The facts are far from in, and in the end, as horrible as the events that took place in the Iranian town of Halitha (where it is alleged that American Marines massacred at least two dozen Iraqi civilians last November), we really don’t yet have a full picture of what has happened, and let’s just say in the fog of war, there are lots of grey areas…
Still and all, new Iraqi PM Maliki has no choice but to demand a full investigation of the American forces even as they are propping his fragile government up, which he did… Needless to say, the actions of American Marines, whatever they were, are not helping Mr. Maliki hold his coalition together, as he tries desperately to keep the place together amidst a maelstrom of bad s**t. (Our own President said he was “troubled” by the allegation and has promised appropriate punishment against any American military personnel who have acted improperly in this affair by “breaking the law”, at least, once he was actually informed of the allegations.)
Needless to say, Maliki, probably for his own domestic political purposes, has used very strong terms to condemn the actions of the American military, including what he has called “habitual atrocities.” Certainly, if the version of the story whereby the Marines gunned down unarmed civilians proves true, then this will be a most troubling event… most troubling.
This should all be a cliche by now (especially as our nation’s time in Iraq comes close to that spent fighting World War II, and its real monetary costs are approaching the ballpark of that war), but war sucks; it is not to be entered lightly or flippantly precisely because it is so damaging– damaging not just to those who are injured or killed from the fighting, but even to those who just participate in it. While there may ultimately prove to have been some justification for what took place at Halitha (or perhaps there won’t be), no one will have emerged from it undamaged. Just another one of the innumerable costs of this war that were (and will continue to be) flippantly dismissed with “Would you rather have SADDAM still in power?” Needless to say… let’s not answer that one.
tdog
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