Day: June 2, 2006
Reporter Worried Marines Might ‘Crack’ Three Months Before Haditha
Bad moon rising: Three months before Marines in Haditha allegedly murdered two dozen Iraqi civilians, Tom Lasseter, longtime Baghdad correspondent for Knight Ridder, filed a report that noted concerns that the marines there might “crack under the pressure.”
Here is Lasseter’s Aug. 28, 2005, story, as it appeared then. According to Editor & Publisher, Lasseter recently won an Overseas Press Club award for his reporting from Iraq.
HIT, Iraq — The inability of U.S. forces to hold ground in Anbar province in western Iraq, and the cat and mouse chase that ensues, has put the Marines and soldiers there under intense physical and psychological pressure.
The sun raises temperatures to 115 degrees most days, insurgents stage ambushes daily then melt into the civilian population and American troops in Anbar find themselves in a house of mirrors in which they don’t speak the language and can’t tell friend from foe.
Most Marines and soldiers in Anbar live behind massive concrete barriers, bales of concertina wire and perimeters guarded by sniper towers and tanks.
‘There’s killing bad guys and there’s murdering civilians. Let’s do the first and not the second. Murderers we’re not, OK?’
— Maj. Nicholas ViscontiDespite their overwhelming military might, they must watch every alleyway for snipers and each patch of road for mines or bombs, which can send balls of flame through their vehicles. That happened earlier this month south of Haditha, when an explosion killed 14 Marines in an amphibious assault vehicle.
Officers worry about the enemy while trying to make sure their men don’t crack under the pressure.
“I tell the guys not to lose their humanity over here, because it’s easy to do,” said Marine Capt. James Haunty, 27, of Columbus, Ohio. “I tell them not to turn into Col. Kurtz.”
Haunty was referring to a character in Joseph Conrad’s novella, “Heart of Darkness.” It became the basis for the Vietnam War movie “Apocalypse Now,” in which Kurtz has a mental breakdown and murders suspected Vietnamese double agents.
Asked for an example of the kind of pressure that could cause Marines to crack, Haunty talked about the results of a car bomb: “I’ve picked up pieces of a friend, a Marine. I don’t ever want to see that s— again.”
Poll: Public Doesn’t Share Congress’ Outrage Over FBI Raid
Outrage outage: In a rare show of bipartisanism, both Republican and Democrat lawmakers denounced the FBI’s raid last week on Democrat Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson’s office. But according to National Journal’s PollTrack, most regular folks don’t have a problem with the first such raid on a member of Congress’ office in 214 years.
A new poll from ABC News found that an overwhelming majority — 86 percent — of respondents backed the FBI’s actions. Just 10 percent said law enforcement officers should not be allowed to search congressional offices, even with a warrant. That view was dominant among both Democrats (78 percent) and Republicans (94 percent).
Seems like high-profile scandals like the Jack Abramoff lobbying case are depressing the public’s opinions of lawmakers’ integrity.
Only 27 percent of ABC respondents gave Congress’ ethics record a positive rating. In a poll conducted by FOX News/Opinion Dynamics before the raid on Jefferson’s office, just over a quarter said they approve of how Congress is doing its job; a Diageo/Hotline survey from mid-May put approval at 29 percent.
While the ABC poll shows Democrats faring somewhat better on the ethics issue with a 7-point lead over Republicans, 72 percent of respondents see no difference in the ethics and honesty of politicians in either party.
Ishaqi: Another Instance of U.S. Troops Killing Children, Elderly Alleged
Another cover-up too: The BBC has video evidence that U.S. forces may have deliberately killed 11 innocent Iraqi civilians, including five children and four women, on March 15, 2006:
According to the Americans, the building collapsed under heavy fire killing four people – a suspect, two women and a child.
But a report filed by Iraqi police accused US troops of rounding up and deliberately shooting 11 people in the house, including five children and four women, before blowing up the building.
The video tape obtained by the BBC shows a number of dead adults and children at the site with what our world affairs editor John Simpson says were clearly gunshot wounds.
News of this latest incident follows revelations that U.S. forces went on a rampage in Haditha, killing members of a family in their home and pulling young men out of a taxis and shooting them in cold blood.
Q: Why Did Bush DHS Decrease Terror Funding for NYC and DC?
A: Both cities voted overwhelmingly for John Kerry in 2004. According to Randi Rhodes on her June 1, 2006, show, the vote in New York City for Kerry was over 70 percent and the Kerry vote in Washington, D.C., was over 90 percent.
