Text 20627, 90 rader
Skriven 2006-06-02 21:58:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Military
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This will upset the liberal left and the military haters....

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http://reuters.myway.com/article/20060602/2006-06-02T213237Z_01_WBT005473_RTRID
ST_0_NEWS-IRAQ-USA-ISHAQI-DC.html


Troops cleared in Iraqi deaths in Ishaqi


Jun 2, 5:32 PM (ET)


By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. military probe has exonerated U.S. troops in the
deaths of Iraqi civilians in the town of Ishaqi in March, finding American
forces followed standard procedures and committed no misconduct, defense
officials said on Friday.

The Ishaqi incident was one of a handful involving civilian deaths being
investigated by the U.S. military, including the deaths of 24 civilians in the
town of Haditha last November.

Police in Ishaqi, 60 miles north of Baghdad, have said six adults and five
children were shot dead in a U.S. military raid on a home on March 15.

The U.S. military maintains there were four dead in the incident, including a
guerrilla, two women and a child, and said they died after troops were fired
upon from the house as they arrived to arrest an al Qaeda suspect.

The defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said an
investigation found no wrongdoing by U.S. forces.

The officials said a military fact-finding inquiry determined that U.S. forces
followed proper procedures and that the civilian deaths were unintentional.

In the Haditha case, which some commentators are comparing to the 1968 My Lai
massacre in Vietnam, the military is investigating civilian deaths in the town
west of Baghdad on November 19.

The military is investigating whether U.S. Marines went on a rampage after a
comrade was killed by an insurgent roadside bomb and shot dead two dozen
civilians, including women and children. U.S. defense officials have said
Marines could face charges including murder.

A military spokesman announced the investigation into the Ishaqi incident on
March 21.

NIGHTTIME RAID

U.S. officials described a nighttime raid aimed at finding a specific
guerrilla, who then fled the building but was later caught. Another guerrilla
who fired from the building was killed in the raid, they said.

"When the assault force arrived, they took fire," said one official. The U.S.
troops then pulled back and called in air support from an AC-130 gunship, and
U.S. forces then fired on the house, the official said.

No further investigation of the incident is planned by the U.S. military, the
official said.

Police in Ishaqi have offered a different account. Police said five children,
four women and two men were shot dead by troops in a house that was then blown
up.

They said all the victims were shot in the head, and that the bodies, with
hands bound, were dumped in one room before the house was destroyed. Television
footage showed the bodies in a morgue. Their wounds were not clear, although
one infant had a gaping head wound.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has said he is losing patience with reports
of U.S. troops killing civilians. Many Iraqis believe unjustified killings by
U.S. troops are common, but few have been confirmed by official investigations.

The White House said on Friday it shares Maliki's concerns about civilian
deaths in Iraq, allegedly by U.S. Marines, and emphasized Washington wants to
work with him.

Maliki said on Friday the Iraqi government will demand the United States share
files from the investigation of the killings in Haditha. On Thursday, he
decried the deaths as "a terrible crime where women and children were
eliminated."

The U.S. military on Thursday directed troops in Iraq to undergo new training
on the need to follow legal, moral and ethical standards on the battlefield.

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