Propaganda Fear Cited in Account of Iraqi Killings - New York Times

Propaganda Fear Cited in Account of Iraqi Killings - New York Times

The Times has published an article discussing the Pentagon's handling of news of the killings of 25 civilians at Haditha in 2005. Newly unclassified documents suggest that inaccurate reports were filed to prevent the news from being used by anti-American propagandists. Does the cover-up become worse than the news of the incident itself?

The lack of an investigation into the incident has been blamed on a junior officer. The Times reports:

Captain Stone, 34, of Dunkirk, Md., is accused of failing to investigate reports of the civilian deaths. In an interview that repeated similar frustrations voiced by lawyers for other accused officers, Captain Stone said he did not investigate the killings because his superiors told him not to.

“The regimental judge advocate informed me that we don’t do investigations for ‘troops in contact’ situations,” said Captain Stone, referring to the regiment’s lawyer, Maj. Carroll Connelly. Troops in contact is military language for combat against enemy fighters.

“That’s my understanding of what higher wanted,” Captain Stone said, referring to his superior officers, “and that’s why there was no investigation.”

“I don’t think I did anything wrong,” he went on. But he added, “There is a certain level of disappointment that the Marine Corps decided that, in the entire chain of command, that I am the one who should be held accountable.”