If disturbing allegations of U.S. Marines murdering two dozen Iraqi civilians last November prove true, those involved need to be prosecuted and punished.
Iraqi witnesses say American troops shot men, women and children at close range in the western Iraq town of Haditha last Nov. 19, reportedly in retaliation for a roadside bomb that killed a Marine. Investigators are probing whether the killings were unprovoked, and whether there was a cover- up.
“If the allegations as they are being portrayed in the newspapers turn out to be valid, then of course there’ll be charges,” said Marine Gen. Peter Pace.
He’s right. Marines suspected in the incident should be subject to the military justice system, including its protections.
But there also are important issues about what happened after Nov. 19 that must be addressed, key questions like who knew about the deaths and what they did after they found out.
It’s also important to find out why so much time has passed without apparent action on the matter.
The deaths took place in November, yet the Pentagon apparently didn’t find out about them until February, when alerted by Time magazine. That’s supposedly when President Bush found out, too.
Iraq’s new prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, said he’s growing impatient with U.S. explanations that the deaths were a mistake and that he will launch his own probe. Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, also said his panel would examine the incident. If Warner follows through, it’s important that his panel focus on how the military responded after the deaths.
If some reports are true, the killings could be the most grave case of U.S. misconduct since the Iraq war began in March 2003. Some congressmen who have been briefed on the investigations say the incident could be worse than Abu Ghraib. Last week, Bush said the prisoner abuse there was the worst mistake of the war.
An appropriate government response could send an important message about American justice and morality. A bungled response could be another blow to the image of the United States.
Sadly, though, continuing violence has created despair among some Iraqis. “So what if more innocent people were killed,” a 37-year-old express-mail courier named Ismael Abbas told The Washington Post. “Dozens of them die daily.”
Americans, and the Iraqi people, deserve nothing less than a thorough investigation and a full airing of what really happened.
