Rep. Hunter calls for hearings about alleged "cold-blooded killings" of civilians by U.S. Marines
{{date|May 20, 2006}}
[[Image:USMarineCorps.png|right|140px|thumb|United States Marine Corps seal]]

{{w|Duncan Hunter}}, a {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republican}} member of the {{w|United States House of Representatives}} from California and the {{w|United States House Committee on Armed Services|House Armed Services Committee}} chairman, said Thursday that the incident involving Marines firing on unarmed [[Iraq]]i civilians in the town of {{w|Haditha}} on 19 November 2005 will be subject to Congressional hearings as soon the criminal investigation is completed.

"If there were problems in the chain of command, if there was a cover up, if there was anything that wasn't reported, let the chips fall where they may but don't presume anything,"  Mr. Hunter said.    

The incident is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the {{w|Naval Criminal Investigative Service}} and Multi-National Forces Iraq. No official investigation report has been released yet.

Some military commanders have said that it appears the Marines did not follow the rules of engagement. "This report is going to be ugly," one commander said.

{{w|John Murtha}}, a {{w|Pennsylvania}} {{w|Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat}} and member of the  House of Representatives, said earlier on Wednesday that what happened near the Iraqi town of Haditha was "much worse than was reported in Time magazine". On March 21, ''[[TIME|Time]]'' reported that "U.S. {{w|United States Marine Corps|Marines}} killed 15 Iraqi civilians in their homes", including "seven women and three children". ''Time'' also reported that U.S. troops were responding to an {{w|IED}} and insurgent fire. 

Murtha, referring to preliminary military investigation reports, said, "There was no firefight. [...] There was no IED that killed these innocent people. Our troops over-reacted because of the pressure on them. And they killed innocent civilians in cold blood." He also said that the civilian death toll was 24 and not 15 as reported by Time magazine. 

According to the ''[[New York Times]]'', Murtha stated that he himself did not read official findings of the military inquiry, but had been told about the inquiry by commanders due to his background of military service and connections to its workings.

Marine Corps {{w|Central Command}} spokesperson Lt. Col. Sean Gibson would neither confirm nor deny Murtha's charges.

Duncan Hunter said in response to Murtha on Friday "I don't want to see these troops who have done such a magnificent job end up being portrayed in the American media by what comes out of the Haditha investigation".
{{haveyoursay}}
==Related News==
*{{Wikinews|title=Time: 15 Iraqi civilians dead; U.S. Marines under investigation
|date=March 22, 2006 }}
*{{wikinews|title=American War Hero congressman wants U.S. troops out of Iraq soon|
date=November 17, 2005}}
==Sources==

*{{source|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,196245,00.html
|title=Rep. Hunter Calls for Hearings on Marine Shooting Incident
|author=
|pub=Fox News
|date=May 19, 2006}}
*{{source|url=http://voanews.com/english/2006-05-18-voa59.cfm
|title=Pentagon Won't Confirm Charge of Iraq Massacre
|author=Al Pessin|pub=Voice of America
|date=May 18, 2006}}
*{{source|url=http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1808360.php
|title=Murtha: Marines killed Haditha civilians in cold blood
|author=Christian Lowe
|pub=Army Times|date=May 18, 2006}}
*{{source
|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1174649,00.html
|title=Collateral Damage or Civilian Massacre in Haditha?
|author=Tim McGirk
|pub=Time
|date=March 19,2006}}
*{{source
|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/19/world/middleeast/19haditha.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
|title=Inquiry Implies Civilian Deaths in Iraq Topped Initial Report
|author=Thom Shanker
|pub=New York Times
|date=May 19, 2006}}

[[Category:Middle East]]
[[Category:Politics and conflicts]]
[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:Iraq]]
[[Category:Time (magazine)]]
[[Category:North America]]

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United States Marine Corps seal

Republican Party (United States)|Republican member of the United States House Committee on Armed Services|House Armed Services Committee chairman, said Thursday that the incident involving Marines firing on unarmed Iraqi civilians in the town of  on 19 November 2005 will be subject to Congressional hearings as soon the criminal investigation is completed.

"If there were problems in the chain of command, if there was a cover up, if there was anything that wasn't reported, let the chips fall where they may but don't presume anything,"  Mr. Hunter said.    

The incident is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the  and Multi-National Forces Iraq. No official investigation report has been released yet.

Some military commanders have said that it appears the Marines did not follow the rules of engagement. "This report is going to be ugly," one commander said.

Pennsylvania Democrat and member of the  House of Representatives, said earlier on Wednesday that what happened near the Iraqi town of Haditha was "much worse than was reported in Time magazine". On March 21, Time reported that "U.S. Marines killed 15 Iraqi civilians in their homes", including "seven women and three children". Time also reported that U.S. troops were responding to an  and insurgent fire. 

Murtha, referring to preliminary military investigation reports, said, "There was no firefight. ... There was no IED that killed these innocent people. Our troops over-reacted because of the pressure on them. And they killed innocent civilians in cold blood." He also said that the civilian death toll was 24 and not 15 as reported by Time magazine. 

According to the New York Times, Murtha stated that he himself did not read official findings of the military inquiry, but had been told about the inquiry by commanders due to his background of military service and connections to its workings.

Marine Corps  spokesperson Lt. Col. Sean Gibson would neither confirm nor deny Murtha's charges.

Duncan Hunter said in response to Murtha on Friday "I don't want to see these troops who have done such a magnificent job end up being portrayed in the American media by what comes out of the Haditha investigation".

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Middle East Politics and conflicts United States Iraq Time (magazine) North America