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WASHINGTON, May 31: A preliminary military inquiry found evidence that U.S. Marines killed two dozen Iraqi civilians in an unprovoked attack in November, contradicting the troops’ account, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
Forensic evidence from corpses showed that victims had bullet wounds, despite the initial statements by Marines that the civilians were killed by a roadside bomb that also claimed the life of a soldier, a defence official said.
“The forensics painted a different story than what the Marines had said,” said the official, speaking on condition of Anonymity.
The official said the bodies had wounds that would not have been caused by an improvised explosive device.
President George W. Bush said on Wednesday there would be punishment if an investigation turns up evidence of wrongdoing by U.S. Marines in the killings in the Iraqi town of Haditha.
“I am troubled by the initial news stories,” Bush said. “I am mindful there is a thorough investigation going on. If in fact laws were broken there will be punishment.”
Residents of Haditha, 200 km northwest of Baghdad in an area that has seen much activity by Sunni Arab insurgents, have told Reuters that U.S. Marines attacked houses and shot people after their patrol was hit by a roadside bomb.
It could be the worst known case of abuse by U.S. soldiers since the 2003 invasion and comes at a time when public opinion polls show falling U.S. public support for the war.
There are two investigations into the matter — a criminal probe that might lead to murder charges against Marines and another investigation into whether Marines tried to cover up the true nature of the incident, officials said.
OTHER KILLINGS: The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the investigation in February and March led by Col. Gregory Watt, an Army officer in Baghdad, uncovered death certificates showing the Iraqis were shot mostly in the head and chest.
The three-week probe was the first official investigation into the killings.
In an interview with CNN, new Iraqi ambassador to the United States Samir al-Sumaidaie said there appeared to have been other killings of civilians by Marines in Haditha, where some of his family lives.
The ambassador said Marines shot and killed his cousin during a house-to-house search several months before the November incident.
“I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe that he was killed unnecessarily,” al-Sumaidaie said.
He said three other unarmed youths were shot dead by Marines in a later incident in the area.
“They were in a car, they were unarmed, I believe, and they were shot.”
Watt’s investigation also reviewed cash payments totaling $38,000 made within weeks of the November shootings to families of victims, The New York Times said.
In an interview with the newspaper on Tuesday, Maj. Dana Hyatt said his superiors told him to compensate the relatives of 15 victims, but the other dead civilians had been determined to have committed hostile acts, leaving their families ineligible for compensation.
The U.S. military sometimes pays compensation to relatives of civilian victims.
On Nov 20, U.S. Marines spokesman Capt. Jeffrey Pool issued a statement saying that, on the previous day, a roadside bomb had killed 15 civilians and a Marine. In a later gun battle, U.S. and Iraqi troops had killed eight insurgents, he added.
U.S. military officials have since confirmed to Reuters that that version of the events of Nov 19 was wrong and that the 15 civilians were not killed by the blast but were shot dead.—Reuters
