Musings 145--Pentagon says Marines killed civilians

I guess it had to happen. It happened several times in Viet Nam, that we know of, but I had hope that maybe it wouldn't happen in Iraq. It is time to take off the rose-colored-glasses. Soldiers are trained to kill, and they will take it to the extreme, sometimes.

According to the Pentagon and reported by Knight Ridder, U. S. Marines shot and killed more than a dozen Iraqi civilians on November 19, 2005. (See Link) Apparently, an improvised explosive device (IED) killed one Marine and the rest went on a killing spree.

Rep. John Murtha, D, PA, the a ranking member on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee said, "Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them. And they killed innocent civilians in cold blood. That is what the (Pentagon) report is going to tell."

Knight Ridder is reporting that 23 people were killed by the Marines. Drew Brown, a Knight Ridder reporter, wrote the following: "Military public affairs officers said the investigation isn't completed and declined to provide further information. 'There is an ongoing investigation,' said Lt. Col. Sean Gibson, a Marine spokesman at Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Fla. 'Any comment at this time would be inappropriate.'"

And there it is...in a war that drags on, this type of abuse will become more and more the rule rather than the exception. It is not by accident that many of our combat troops have the motto "Kill them all and let God sort them out." It is the truth of war. Even the good guys sometimes get out of hand.

Rep. Murtha continued, " One man was killed with an IED, and after that, they actually went into the houses and killed women and children."

There will be those on the right who will try to spin this. They will say that our troops need the benefit of doubt. However, if the Pentagon report says that this happened; then, there can be no support of the taking of innocent lives. Murder is murder--no matter if it is the streets of New York, U.S.A. or the streets of Haditha, Iraq.