LAT: Bloody Scenes (from Haditha) Haunt a Marine

[Rose Siding]

HANFORD, Calif. — Lance Cpl. Roel Ryan Briones says he is tormented by two memories of Nov. 19, 2005, in Haditha, Iraq.

The first is of the body of his best friend and fellow Marine blown apart just after dawn by a roadside bomb. The second is of the lifeless form of a small Iraqi girl, one of two dozen unarmed civilians allegedly killed by members of his Camp Pendleton unit — Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.

Briones, a wiry, soft-spoken 21-year-old interviewed Sunday at his family home in this Central Valley city, said he was not among the small group of Marines that military investigators have concluded killed the civilians, including children, women and elderly men.

However, Briones, who goes by Ryan, said he took photographs of the victims and helped carry their bodies out of their homes as part of the cleanup crew sent in late in the afternoon on the day of the killings.
...
Of the 12 Marines being investigated, three or four are thought to have done the killing, according to officials briefed on the investigation. The others are being investigated for failing to stop the killings or for not reporting the incident truthfully.

Briones is the first of his unit to speak publicly about the events. His account provides background on the atmosphere and activities that day in the Euphrates River town and the traumatic memories it left in its wake.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-marine29may29,0,2620650.story?coll=la-home-headlines

This article provides many more details of Briones' account. When he got back to the site after evacuating some other Marines who were injured in the attack that killed Terrazas, he relates that "most of the Marines on the site were sergeants or above, including several officers". Also, in a letter, his mom said he knew "knew who sent the word out to do the killings".

[UpInArms]

1. "on the site were sergeants or above, including several officers"

When they arrived, Briones said that most of the Marines on the site were sergeants or above, including several officers: "I remember because they didn't have enough lance corporals to deal with the bodies."

Names, I want NAMES - I want prosecutions and convictions for war crimes.

[DoYouEverWonder]

2. You want names? Let's start with these

George Bush & Donald Rumsfeld.

[UpInArms]

3. I do believe that if the names of those "officers" were made

public, the outcry for them to expose their orders from GWB and Rumsfeld would show that this comes directly from the top.

[koopie57]

4. I wish I could feel like you

it would make the struggle inside me much easier, but I wonder what it feels like to be responsible for other soldiers and watch them being slaughtered one by one, here and there, and feel you should have done more, done something but ...what?

I know I'm niave and people make fun of for that, but it hurts so badly to hear of people who were, up until this damn war, my neighbors, co-workers, etc. who are now killing defenseless people out of fear or whatever. It sucks to be human and make mistakes under normal circumstances ... on this grand scale is unimaginable to me.

[UpInArms]

5. To be responsible for other soldiers -

that is the key -

Who is responsible for putting these soldiers in Iraq?

George W. Bush

Who is responsible for the actions for these soldiers in Iraq?

George W. Bush

These "officers" have a huge responsibility and should know exactly what they were allowing to be done IN OUR NAMES -

We, the American people, suffer when our OFFICERS and LEADERS fail in their leadership duties and responsibilities.

WE, the American people - must look beyond the soldier on the ground that is under stress from continuously dealing with very dangerous situations and hold accountable those that do not LEAD.

These are not "bad apples" - this is systemic and this is how this "war" is being waged - illegally and with no moral compass from the top.

I have too many friends that still suffer from Vietnam and WWII to not know exactly what war is and does.

[lonestarnot]

8. And who refuses to admit he lied for profit? Bushitler. It's a fight to

the death, unfortunately not his.

[Erika]

6. Delete

can only produce insane results.

Bush should be impeached for sidetracking of his goal to get OBL.

[Erika]

7. An insane war without rationale

can only produce insane results.

Bush should be impeached for sidetracking of his goal to get OBL.

[CoffeeCat]

9. He needs to release his photos!!!

If Ryan has photos of the atrocities, he need to release them far and wide.

Enough of the sanitized version of this war.

We rarely do see any pictures. The country is being torn apart, many are homeless refugees
and many are without electricity and running water. Where are those pictures?

The top brass in the MSM does not allow us to witness how bloody, ugly and heinous this sickening
war is. We are supposedly there to "spread freedom" and the truth would really put a splinter
into the eye of that sound byte.

It's times for Americans to see the truth. It's time for Americans to see what they're paying for.

It's time for Americans to see that we are NOT spreading freedom, and that this mission is a
complete farce now.

Our government learned a great deal from Vietnam. They learned that pictures and video of the truth
can fuel an anti-war movement and decrease support for the war. That's why pictures of the coffins
are forbidden. That's why we rarely see the truth.

I'm sick of the MSM corporatists hiding the truth from us--per government orders. It's just
so criminal and awful. Our leaders answer to us, and how can America hold them accountable if the
MSM is willing to hide the truth from the people?

Release those pictures, Ryan!!!

[Fluffdaddy]

10. "Marine at Haditha: 'I Can Still Smell the Blood'

Only hours after Iraqi civilians were killed, a second team of Marines was sent in to take the victims' bodies to a local morgue.

Lance Corp. Ryan Briones was among the Marines sent in to recover the bodies, and he told the Los Angeles Times he is still haunted by what he saw, including a young girl who was shot in the head.

" ranged from little babies to adult males and females," Briones told the newspaper. "I can still smell the blood."

Briones says he and another Marine were told to photograph the bodies. Military officials say those photos — which they say show people shot at close range in the head and chest — clearly contradict initial reports that the civilians were killed by a roadside bomb.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2017565&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

[beam me up scottie]

11. "I cannot believe you're buying any of this"

More than two months after the incident Time magazine asked the military to respond to allegations of the killings.

The magazine says a Marine spokesman responded with an e-mail stating, "I cannot believe you're buying any of this. This falls into the same category of Al-Qaeda in Iraq propaganda."

It was only after Time magazine showed a video in February to another military spokesman in Baghdad that an investigation was begun.

"Something broke down here in the sense that no investigation was conducted immediately," said Gen. Jack Keane. "Therefore, people most likely in the chain of command who had knowledge and should have taken action appropriately did not and they will be under investigation for the failure to do that.

[mike_c]

20. only because they got caught....

This is all so fucking transparent. Just how stupid do they think we are?

[beam me up scottie]

22. They paid off the families.

Or tried to.

[Supersedeas]

34. Bushian Propoganda to attack the messager, contradict the obvious facts

and then investigate for months on end with somewhat inconclusive report to follow

[CoffeeCat]

12. This is so horrible...

...but I am relieved to know that this unspeakable crime will not be hidden.

I am wondering why they were told to take photos?

Doesn't that seem odd to anyone else? If the higher-ups went to great lengths to cover
this up and manufacture a story about how these civilians were killed--why would they
instruct anyone to take photographs?

[Erika]

14. Good question. It is military SOP to photograph victims

It seems then wires got crossed.

[blitzen]

13. i'm afraid that the only reason we're hearing about this is...

that there is irrefutable video and photographic evidence. How many other such events have been covered up with "plausible denial"?

[beam me up scottie]

15. Exactly.

They tried like hell to cover this one up.

I guess they thought that $2500.00 per head would be enough to silence the relatives of the victims.

How much is your dead child worth to America?

[Erika]

16. Murtha will see to it that the cover up is investigated

He said there is no acceptable reason this has not been completely investigated earlier.

There aren't just photographs, there are also videos of the deaths being shown by Arab TV.

[Lin]

18. b/c a young girl (and her bro) lived to tell tale (eom)

[BooScout]

23. Exactly...how many more 'isolated' incidences....

...have to occur before people wake up and understand that it's not isolated? Or before people lay all the blame at Bush's feet? Yes it's Bush's fault we are in Iraq, but I am sick to death of people constantly excusing the atrocities with bullshit like 'our poor troops are under stress' and 'it's all Bush's fault for sending them there'. Troops responsible for such crimes against humanity deserve nothing less than life in prison without parole.

[Fluffdaddy]

17. Marines' families discuss Iraq incident

Two Marines were severely traumatized when told to photograph the corpses of men, women and children after members of their unit allegedly killed as many as two dozen unarmed Iraqi civilians, their families said Monday.

Lance Cpl. Andrew Wright, 20, and Lance Cpl. Roel Ryan Briones, 21, both members of the Marine unit based at Camp Pendleton, photographed the scene in the western Iraqi city of Haditha with personal cameras they happened to be carrying the day of the attack.



http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/14690460.htm

[FightingIrish]

19. The end of thi smadness begins today.

It’s time to take this administration apart. Waiting for America to wake up is an unrealistic pipe dream. The horror of Bush’s war has come home to all of us in all too nauseating clarity. The blasphemy of a war criminal president calling for more lives to be sacrificed in honor of all those he has wasted already is more than this American can tolerate. There will be no turning the corner. This bad idea can only get worse. My Memorial Day is about remembering fiends who died for another presidential delusion. My prayer is about no more dying in vain for one man’s vanity and arrogance. Even a puppet president has to know when he has screwed the pooch. My war against the war resumes in earnest today. Patience, my ass.

[Erika]

21. An insane war built on insane rationale

will produce insane results. W should be tried for war crimes for sending our troops to his war.

[dmoded]

24. the iraqi war in 3 irrational steps

GW - Saddam is an imminent threat, let's go boys!! (false)
GW - SAddam has WMD's - Time to invade!! (False)

with that being said, how does that add up to:

Saddam: My sons are dead, my country is in ruins set 50 years back by the carnage, water supplies are short, electricity is cut, depeleted uranium is in our soil which will pollute us for years, they used napalam in their fallujah invasion attempt and i am now on in jail and on trial in a puppet court for killing some kurds 24 years ago when they tried to take my life. (True)

Illogical madness, but the righties can somehow justify this in a heartbeat with the constant flatulence that come out of their mouths. the scariest thing is someone who lies so much that after time they actually start to believe it.

[told you]

25. The bloody pictures

We got them all over the news here in Germany...

[jayfish]

33. That's Very Good For You.

It shows that Germany has a mature populace. See here in Merika, all the little children must be protected form the realities of life. Our beautiful minds would not be able to process all of that senseless slaughter and carnage. If the fragile American Psyche was exposed to such trauma it could lead to some very unpleasant consequences. Like Americans not supporting bullshit wars.

Jay

[1932]

26. I bet they haunt survivors and victims' family members in Haditha more.

I appreciate that this article is trying to get the truth out, but it irks me that an American is portrayed as the victim. How many times, outside of war, does the press portray witnesses of facts to crimes as victims of the crime? Let me answer that question: never.

[Moderator]

27. Kick

[leftchick]

28. Parents: Iraqi deaths traumatized Marines

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060530/ap_on_re_us/marines_iraq_investigations_49


HANFORD, Calif. - Family members of two Marines say their sons were ordered to photograph and clean up corpses of unarmed Iraqi civilians that members of their unit are suspected of killing, and they have been traumatized ever since.

In separate interviews with The Associated Press on Monday, the parents of Lance Cpl. Andrew Wright, 20, and Lance Cpl. Roel Ryan Briones, 21, said their sons told them the events of last November remain seared in their memories.

Wright and Briones were members of a Marine unit based at Camp Pendleton that was sent into the western Iraqi city of Haditha to help remove the bodies of as many as two dozen Iraqis, including women and children, who were shot.

While there, the two were ordered to photograph the scene with personal cameras they happened to be carrying the day of the attack, the families said. Briones' mother, Susie, said her son told her he saw the bodies of 23 dead Iraqis that day.

"It was horrific. It was a terrible scene," Susie Briones said in a tearful interview at her home in California's San Joaquin Valley.

[msongs]

29. so did mom cry over the murdered iraqis? nt

[nealmhughes]

30. I'm not sure of the intent of your post.

From my reading, her tears was that the event was seared into her son's mind and now she was equally traumatized from his description to her. If we follow the probable chain of thought, what had once been abstract "casualities" suddenly became women and children because her son saw their bullet-riddled corpses and gave dramatic emotional testimony to his family.

[David__77]

32. I think the point is...

...the Iraqis are dead--murdered--and will never be able to "recover." These soldiers will get therapy and benefits from the military, and are alive and breathing. Their tragedy is little compared with that of the Iraqis.

[catabryna]

31. The soldier's mom called it a massacre...

and explained how her son had to clean up the bodies and carry a little girl whose head had been blown off. I think it's fair to say that she was crying for the innocent civilians as well as her son.