The top Marine commander in Iraq downplayed the significance of civilian deaths in explaining why he did not immediately order a probe into the November 2005 killing of 24 Iraqis by a Marine company in Haditha, according to a confidential report.
The report by Army Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell said the comments of Marine Maj. Gen. Stephen Johnson “had the potential to desensitize the Marines to concern for the Iraqi populace and portray them all as the enemy.”
The report quoted Johnson as saying, “I think in my mind it was simply a cost of that battle because civilians had been caught in that.”
Bargewell also found that other senior officers knew more details of the civilian deaths but failed to launch an inquiry because they accepted such killings as part of war and feared insurgents would capitalize on the publicity.
“I found that there is evidence from which one could draw the inference that Marine commanders and staff members were guilty of dereliction of duty in failing to request, recommend or direct that an inquiry into the incident be conducted,” Bargewell wrote in his 104-page report.
After a Time magazine reporter presented evidence to Marine commanders of an atrocity, the 2nd Marine Division commander, Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, and Col. Stephen Davis, the regimental commander, “had sufficient knowledge and a duty to report and investigate a … violation, but did not,” the report stated.
“The division appeared to believe that ‘giving in’ and conducting an investigation into the allegations represented an [information] victory for the enemy,” Bargewell said.
The command in Baghdad eventually ordered a criminal investigation in 2006. It resulted in murder charges against four enlisted Marines.
Marine Lt. Gen. James Mattis, who commands the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, is reviewing Bargewell’s report to determine if any further action will be taken against commanders, a corps spokesman Wednesday.
Bargewell completed his report last June, but the military never released it. The Examiner and other news media outlets obtained a copy this week.
Bargewell’s inquiry did not focus on the killings themselves, but on how the chain of command handled after-action reports. The civilians were killed when a Marine company, responding to an improvised explosive device that killed a battle mate, raided a number of homes.
