Senior officers failed to scrutinise Haditha reports Bush promises ‘world will see full investigation’
by Julian Borger
WASHINGTON–US troops in Iraq were ordered yesterday to take a crash course in battlefield ethics, as Washington braced for the conclusion of two investigations into the killing of Iraqi civilians by American marines in Haditha. Troops will take the course on “core warrior values” within a month, which will include a slideshow on ethical standards under fire.
George Bush described it as “a reminder for troops in Iraq, or throughout our military, that there are high standards expected of them and that there are strong rules of engagement”. Announcing the training scheme, the US military commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli, did not mention last November’s incident in which 24 Iraqis were killed at Haditha, 125 miles north-west of Baghdad, but said: “The challenge for us is to make sure the actions of a few do not tarnish the good work of the many…”
The incident, and several other reported cases involving US troops in Iraq, threaten the most serious scandal involving the occupying force since Abu Ghraib, and have aggravated tension between the Americans and the new Iraqi government.
Last night, the BBC broadcast footage that it said came from a second incident in March, in which US soldiers were accused of executing 11 Iraqis, including four children, near the city of Balad. The Americans say they were hunting an al-Qaida suspect, but Iraqi police say they executed an entire family in a house which they then demolished.
The Iraqi government said last night it was launching its own inquiry into all the incidents. “It appears to be a horrible crime,” said the prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, of the Haditha case. “A large number of women, men and children have been eliminated because of an explosion that targeted a vehicle of the multinational forces.” He criticised the Americans for displaying “no respect for citizens, driving over vehicles and killing on suspicion or a hunch. It’s unacceptable”.
The US has launched two inquiries into the Haditha killings. A criminal investigation led by navy officials is still under way, but military officials predicted it would lead to murder charges against some members of the marine unit involved.
A parallel army investigation into an alleged cover-up of the incident is due to be delivered today. The Washington Post reported yesterday that this inquiry had found that senior officers had failed to scrutinise false reports of the deaths filed by the marines involved and those who removed the bodies of the victims the next day. Those battlefield reports claimed that the civilian victims were killed by an insurgents’ roadside bomb and a subsequent gunfight. Evidence later unearthed by journalists and military investigators showed instead that the civilians were rounded up and shot in their houses in a rampage by marines furious over the death of a member of their unit from a bomb attack.
A military official declined to say whether the negligence displayed by senior officers after the incident amounted to a cover-up, but Eugene Fidell, an expert on military law, said senior officers could face charges of dereliction of duty or obstruction of justice.
Today’s report will also argue that the training of troops sent to Iraq has put too much emphasis on traditional fighting skills and not enough on the requirements of the counter-insurgency.
“The world will see the full and complete investigation,” President Bush said yesterday. “The United States has got a willingness to deal with issues like this in an upfront way and correct problems. And that’s what you’re going to see unfold.”
Some human rights activists argue that Haditha illustrates an inherent reluctance of the chain of command to confront abuses by soldiers. “The issue here is the military’s capacity to police itself,” John Sifton, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said. “We’ve talked to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have tried to report abuses and have been rebuffed by senior officers.”
A coalition spokesman in Baghdad, Major General William Caldwell, said “about three or four” inquiries into civilian deaths were being carried out in Iraq, but he would not provide details.
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