Dari MetroFocus January 31, 2008 - www.metro.co.uk
Entry ini dipetik dari akhbar Metro UK yang diedar secara percuma di kenderaan-kenderaan awam. Sebuah artikel yang sungguh menarik. Bacalah...
On the hunt for the truth
On the morning of November 19, 2005, a roadside bomb planted by insurgents exploded in the Iraqi town of Haditha, killing 20-year-old US marnie Miguel Tarrrazas. He'd been out on patrol in a convoy of four army vehicles.
With one dead and two wounded, the young marines retaliated with house searches in the area, resulting in the deaths of 24 civilians. The marine corps' initial statement reported that 15 Iraqis were killed by the original bomb blast and that in the ensuing gun battle marines killed eight insurgents.
It might have been left at that had amateur video footage not been passed to an Iraqi human rights organisation. Shot the day after the massacre, it showed bullet-ridden, blood-stained rooms and bodies of men, women and children.
Witnesses, including a nine-year-old girl whose parents and four other family members were killed, said soldiers went on the rampage to avenge their friend's death. Of the dead, at least six were children.
Time magazine later obtained a copy of the video and ran an article in March 2006, prompting a US army investigation, which is ongoing. A marine corps squad leader and seben others were initially charged in connection with the deaths.
Hate and distrust
The events are the focus of Battle for Haditha, the latest work by British film-maker Nick Broomfield, whose previous subjects include seriel killer Aileen Wournos and the deaths of Chinese cockle-pickers in Morecambe Bay. Does his view what the marines did as murder?
"It's a complicated question, because marines are trained to kill," says Broomfield, though he doesn't excuse what they did.
"The marines I met all joined at the age of 17. They didn't understand anything about Iraqis, but they all seemed to hate and distrust Arabs, which you imagine they got in their training. And they were all desperately trying to stay alive and protect one another."
Tim McGiirk, who wrote the original Time article, is less sympathetic. "One of the rules of engagement is that you don't go to a house and shoot up civilians, women and children," he says. "But we should also ask, was there a cover-up? Did the marine commander know his men had killed civilians or did he just take their workd and let it slide?"
Coming on the heels of Abu Gharib prison abuse scandals, the Haditha massacre helped turn US opinion against the war. It also played into the hands of insurgents as a propaganda tool. Broomfield however, believes that the killing of civilans is more common than we think. "There have been many "Hadithas" in the Iraq conflict - some of them probably worse. I picked this up from marines, mostly: that there were executions and very strange things going on in the battle for Fallujah, which we'll probably never know about because they bulldozed half the city immediately afterwards."
Is this kind of thing still happening? "I've heard through military soruces that, after Haditha, there's much closer look being taken at civilian deaths at the hands of American servicemen," says McGiirk.
Broomfield isn't so sure. "General [James] Maitis, who's in charge of this inquiry, is on record as saying that killing can be fun. This attitudes are deeply ingrained. They're not going to change marine training or care about this kind of thing as long as they get away with it."
How do British forces try to avoid situations such as Haditha? "British forces, like coalition nations in Iraq, do everything they can to avoid civilian casualties," says an MoD spokesman.
"British operations are aimed against only legitimate military targets and our troops' rules of engagement allow them to use lethal force only if necessary."
Thrown out of court
The trial of Staff Sgt Frank Wuterich, who led the marine unit in Haditha, is seet for February 25 at Camp Pendleton in California. Many of the original charges against him and the other men involved, however, have already been dropped or reduced.
"The American authorities are doing everything possible to discredit the Iraqi witnesses," says Broomfield. "[Sanick] Delta Cruzm a marine who testified about what happened, was also regarded as unreliable so his testimony was thrown out of court. The American authorities need to be seen to be doing something but they're doing the bare minimum."
Lt Col Sean Gibson, spokesman for the US Marine Corps, says: "The incident at Haditha is the subject of an ongoing investigation and court martial process. Until this is complete, it would be speculative to suggest what lessons should be learned."
Battle for Haditha (15) is in selected cinemas from tomorrow.
Entry ini dipetik dari akhbar Metro UK yang diedar secara percuma di kenderaan-kenderaan awam. Sebuah artikel yang sungguh menarik. Bacalah...
On the hunt for the truthOn the morning of November 19, 2005, a roadside bomb planted by insurgents exploded in the Iraqi town of Haditha, killing 20-year-old US marnie Miguel Tarrrazas. He'd been out on patrol in a convoy of four army vehicles.
With one dead and two wounded, the young marines retaliated with house searches in the area, resulting in the deaths of 24 civilians. The marine corps' initial statement reported that 15 Iraqis were killed by the original bomb blast and that in the ensuing gun battle marines killed eight insurgents.
It might have been left at that had amateur video footage not been passed to an Iraqi human rights organisation. Shot the day after the massacre, it showed bullet-ridden, blood-stained rooms and bodies of men, women and children.
Witnesses, including a nine-year-old girl whose parents and four other family members were killed, said soldiers went on the rampage to avenge their friend's death. Of the dead, at least six were children.
Time magazine later obtained a copy of the video and ran an article in March 2006, prompting a US army investigation, which is ongoing. A marine corps squad leader and seben others were initially charged in connection with the deaths.
Hate and distrust
The events are the focus of Battle for Haditha, the latest work by British film-maker Nick Broomfield, whose previous subjects include seriel killer Aileen Wournos and the deaths of Chinese cockle-pickers in Morecambe Bay. Does his view what the marines did as murder?
"It's a complicated question, because marines are trained to kill," says Broomfield, though he doesn't excuse what they did.
"The marines I met all joined at the age of 17. They didn't understand anything about Iraqis, but they all seemed to hate and distrust Arabs, which you imagine they got in their training. And they were all desperately trying to stay alive and protect one another."
Tim McGiirk, who wrote the original Time article, is less sympathetic. "One of the rules of engagement is that you don't go to a house and shoot up civilians, women and children," he says. "But we should also ask, was there a cover-up? Did the marine commander know his men had killed civilians or did he just take their workd and let it slide?"
Coming on the heels of Abu Gharib prison abuse scandals, the Haditha massacre helped turn US opinion against the war. It also played into the hands of insurgents as a propaganda tool. Broomfield however, believes that the killing of civilans is more common than we think. "There have been many "Hadithas" in the Iraq conflict - some of them probably worse. I picked this up from marines, mostly: that there were executions and very strange things going on in the battle for Fallujah, which we'll probably never know about because they bulldozed half the city immediately afterwards."
Is this kind of thing still happening? "I've heard through military soruces that, after Haditha, there's much closer look being taken at civilian deaths at the hands of American servicemen," says McGiirk.
Broomfield isn't so sure. "General [James] Maitis, who's in charge of this inquiry, is on record as saying that killing can be fun. This attitudes are deeply ingrained. They're not going to change marine training or care about this kind of thing as long as they get away with it."
How do British forces try to avoid situations such as Haditha? "British forces, like coalition nations in Iraq, do everything they can to avoid civilian casualties," says an MoD spokesman.
"British operations are aimed against only legitimate military targets and our troops' rules of engagement allow them to use lethal force only if necessary."
Thrown out of court
The trial of Staff Sgt Frank Wuterich, who led the marine unit in Haditha, is seet for February 25 at Camp Pendleton in California. Many of the original charges against him and the other men involved, however, have already been dropped or reduced.
"The American authorities are doing everything possible to discredit the Iraqi witnesses," says Broomfield. "[Sanick] Delta Cruzm a marine who testified about what happened, was also regarded as unreliable so his testimony was thrown out of court. The American authorities need to be seen to be doing something but they're doing the bare minimum."
Lt Col Sean Gibson, spokesman for the US Marine Corps, says: "The incident at Haditha is the subject of an ongoing investigation and court martial process. Until this is complete, it would be speculative to suggest what lessons should be learned."
Battle for Haditha (15) is in selected cinemas from tomorrow.
Teringin pula hendak mendapatkan DVD filem ini.
5 comments:
gi bom waithaus nak?
jom
dlm keadaan emosi aku macam ni.. aku on jer hahaha
Salam…
Bila ada isu2 cam ni rasanya lebih bebas masa bertugas di daerah, mcm2 yg boleh dibincangkan (pastilah dgn rakan2 sekerja lelaki sbb yg perempuan mmg tak minat benda2 ni semua).
Nak cari gaklah DVD citer ni, yg pasti mmg kena tengok sesorg lah nampaknya… nak buat cam na, minat tak sama dgn yg lain.
neen
menarik kan movie ni?
Tak pe nanti saya tengok2kan DVD mana yang best and i will suggest to you :)
untung duk kat obersi ni, filim2 utk ditonton lebih luas skopnye :)
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