Probe finds Haditha victims were shot:

[tocqueville]

report 7 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. military officials say the killing of 24 civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha in November appears to have been an unprovoked attack by U.S. Marines, after an investigation found the victims died of gunshot wounds, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The findings of the investigation contradicted Marines' claims that the civilians were victims of a roadside bomb, the newspaper said.

The Times report, citing an unidentified senior military official in Iraq, said the investigation in February and March led by Col. Gregory Watt, an Army officer in Baghdad, uncovered death certificates showing the Iraqis were shot mostly in the head and chest.

The three-week probe was the first official investigation into the killings.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&u=/nm/20060531/ts_nm/iraq_usa_haditha_dc_3

[Philosoraptor]

1. shot mostly in the head and chest, Execution style

[rocktivity]

2. They were killed by a roadside bomb in their homes?

From Time magazine:

The details of what happened in Haditha were first disclosed in March by TIME's Tim McGirk and Aparisim Ghosh, and their reporting prompted the military to launch an inquiry into the civilian deaths.

...(I)nvestigators have obtained two sets of photos from Haditha. The first is after-action photos taken by the military as part of the routine procedure that follows any such event. Submitted in the official report...the photos do not show any bodies. Investigators have also discovered a second, more damning set of photos, taken by Marines of the Kilo Company immediately after the shootings...(I)t isn't clear if these photos were held back from the after-action report or were personal snapshots taken by the Marines...

The military's initial report stated that Terrazas and 15 civilians were killed in a roadside blast and that shortly afterward, the Marines came under attack and returned fire, killing eight insurgents.

Yet the military has been investigating since February? It took them three months to notice that the after-action report didn't add up? I doubt they'd be investigating at all if there weren't photographic evidence.

:headbang:
rocknation