WP: Rumsfeld's OSD tried to keep the lid on Haditha

[Rose Siding]

snip>
On March 10, the findings were given to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Gen. Peter Pace, the first Marine ever to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Rumsfeld told aides that the case promised to be a major problem. He called it "really, really bad -- as bad or worse than Abu Ghraib," recalled one Pentagon official. On March 11, President Bush was informed, according to the White House.....

That weekend, almost four months after the incident, "we went to general quarters," recalled one Marine general, using the naval expression for the call to arms. The following Monday, March 13, Marine officers began briefing key members of Congress on defense-related committees. Their message was succinct: Something highly disturbing had happened in Haditha, and its repercussions could be serious. The alacrity of the Marine response surprised some of Rumsfeld's aides in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. OSD, as it is called at the Pentagon, told the Marine Corps a few days later not to say anything to anyone about the investigation, recalled the general. Too late, the Marines responded, we've already briefed Capitol Hill.
...
Then, on May 17, Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) let the news slip out. In the middle of a rambling statement at the outset of a news conference on Capitol Hill, he said -- almost as an aside -- that what happened in Haditha was "much worse than reported in Time magazine." He asserted that the investigations would reveal that "our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood."

The reporters present barely focused on what Murtha had said. When the congressman finished his statement, the first reporter asked about Iraqi security forces. The second asked about U.S. troop withdrawals. The third asked about congressional support for Murtha's resolution calling for a U.S. pullout from Iraq. Finally, the fourth asked about Haditha. Murtha responded with a bit more detail: "They actually went into the houses and killed women and children. And there was about twice as many as originally reported by Time." Even then, his comments captured little attention and were not front-page news.

It took a few days for the horror of what Murtha was talking about to sink in....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/03/AR2006060300710_2.html

"The reporters present barely focused on what Murtha had said."

I'm...I'm trembling. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THEM?

[Kagemusha]

1. A mere two dozen Iraqis had been killed in an incident.

The reporters must've been thinking, "And your point is...?"

Seriously, if they'd said an F-18 had killed 24 with a bomb, more than the 12 that had been reported, would it have caused eyebrows to be bat?

[Rose Siding]

6. You'd think the term "cold blood" might have awoken the dozers.

If this had been the WH gaggle, we could have excused them for looking forward to the next workday showing of a grade B movie!

[spindrifter]

2. The press has not

taken a humanitarian, ethicist perspective on this war. They are looking for numbers--how many troops will be withdrawn; when will drawdown begin? Their ears are not in tune with the stories that can change the course of this misbegotten war.

[babylonsister]

3. On March 11, President Bush was informed, according to the White House.

That's not what he was saying last week, is it.

Unbelievable. I'm more convinced than ever that the head sheds need to pay for this.

[TomInTib]

7. Ain't gonna happen.

A few Majors may be 'relieved of command' (read: reassigned),MAYBE a reprimand to someone already scheduled to leave.

The enlisteds will take the fall like they always do.

[babylonsister]

8. This is a big fat cover-up by this admin and the media, nothing less.

My disgust meter is off the charts.

[Rose Siding]

9. Chiarelli sounds like a decent enough sort

but I can't figure out why it took Col Watt until March 9th -looks like about a month- to report (a)the COD on the death certs, and (b)that no investigation had been done previously.

Wouldn't that be about a dozen phone calls for a colonel?

[Pachamama]

12. Gee, March 11th was about 2 1/2 mos earlier than Bush claims he heard of

the Haditha Massacre!

I totally agree with you BabylonSister - The corpse is rotting from the head down and they need to start with the head!

[Rose Siding]

18. Time Magazine reporters could have asked back in early Feb

That's what initiated the general in Iraq to launch an investigation. When Bush said he learned about it from reporters, maybe he meant the Time reporters. They could have been asking the WH about it then, too.

The question then becomes, why did he sit on it until March 11? Did he ever ask anyone about that? Why not?

March 11 is a month to 6 weeks *later* than when Time was asking govt sources about Haditha.

[malaise]

14. You needed this to convince

you that these war criminals must pay?

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

17. An aside to 'War Criminals'

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/956xhybq.asp

Although most of you will not go to this article in the Weekly Standard, it is called "Justice Denied"
It's author, Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, explains the reasoning for the US not recognizing the International Criminal Court--http://www.icc-cpi.int/home.html&l=en
According to Chertoff, American businesses could be prosecuted for War Crimes if a State they were doing business with were being prosecuted.
What Bullshit! :puke:

[Rose Siding]

4. And here's the new question for Bush-

It appears that he may have first heard about the killings from a Time reporter. That's how the Gen in Iraq who initiated the very first investigation heard about it. Time could also have been calling the WH at the time- that was early Feb.

This article says:

"On March 11, President Bush was informed, according to the White House."

So: WHAT did the WH do with the information they obtained from Time? Did they ask the DoD? Did Bush have any contact with Rum in Feb or earlier in March? Is Bush allowed to ask him questions? And why is the WH saying they didn't know anything until the 11th? In early Feb, Time was investigating for the story in Iraq, which is presumably more labor intensive than making a call to the WH switchboard.

This is a discrepancy in Bush's story.

[CountAllVotes]

5. another * lie

nothing new here, move along.

:sarcasm: :grr:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

10. yeah, why do they hate America?

[Canuckistanian]

11. Yeah, yeah, 24 civilian deaths.. now how about that Iraqi army?

Remarkably callous, even for this press gallery.

[Disturbed]

13. Busholini knew about Haditha when Rumsfailed

was informed of it. The Bush Regime decided to stall this as long as possible in order to fashion a response to it.

[Canuckistanian]

19. Like every piece of bad news

You can be 100% sure that any bad news that could possibly hurt them politically has already been forwarded to Rove and the spin dept.

That's his only job these days.

[peacetalksforall]

15. The PNAC force which is the WH could have already contacted the

ceo's of NBC-Newsweek, CNN-TIme, WSJ, Murdoch, Moon, Viacom to avoid covering it - perhaps way before Christmas.

We need to replace all the Rumsfeld force of officers with a counter-force of officers who will not over perform on behalf of corporations. There have to be some.

The lawsuite are going to cost we taxpayers a fortune and it will only become worse if we allow the PNAC generals to stay.

We have torment, torture, and massacre. Will someone please remind me why some in this country still keep saying that we are superior to other countries?

We cannot allow the PNAC force to acquit these officers.

We cannot allow an Executive signing/order that the investigation be stopped.

[lebkuchen]

16. US soldiers, who are supposed to maintain a high level of decorum, by law

are running amok. Nearly every day there is a report in Stars & Stripes about some egregious act this or that soldier has perpetrated, on our tax dollar.

Rumsfeld is responsible for the military. He should have been fired a long time ago for his primary contribution to our military's ethical and structural demise. He hasn't been, he won't be, and the atrocities seen in Iraq will continue, and continue to be covered up. You can bet on it.


Kitty Hawk sailor gets life term for killing Japanese woman
http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=37627

Third GI sentenced for child molesting
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=20346&archive=true

Baumholder GI found guilty of hit-and-run
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=19074&archive=true

Soldier gets 15 years for Baumholder crime spree
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=34058&archive=true

Arson, crime test patience of Germans in Baumholder
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=30768&archive=true

[HysteryDiagnosis]

20. To quote the misleader in chief.... "We live in a free and open

society.... blather blather blather....". Parts of this message have been censored due to mature subject matter.