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Iraqi Civilian Deaths ... caused by Bush's unprovoked war

 

U.S. troops face execution for war crimes in Iraq
(The New York Times, July 9, 2006)
No American serviceman has been executed since 1961. But in the past month, new cases in Iraq have led to charges against 12 American servicemen who may face the death penalty in connection with the killing of Iraqi civilians. . . . As investigators complete their work, military officials say, the total of American servicemen charged with capital crimes in the new cases could grow substantially, perhaps exceeding the 16 other Marines and soldiers charged with murdering Iraqis throughout the first three years of the war. . . . Some military officials and experts say the new crop of cases appears to arise from a confluence of two factors: An increasingly chaotic and violent war with no clear end in sight, and a newly vigilant attitude among U.S. commanders about civilian deaths. . . . At least five separate incidents involving the deaths of Iraqis are under investigation, setting off the greatest outcry against U.S. military actions since the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. By far the best-known of the cases is the one in Haditha, where Marines are being investigated in the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in November. No charges have been filed in that case, but some say news of the incident may have helped bring some later cases to light. . . . In April, Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, issued an order that specified for the first time that U.S. forces must investigate any use of force against Iraqis that resulted in death, injury or property damage greater than $10,000. . . . Maj. Todd Breasseale, a spokesman for the U.S. military command, said he knew of no clear link between Chiarelli's order and the recent homicide investigations. . . . But Breasseale said Chiarelli, who took over day-to-day military operations in Iraq in January, has made clear to subordinates that he puts a priority on avoiding and scrupulously reporting civilian casualties. . . . The incidents are far from the only ones in which U.S. forces killed Iraqis. But serious criminal charges in such cases have been rare until now.

posted by Lorenzo 12:54 PM