TEHRAN — In a shocking revelation, previously undisclosed photographs from the Haditha massacre in Iraq have been made public, shedding light on yet another instance of war crimes committed by American occupying forces.
On November 19, 2005, US Marines went on a killing spree in the Iraqi city of Haditha in the western province of Al Anbar. They fatally shot 24 Iraqi civilians, including men, women, and children, following an IED explosion that claimed the life of Marine Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas.
The victims ranged from a three-year-old girl to a 76-year-old man, many of them were shot in the head at close range.
In the aftermath, two Marines documented the bloody scene, marking bodies and capturing evidence that the US military tried to keep hidden from the public for nearly two decades.
The US magazine The New Yorker, after years of legal battles, has finally obtained and published these graphic photographs, with consent from the victims’ families.
The images starkly depict the aftermath of the killings, serving as a haunting reminder of the kind of war crimes that US troops committed in Iraq and the US military’s efforts to conceal the truth.
Despite the gravity of the incident, initial murder charges against four Marines were dropped, and General James Mattis, later Secretary of Defense, praised one of the Marines involved in the wanton killings and declared him innocent.
By 2012, the final case concluded with a plea deal, allowing those responsible to evade prison.
IRNA