U.S. officers rejected Haditha probe request (from Iraqis)

[Barrett808]

Source: Reuters

U.S. officers rejected Haditha probe request: Marine
By Marty Graham

CAMP PENDLETON, California (Reuters) - U.S. commanders rejected a local council's request for an investigation days after Marines in Iraq killed 24 civilians in the town of Haditha in November 2005, according to testimony on Saturday at a military tribunal.

The councilors' concerns were dismissed because commanders believed the civilians died in cross-fire when troops responded to an attack by insurgents that had killed one of their own, said Maj. Dana Hyatt, who was at what he said was a 45-minute-long meeting between local officials and Marine officers.

"It wasn't the Marines who instigated this. Having (bombs) and attacks in the neighborhood was also their (the residents') responsibility, they had some responsibility," Hyatt said, in testimony at the hearing into the killings at Camp Pendleton, a Marine Corps base in Southern California.

Hyatt, who was in charge of condolence payments to families of the dead and acted as liaison between Marines and the community, characterized the deaths as "unfortunate."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070512/ts_nm/iraq_haditha_dc

[Kagemusha]

1. In other words it was the unarmed civilians' fault and they deserved to die.

Thank you for making that clear, Maj. Hyatt.