.

"It was horrific. It was a terrible scene," Susie Briones said in a tearful interview Monday at her home in California's San Joaquin Valley.

 
Navy investigators confiscated Briones' camera, his mother said. Wright's parents, Patty and Frederick Wright of Novato, declined to comment on what might have happened to the photos their son took, but they said he had turned over all of his information to the Navy.

"He is the Forrest Gump of the military," Frederick Wright said. "He ended up in the spotlight through no fault of his own."

Ryan Briones told the Los Angeles Times that Navy investigators had interrogated him twice in Iraq and that they wanted to know whether bodies had been tampered with. He turned over his digital camera but did not know what happened to it after that.

Susie Briones called the Nov. 19 incident a "massacre" and said the military had done little to help her son, who goes by his middle name, deal with his post-traumatic stress disorder.

"I know Ryan is going through some major trauma right now," said Susie Briones, 40, an academic adviser at a community college. "It was very traumatic for all of the soldiers involved with this thing."

The details of what happened in Haditha are still murky. What is known is that a bomb rocked a military convoy and left one Marine dead. Marines then shot and killed unarmed civilians in a taxi at the scene and went into two homes and shot other people, according to Rep. John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat and decorated war veteran who has been briefed by military officials.

The incident has sparked two investigations - one into the deadly encounter itself and another into whether it was the subject of a cover-up. The Marine Corps had initially attributed 15 civilian deaths to the car bombing and a firefight with insurgents, eight of whom the Marines reported had been killed.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday on CBS's "The Early Show" that "it would be premature for me to judge" the situation.

But he added that it is critically important to make the point that if certain service members are responsible for an atrocity, they "have not performed their duty the way that 99.9 percent of their fellow Marines have."

Asked how such a thing could have happened, Pace replied, "Fortunately, it does not happen very frequently, so there's no way to say historically why something like this might have happened. We'll find out."

Briones' best friend, Lance Cpl. Miguel "T.J." Terrazas, had been killed the day of the attack by the roadside bomb, his mother said. He was still grieving when he was sent in to clean up the bodies of the Iraqi civilians.

One was a little girl who had been shot in the head, Susie Briones said.

"He had to carry that little girl's body," she said, "and her head was blown off and her brain splattered on his boots."

The Wrights declined to say whether their son witnessed the killings or what he thought of the allegations against other members of his unit.

He was under so much pressure because of the investigation that he had consulted with an attorney, they said. He has also experienced psychological trauma.

Wright and Briones are both recipients of the Purple Heart, given to soldiers wounded in battle.

Wright was injured during an assault on Fallujah in January 2005. He voluntarily rejoined his unit at Camp Pendleton the next month.

Briones was on his second tour of duty in Iraq. He received a Purple Heart during his first tour.

On Monday, both Marines were back at Camp Pendleton, near Oceanside, where base officials said several members of Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division were being confined during the investigations.

Lt. Lawton King, a Camp Pendleton spokesman, declined to comment Monday.

Marines were relaxing in the afternoon sun Monday at barracks for the regiment on the sprawling base between Los Angeles and San Diego.

Sgt. Ian Moore, whose tour from September to April included time in Haditha, said he and other Marines in the battalion were waiting to hear results from the investigations.

"A lot of these things are being played out in the court of public opinion, and it's unfair on the Marines," Moore said.

 

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Some members of Congress have been told to brace for the fallout from potential charges of murder and cover-up stemming from an inquiry into an alleged massacre of Iraqi civilians by U.S. Marines, sources say.

Military investigators strongly suspect that what happened in the western Iraqi city of Haditha last November was a rampage by a small number of Marines who snapped after one of their own was killed by a roadside bomb, the sources told CNN.

Pentagon sources told CNN that at least 24 Iraqis were killed.

Sources told CNN on Monday that the investigation is substantially complete, and that charges -- including murder charges -- could be filed sometime in June. And, sources said, investigators have concluded there was a cover-up -- but won't say if it is limited to the handful of Marines who did the killings.

The formal findings of investigations into the matter are several weeks away, said Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Pace cautioned against a rush to judgment.

"There are two ongoing investigations," he told CNN. "One has to do with what happened. The other investigation goes to why didn't we know about it sooner than we knew about it."

Pace said the investigations may not be complete for "a couple of weeks," adding, "We should not prejudge the outcome."

IED first blamed for deaths
The U.S. military had previously refused to believe villagers who accused the Marines of murdering unarmed civilians, even when presented with credible evidence assembled by Time magazine for an article in March.

"They were incredibly hostile," said Time's Aparisim Ghosh. "They accused us of buying into enemy propaganda, and they stuck to their original story, which is that these people were all killed by the IED [improvised explosive device]."

But that story has fallen apart in the wake of an investigation that sources said is likely to result in murder charges against some Marines and dereliction of duty counts against others.

Sources said between four and eight Marines from Kilo company of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, were directly involved -- but some Marines from other units knew what happened because they helped document the aftermath.

Lance Cpl. Ryan Briones told the Los Angeles Times that he took pictures of at least 15 bodies and is still haunted by the memory of picking up a young girl who was shot in the head. (Full story)

"I held her out like this," he said, demonstrating with his arms extended, "but her head was bobbing up and down and the insides fell on my legs."

Briones' mother, Susie Briones, told CNN her son is now suffering from post-traumatic stress.

"It was horrific," she said. "It was a terrible scene. The biggest thing that comes to his mind is the children.

"Since he was part of the cleanup crew, he had to carry that little girl's body, and her head was blown off," she said. "Her brains splattered on his boots. And that is what affected Brian the most."

Killings began after Marine slain
Pentagon sources said the killings began after a roadside bomb killed 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas at 7:15 a.m. on November 19 in Haditha, a city along the Euphrates River in western Iraq.

The Marines originally reported that 15 civilians also died in that blast.

But according to the Pentagon sources' account, the Marines immediately suspected four Iraqi teenagers in a taxi and shot them, along with the driver, when the Marines said they failed to lie on the ground as ordered.

The hunt for the bombers then moved to a nearby house, where seven people -- including two women and children -- were killed. Then eight people, including six women, were shot next door, while women in a third house were not harmed, the sources said. In a fourth house, four men were killed.

Rep. John Murtha, appearing Sunday on ABC's "This Week," alleged a cover-up and said the fallout could be "worse than Abu Ghraib."

"We don't know how far it goes," said Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat and a retired Marine colonel. "Who ordered the cover-up?"

"Who said we're not going to publicize this thing?" Murtha continued. "We're not even going to investigate it? Until March, there was no serious investigation."

Pace told CNN that "as soon as we found out their were allegations" -- which he said was about February 10 -- "the investigations began."

Also on ABC, Sen. John Warner, the Virginia Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced that his committee would hold hearings on the matter.

Separate accusations surfaced earlier this month that Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment killed a civilian near Hamandiya, west of Baghdad, on April 26.

 

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The trial of Saddam Hussein and seven others accused of crimes against humanity resumed in Baghdad on Tuesday, with more defense witnesses expected to take the stand.

Eight witnesses -- including two of Saddam's former interior ministers -- took the stand on Monday, testifying for Saddam, his half-brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and former chief judge Awad Hamed al-Bander.

Saddam and his seven co-defendants are accused of a crackdown that led to the execution of 148 Shi'ite men and teenagers from the town of Dujail following a failed assassination bid against him there in 1982.

If convicted, they face possible death by hanging.



Defense witnesses, initially for some of the lesser-known defendants, started taking the stand when the trial resumed on May 15 after a three-week recess following the completion of the prosecution case. The trial began in October.

All the defendants have pleaded not guilty, or like Saddam, were ruled to have so pleaded after contesting the U.S.-backed court's legitimacy.

 

Vorwürfen....LOL; wenns nach denen geht, gibts ja keine Probleme im Irak...


Nach langem Zögern

US-Generalstabschef: "Es ist zu früh, zu urteilen."

  Das US-Verteidigungsministerium wird nach den Worten von US-Generalstabschef Peter Pace die Vorwürfe zu einem angeblichen amerikanischen Massaker an irakischen Zivilisten in der Stadt Haditha gründlich aufklären.

"Es ist zu früh, zu urteilen", aber wenn US-Soldaten für Verbrechen verantwortlich seien, "dann haben sie ihre Pflichten nicht erfüllt wie die anderen 99,9 Prozent der Marines", sagte Pace am Montag in Washington dem US-Sender ABC kurz vor den Feierlichkeiten zum "Tag der Veteranen", dem nationalen Gedenktag für die gefallenen US-Soldaten.


Bush schweigt zu Vorwürfen


An der Veranstaltung auf dem Soldatenfriedhof von Arlington bei Washington nahmen auch US-Präsident George W. Bush und Verteidigungsminister Donald Rumsfeld teil. Beide erwähnten die Vorwürfe gegen die US-Truppen im Irak mit keinem Wort.


Massive Kritik an Armee


Der demokratische US-Abgeordnete John Murtha warf dem US-Verteidigungsministerium die Vertuschung der blutigen Vorfälle in Haditha vor. "Es gibt keinen Zweifel daran, dass die Militärs versucht haben, die Affäre zu vertuschen", sagte Murtha in einem Fernsehinterview des Senders ABC. Murtha hatte zuvor von "kaltblütigen" Morden gesprochen.


Von Medien aufgedeckt


US-Medien berichteten in den vergangenen Wochen mehrfach unter Berufung auf namentlich nicht genannte Armeequellen, dass das US-Militär seit Jahresbeginn die blutigen Ereignisse vom 19. November vergangenen Jahres in Haditha untersuche.


Dort sollen US-Marieninfanteristen mindestens 24 irakische Zivilisten - darunter mehrere Kinder - getötet haben. Nun drohten mehreren Marines Anklagen wegen Mordes und Kriegsverbrechen.


Anhörung im Kongress


Der republikanische Senator John Warner, Vorsitzender des Streitkräfte-Ausschusses im Senat, kündigte in ABC eine Anhörung im Kongress zu dem Fall an. Geklärt werden müsse vor allem "die schwerwiegende Frage, (...) was geschah und wie die unmittelbare Reaktion der Offiziere der Marines war".



 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A lawyer for Saddam Hussein said one of his witnesses had been killed and complained of restrictions on the case.

The defense did not identify the slain witness or give details on how or when he was killed, but it said the death illustrated the difficulties undermining an effective defense of Hussein and seven former members of his regime.

"The defense is not free to present its witnesses the way the prosecution is," one of the defense lawyers told chief judge Raouf Abdul Rahman. "There are restrictions that limit us, as well as the security provisions necessary to bring the witnesses to the court. Some days ago, one of the witnesses who testified before us was killed."

The lawyer, who is among those on the team whose names have not been made public for security reasons, said the defense is limited because some potential witnesses are wanted by the U.S. military or Iraqi government and so won't appear. He did not elaborate.

For weeks, the defense has been presenting its case in the 7-month-old trial of Hussein and his co-defendants. They are accused of crimes against humanity, including killing and torture, in a crackdown against Shiites prompted by an assassination attempt against Hussein in the town of Dujail in 1982.

Early in the trial, two defense lawyers were killed, raising complaints from the team over their security. On Monday, a defense lawyer accused a spectator in the audience of being a member of a Shiite militia who has threatened lawyers in the past. The judge ejected the spectator from the court.

An effective defense is key to ensure a fair trial, a major concern for U.S. and Iraqi leaders who have hoped the tribunal can help Iraq's deeply divided Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds put the alleged atrocities by Hussein's regime behind them.

One of the defense witnesses who testified Tuesday alleged that nearly two dozen of the 148 Shiites who were sentenced to death were still alive. The prosecution has said all 148 were killed, either executed by hanging or tortured to death even before their sentencing.

"Around 23 of those who were mentioned among the 148 are still alive, and I know most of them," the witness, a Dujail resident, said, testifying from behind a curtain to protect his anonymity. "I've eaten with them, I've met them. ... I can take the chief prosecutor to Dujail and have lunch with them."

He gave Abdul Rahman the names of six of those he claimed were still alive but refused to give more, fearing reprisals from their tribes.

"If the witness's testimony is correct ... the case should be reviewed," one of the defense lawyers said, arguing that it threw doubt on a key part of the prosecution's case.

But chief prosecutor Jaafar Moussawi tried to throw doubt on the witness, saying records showed he was not a Dujail resident as he claimed and that some of the names he gave were not on the list of those sentenced to death.

The comments came as Abdul Rahman chided the defense for trying to add to its list of witnesses, saying it must ensure its witnesses can directly address the charges facing Hussein.

"The key is not the number of witnesses, but the quality of their testimony. That's in your interest. If you come with 100 witnesses, but they aren't effective for your defense ... the court won't take it," he said.

Abdul Rahman has shown increasing impatience with a string of witnesses who had no direct connection to the Dujail case. For example, the defense has brought employees of the Revolutionary Court that sentenced 148 Shiites from Dujail to death for the attack on Hussein. Each has insisted the court was a fair one -- but none were involved in the Dujail trial.

The defense on Tuesday tried to introduce CD videos as evidence in the trial. But Abdul Rahman refused to show them immediately in court and told the lawyers to make a written request to submit them, sparking a new argument.

Hussein interjected that Abdul Rahman should give the defense as much time as the prosecution.

"I would insist not come here if I did not respect the judicial system," Hussein told the judge. "My respect for the judicial system is the reason behind accepting my colleagues to defend me and to present my case before Iraqis and public opinion."

"The prosecution presented all his witness one by one. We have nothing here, just talk, but when even talk is forbidden then we enter an imbalance," he said. "To attain balance we have to give the same opportunity to the defense witnesses."

Co-defendants Awad Bandar pointed to videos shown by the prosecution in previous sessions on the same day they were introduced.

"Why can the prosecution present CDs and have them played right away, while the defense has to go through all this?" he said.

 

Deutsche Frauen kündigten im Internet Selbstmordattentate im Irak an

Von Matthias Gebauer und Holger Stark

Deutsche Sicherheitsbehörden haben möglicherweise Selbstmordattentate deutscher Frauen im Irak verhindert. Nach Informationen aus Sicherheitskreisen wurden drei Frauen an der Ausreise gehindert, eine von ihnen hatte Attentate im Internet angekündigt.


Berlin - Nach Informationen von SPIEGEL ONLINE haben die Sicherheitsbehörden in enger Zusammenarbeit in den letzten Wochen drei deutsche Frauen an der Ausreise in Richtung Irak gehindert. Demnach seien die Frauen, die enge private Kontakte zur islamistischen Szene pflegen und teils selbst zum Islam konvertiert sein sollen, im Internet aufgefallen. Dort soll mindestens eine Konvertitin Selbstmordanschläge im Irak angekündigt haben, bei denen sie auch ihr Kind mit in den Tod reißen wollte.

Nachdem die Einträge im Internet aufgefallen waren, suchten die Sicherheitsbehörden intensiv nach den drei Frauen. Dabei sollen sowohl der Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), der Verfassungsschutz und der Staatsschutz geholfen haben. Eine der Frauen wurde demnach in Berlin aufgespürt, die beiden anderen sollen aus Süddeutschland kommen. In dem Berliner Fall haben die Behörden der Frau zuerst das Kind entzogen und sie schließlich in eine psychiatrische Anstalt eingeliefert, hieß es. Auch die beiden anderen Frauen seien an der Ausreise gehindert worden. Eine von ihnen soll ebenfalls ein Kind haben.

Wie ernst die Frauen die Ankündigungen meinten und wie weit die Anschlagsplanung im Irak war, ist bisher noch nicht abzuschätzen. Von offizieller Seite gab es bisher keine Bestätigung der Aktion. Aus gut informierten Kreisen war jedoch zu hören, dass die Frauen auch Kontakte zu Sympathisanten der Ansar-e Islam gepflegt haben soll. Die Gruppe steht im Verdacht, immer wieder willige Selbstmordattentäter aus Deutschland in den Irak zu schmuggeln und Geld für den Widerstand gegen die US-Besatzung zu sammeln.

Mehrere solcher Fälle wurden in der Vergangenheit aufgedeckt und juristisch verfolgt. Unter deutschen Sicherheitsexperten besteht seit längerem die Befürchtung, dass Islamisten verstärkt auch junge Muslime mit deutschem Pass oder konvertierte Deutsche für ihre Aktionen anwerben könnten.

Dass ausländische Attentäter im Irak zum Einsatz kommen, gehört seit Jahren zur traurigen Routine in dem zerrütteten Land. Dass jedoch wie in diesem Fall Bürger mit einem europäischen Pass Anschläge durchführen wollten, könnte ein neuer und gefährlicher Trend sein. Vergangenen November hatte sich in der Nähe von Bagdad bereits eine belgische Konvertitin in die Luft gesprengt.




 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. military has moved 1,500 troops from Kuwait into Iraq to beef up security in troubled Anbar province, the military said Tuesday.

Terrorists and insurgents have control of parts of Anbar, Iraq's largest province, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said last week.

"The situation in al Anbar province is currently a challenge but is not representative of the overall security situation in Iraq, which continues to improve as the Iraqi Security Forces increasingly take the lead," Lt. Col. Michelle Martin-Hing, a military spokesperson, said Tuesday.

The U.S. announcement said the deployment would be "short-term."

There are roughly 133,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

16 killed in insurgent attacks
Insurgent attacks and bombings Tuesday in Iraq left 16 people dead, including an assassinated Sunni imam, police said.

The attacks come a day after at least 51 people, including two members of a CBS News crew, were killed in violence across the country.

A car bombing in Hilla, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of Baghdad, killed 12 people and wounded 32, according to a police spokesman. The explosion ripped through a used car lot.

Two women were killed Tuesday when insurgent rocket fire hit the third floor of Iraq's Interior Ministry, an official with Baghdad Emergency Police said. Four Iraqi police were wounded.

According to police, at least three rockets were fired from a car in central Baghdad's Zayuna neighborhood, more than a mile away from the ministry building. One hit the building, and two other rockets landed short of the facility.

Ali Farhan Abdullah, the Imam of Ansar al-Muhajrin Sunni mosque, was assassinated Tuesday by gunmen in the northern Baghdad Shiite neighborhood of Shula, Baghdad police said. A number of gunmen stormed Abdullah's house adjacent to the mosque and shot him to death.

Also Tuesday, an Iraqi police commando was killed and three other commandos were wounded when a roadside bomb hit their convoy in the capital's Saydiya section.

Separately, Iraqi police found three unidentified bodies in various Baghdad neighborhoods Tuesday morning. All had been shot in the head and showed signs of torture.

U.S. soldier killed in Mosul
Monday's death toll increased to at least 51 when the U.S. military announced a soldier was killed by small arms fire in the northern city of Mosul. (Watch how violence rocked Iraq on Monday -- 1:56)

The soldier was a member of 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, part of Task Force Band of Brothers.

Another U.S. soldier died Monday in the attack that killed CBS News cameraman Paul Douglas, 48, and sound technician James Brolan, 42.

Correspondent Kimberly Dozier was injured in that attack. She was flown to the military's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where a hospital official said Dozier was in intensive care and expected to survive. (Full story)

Other developments

The bodies of two U.S. Marines missing after a Saturday helicopter crash have been recovered, the U.S. military said Tuesday. One body was recovered late Monday and the other on Tuesday, it said. The Marines' AH-1 Cobra helicopter crashed while on a maintenance test flight in Anbar province. The incident was not believed to be the result of enemy action. With these death, 2,460 U.S. troops have died in the Iraq war, which began in 2003


In the trial of Saddam Hussein, a lawyer for the former Iraqi leader said one of his witnesses had been killed and complained of restrictions on the case. (Full story)


Italy's defense minister said the country will maintain its commitment to help rebuild Iraq even after Italian troops are withdrawn this year. (Full story)


Some members of Congress have been told to brace for the fallout from potential charges of murder and cover-up stemming from an inquiry into an alleged massacre of Iraqi civilians by U.S. Marines, sources say.