Clipmarks | Civilian-killings Clips

Validity of Charges on Haditha Marine Questioned

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 04:37:59 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks: "Our position is that if this had not been Haditha and everything around it, he never would have been charged." - Attorney for defendant, Joseph Casas

Clip Source: nctimes.com

A military hearing officer said Saturday he has serious doubts over the validity of criminal charges filed against a Marine lieutenant

The hearing officer, Col. Robert Stahlman, said that if 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson was guilty of dereliction of duty for not ordering an investigation into the slayings, numerous other members of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment command staff should have been similarly charged.

Testimony during the hearing showed that Grayson had ordered the destruction of 70 photographs taken by a member of the intelligence team he led at Haditha. The order, however, was in keeping with a military policy that photographs deemed not to have any intelligence value be destroyed.

The man in charge of intelligence gathering for the 3rd Battalion at Haditha, Maj. Jeffrey Dinsmore, testified Saturday that he considered the photos "extraneous" and that Grayson and his team were responsible for developing intelligence leads and not probing civilian killings.

Tags: haditha, iraq, marines

Czech resistance to Communism cast as heroes and as murderers

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:47:00 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks:

The current Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, a liberal, decided in March to honor the three survivors as heroes, no doubt expecting some controversy in a nation still grappling with its Communist past. But the government was not prepared for a searing debate that encapsulated all the ambivalence associated with the country’s recent history.

A minority of Czechs lauded the award as a fitting tribute to freedom fighters who had dared to stand up to a repressive government, but nearly half of the population viewed the men as criminals, according to a poll conducted for Czech Television.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

In October of that year, the five men battled their way across the Iron Curtain heading for the American sector of a divided Berlin. They wanted to join American troops in what they thought would be a global conflagration between Western democracies and Soviet Communism.

To get there, the five — the brothers Josef and Ctirad Masin and their childhood friends Milan Paumer, Zbynek Janata and Vaclav Sveda — hijacked cars, stole submachine guns, drugged adversaries with chloroform, broke into police stations and killed six people, including a police officer whose throat was slit with a Boy Scout knife.

Three of the men eventually reached West Berlin, where they were debriefed by the Central Intelligence Agency

The other two — Mr. Janata and Mr. Sveda — were captured by the East German police and executed.

Tags: civilian-killings, democrats, political-violence, political violence, czech, czechoslovakia, communism, cold war, history

U.S. Death Squads and Terrorism in Afghanistan

Thu, 22 May 2008 04:17:47 GMT

clipped by: blueridge
clipper's remarks: U.S. State-sponsored terrorism and rogue operations are being reported by a UN investigator. Nothing new, which is precisely the problem.

Clip Source: www.wsws.org

CIA death squads killing with “impunity” in Afghanistan

A United Nations investigator released a preliminary report last week citing widespread civilian deaths in Afghanistan, often at the hands of unaccountable units led by the CIA or other foreign intelligence agencies.

report provides a partial glimpse into the illegal actions of intelligence agencies, occupying forces, and Afghan police, as they seek to repress opposition to the US-led occupation and US-backed government.

Alston focused on civilian killings by US and other international military forces, citing 200 reported deaths in the first four months of 2008

a special correspondent for news agency Knight Ridder who was investigating the death squads, was killed with a bullet to the head

intelligence agencies in question include the CIA or US Special Operations Forces

extra-judicial killings.

victims “are widely acknowledged, even by well-informed Government officials, to have had no connection to the Taliban

Tags: afghanistan, war, terrorism, special operations, cia, death squads

In defense of William Ayers

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:30:57 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks:

Wonderment said:

But to call Ayers a "terrorist" and throw him in the Osama bin Laden pile is a reach for the moral high ground by the very people and political establishment that secretly carpet bombed Cambodia, murdering hundreds of thousands of civilians.

...Ayers is no martyr, and he's no role model. But he doesn't deserve to be the punching bag of the moral cretins who still celebrate lying wars of aggression and the pointless slaughter of untold thousands.

Clip Source: bloggingheads.tv

Ayers makes the claim that the use of violence, particularly with the aim of zero loss of life, was justified as a form of protest and pressure to end the Vietnam and Cambodian War. If you look at the crimes of the Johnson and Nixon administrations in their historical context (napalming civilians, Agent Orange, torture, starvation, mass murder, carpet bombings, persecution of dissidents in the US, including the murder of college students by the National Guard, pro-war police riots, disproportionately race-based conscription of 18-year-olds, etc. etc.), there is a case to be made that taking up arms against such a regime is justified.

Now you may argue that the prospects of achieving success in ending the war through "revolutionary" violence were slim to none. I agree.

Tags: william ayers, vietnam, cambodia, hypocrisy, war, civilian-killings

3rd marine cleared of Haditha charges

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 03:37:10 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks:

Officials close to the Haditha case said they think prosecutors dismissed the charges in order to pursue Wuterich aggressively at trial. The cases against three of the Marines accused of shooting civilians have fallen apart, and Wuterich remains the only one left for prosecutors to target for accountability. Wuterich led the Marine squad and allegedly told his troops, as they approached a group of civilian homes that day, to shoot first and ask questions later.

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

The Marine Corps yesterday dismissed all charges against one of the Marines accused of killing women and children in the Iraqi town of Haditha in late 2005, the third time a Marine linked to the slayings has been exonerated

Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum, who has admitted shooting civilians inside their homes as part of a pursuit of insurgents, was cleared and granted immunity to testify in further hearings related to the investigation. The move leaves only Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich to face charges in connection with the shootings on Nov. 19, 2005.

Although the Marines were at first accused of going on a rampage, the case has evolved into a far more complex examination of the Corps' rules of engagement and the general conduct of wartime operations in hostile residential areas.

Tags: haditha, marines, iraq, war, civilian-killings, stephen tatum, frank wuterich

Thoughts on Nangarhar from an ex-Marine

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 19:37:32 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: An interesting and nuanced perspective, combining an appreciation for the culture of the Marines (and its flaws), an awareness of the high strategic stakes involved in any civilian killings by U.S. troops, and a much-needed reminder that U.S. forces have generally respected the law much more rigorously than any previous occupying or counterinsurgency force in history.

Clip Source: www.salon.com

America's dangerous trigger finger

Why the killing of civilians by U.S. Marines in Afghanistan and Iraq could have profound strategic consequences.

According to an investigation by an Afghan human rights group released on April 14, the Marines, who said they came under small-arms fire after the bombing, went on a rampage, shooting at vehicles and pedestrians along 10 miles of road.

A few hours after the shootings, the Marines returned to the primary site of the carnage, cordoned it off, and allegedly began removing evidence that it had occurred.

Clip Source: www.salon.com

I also feel compelled to remind them that our troops are among the most disciplined and restrained that the world has ever seen.

It is also worth remembering that nearly 700 civilians were killed by the Taliban last year.

Our troops in the field have to be held to a standard of conduct, even if the enemy is not, and even if the military justice system has historically been stacked against them.

Tags: military, opinion, commentary, war, violence, iraq, civilian-killings, gwot

My Lai marks massacre's 40th anniversary

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:52:39 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Lawrence Colburn returned to My Lai on Saturday and found hope at the site of one of the most notorious chapters of the Vietnam War.

On the 40th anniversary of the massacre of up to 500 unarmed Vietnamese villagers, the former helicopter gunner was reunited with a young man he rescued from rampaging U.S. soldiers.

On March 16, 1968, Colburn found 8-year-old Do Ba clinging to his mother's corpse in a ditch full of blood and the bodies of more than 100 people who had been mowed down. Nearly all the victims were unarmed women, children and elderly.

Seymour Hersh, the journalist who exposed the massacre, said he sees parallels between My Lai and a more recent story that he has he reported on, the 2005 images of torture from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. But he says the public furor unleashed by My Lai was far greater.

The company's soldiers began shooting in My Lai that day even though they hadn't come under attack. It quickly escalated into an orgy of killing.

Tags: war, vietnam, civilian-killings

33 Civilian Deaths Per Day

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 19:30:17 GMT

clipped by: ColoradoRight
clipper's remarks: Welcome to.....Venezuela. The socialist/communist paradise.

Clip Source: www.ibdeditorials.com

Quick, which nation shows average civilian deaths at 33 a day in the last third of 2007? Now name the one where civilian deaths average 19 a day? If you guessed Iraq and Venezuela, you'd have it backward.

Shocking? Of course. But true. With even Venezuelan officials admitting their country clocked 12,249 murders in 2007, Hugo Chavez's socialist "sea of happiness" resembles a war zone. In December alone, Venezuela had 670 murders while Iraq had 476 — and that number is falling fast.

Meanwhile, night travel is strongly discouraged and no one wears jewelry openly. Security guards pack big firepower to guard tiny businesses like bakeries, and bulletproof cars are common.

Cuban doctors sent for propaganda purposes to help the poor often flee for their safety, leaving boarded up "free" health care kiosks in Caracas slums like Petare and Catia.

willingness to fight and to win is the difference between the brave Iraqi and American war effort and the festering mess in Chavez's chaotic Venezuela.

Tags: venezuela, iraq, murder, civilian-killings, war, death, crime, drugs

Sangin Valley Area

Fri, 11 May 2007 15:32:49 GMT

clipped by: woodpainter

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Tags: afghanistan, helmand, war, death, civilian-killings

Military: US Marines killed Iraqis ‘in cold blood’

Thu, 18 May 2006 18:06:27 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks: Via QandO

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Lawmaker: Marines killed Iraqis ‘in cold blood’

Navy conducting war crimes probe into November violence in Haditha

By Jim Miklaszewski
and Mike Viqueira

NBC News

Updated: 9:27 p.m. ET May 17, 2006

WASHINGTON - A Pentagon probe into the death of Iraqi civilians last November in the Iraqi city of Haditha will show that U.S. Marines "killed innocent civilians in cold blood," a U.S. lawmaker said Wednesday.

From the beginning, Iraqis in the town of Haditha said U.S. Marines deliberately killed 15 unarmed Iraqi civilians, including seven women and three children.

One young Iraqi girl said the Marines killed six members of her family, including her parents. “The Americans came into the room where my father was praying,” she said, “and shot him.”

On Wednesday, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said the accounts are true.

Military officials told NBC News that the Marine Corps' own evidence appears to show Murtha is right.

Murtha, a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq, said at a news conference Wednesday that sources within the military have told him that an internal investigation will show that "there was no firefight, there was no IED (improvised explosive device) that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood."

Military officials say Marine Corp photos taken immediately after the incident show many of the victims were shot at close range, in the head and chest, execution-style. One photo shows a mother and young child bent over on the floor as if in prayer, shot dead, said the officials, who spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity because the investigation hasn't been completed.

One military official says it appears the civilians were deliberately killed by the Marines, who were outraged at the death of their fellow Marine.

“This one is ugly," one official told NBC News.

Tags: military, iraq, civilian-killings

Murtha Alleges Attempted Cover-Up of Haditha Massacre

Wed, 31 May 2006 19:30:59 GMT

clipped by: jklugman

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

Murtha on Haditha: ‘I Know There Was a Cover-up … The Chain of Command Tried to Stifle the Story’

Last November, a group of U.S. Marines apparently went on “the worst rampage by U.S. service members in the Iraq war, killing as many as 24 civilians in cold blood.” Today on ABC, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) said that U.S. officials learned of the alleged massacre in Haditha “a few days” after it happened and organized a cover-up:

GIBSON: Jonathan just mentioned, there’s no charges yet filed against any of the Marines that were in this outfit, but Jonathan mentioned a moment ago, defense lawyers are already saying, well, there’s drone video and there is actual radio traffic to higher-ups that will give a different picture than you have been talking about of this incident. What do you know about that?

MURTHA: I can only tell you this, Charles. This is what the Marine Corps told me at the highest level. The Commandant of the Marine Corps was in my office just last week, so you know, I know there was a cover-up someplace. They knew about this a few days afterwards and there’s no question the chain of command tried to stifle the story. I can understand why, but that doesn’t excuse it. Something like this has to be brought out to the public, and the people have to be punished.

GIBSON: In terms of a cover-up, do you think this ever would have come to light if Time Magazine hadn’t pursued this so relentlessly using the video form this human rights organization?

MURTHA: No, I do not think it would have come out, and it’s unfortunate because this is how you lose the Iraqi people. If you’re going to win a war like this, you got to promote the ideals and ideas of American democracy, and there’s no question in my mind that we’re losing it.

Tags: john murtha, haditha, cover-up, civilian-killings, marines, military

Iraq - counting the casualties of war

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 11:34:32 GMT

clipped by: sunbeam

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Counting the casualties of war is an important task. Several organisations are keeping track of civilians who have died since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but with no agreed estimate it is difficult for journalists to steer around ideological obstacles when they report the numbers.

according to the Iraq Body Count website (IBC) around 70,000 civilians have died in Iraq.

the Lancet research which estimated that by July 2006 more than 650,000 civilians had died

The UN estimate of civilians who died violent deaths is based on numbers compiled by the Iraq ministry of health and the Medico-Legal Institute in Baghdad

researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Mustansiriya University in Baghdad

produced a death rate of 5.5 per 1,000 people per year before the invasion and 13.3 per 1,000 after it

it attributed over 600,000 deaths to violence

What is the right estimate to use for the civilian death toll?

Tags: iraq, iraq war, death, war, us, uk, media, civilian-killings, occupation

How a journalist broke the Haditha story

Sun, 27 May 2007 03:00:55 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks: This episode shows that the military dismissed a journalist's questions about Haditha out of hand by calling him biased and a sympathizer to Sunni insurgents. I sometimes see this attitude here at Clipmarks--don't question our military, don't question our leaders, etc. But in fact, we do need to question the conduct of our leaders and our military all the time. Because if we don't, there will undoubtedly be more Hadithas.

(in fact, more Hadithas are probably inevitable if we continue to occupy Iraq, as von Zielbauer points out later in the interview).

Clip Source: www.onthemedia.org

BOB GARFIELD: But then, a few months later, up pops a reporter named Tim McGirk, of Time Magazine, who started asking questions about the incident because, for one thing, the cause of death, rifle shots and grenade explosions, did not square with the roadside bomb story. What was the Marines' response to McGirk's first inquiries?

PAUL von ZIELBAUER: The senior commanders really viewed McGirk's questions as inflammatory, as sensational, as one Marine officer put it, and as biased, and informed by the mayor of Haditha, who all the Marines considered a sympathizer to the Sunni insurgency. So they saw McGirk basically as a tool, a naive tool of people who were trying to hurt the Marines and their mission in Anbar Province.

Tags: haditha, journalism, media, war, civilian-killings

Media focus on Hamas Mouse, neglect occupation

Mon, 14 May 2007 20:43:34 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks: As many of you are aware, the news (and Clipmarks) have been deluged with stories about a children's show produced by Hamas that features a Mickey Mouse-type character who allegedly espouses hatred toward Jews. Tom Wallace points out that the media have been ignoring the reality of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Clip Source: electronicintifada.net

While all of this air-time was being devoted to the mouse, some real news about the region with genuine political implications was completely ignored:

1. World Bank criticizes Israel over Palestinian economy: Describing a system of apartheid that has devastated the Palestinian economy without naming it as such, the World Bank warned of the consequences if this continues.

2. Israel plans new Jerusalem settlement: In response to the report, Israel announced the approval of plans to further Judaize Jerusalem, bringing the number of settlers living illegally on Palestinian land in the Occupied West Bank to 570,000.

3. Shot West Bank woman 'loses baby': During an Israeli army raid in the West Bank, a pregnant woman was shot in the stomach and lost her baby.

Does anyone really believe that it takes propaganda to teach Palestinian children to hate the occupiers?

They don't need a cartoon to teach them hate, they have the Israeli army.

Tags: israel, palestine, occupation, civilian-killings, settlements, media

Taliban chief's death a big U.S. victory

Sun, 13 May 2007 22:42:27 GMT

clipped by: usmc6531

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

KABUL, Afghanistan - The killing of the top Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah, a one-legged fighter who orchestrated suicide attacks, beheadings and an ethnic massacre, marks a major victory for the U.S. campaign at a time of flagging Afghan support over civilian killings.

As victims of Dadullah's brutality celebrated his death Sunday, analysts called the killing the most significant Taliban loss since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. But even NATO acknowledged that Dadullah, who directed some of the Taliban's most notorious violence, would soon be replaced.

Dadullah, a top lieutenant of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, was killed in the southern province of Helmand during a U.S.-led operation that also involved NATO and Afghan troops, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said.

Tags: taliban, afghanistan, news, war

Clipmarks | Civilian-killings Clips

Validity of Charges on Haditha Marine Questioned

Czech resistance to Communism cast as heroes and as murderers

U.S. Death Squads and Terrorism in Afghanistan

CIA death squads killing with “impunity” in Afghanistan

In defense of William Ayers

3rd marine cleared of Haditha charges

Thoughts on Nangarhar from an ex-Marine

America's dangerous trigger finger

My Lai marks massacre's 40th anniversary

33 Civilian Deaths Per Day

Sangin Valley Area

Military: US Marines killed Iraqis ‘in cold blood’

Murtha Alleges Attempted Cover-Up of Haditha Massacre

Think Progress

Murtha on Haditha: ‘I Know There Was a Cover-up … The Chain of Command Tried to Stifle the Story’

Iraq - counting the casualties of war

How a journalist broke the Haditha story

Media focus on Hamas Mouse, neglect occupation

Taliban chief's death a big U.S. victory