By Mike Zacchea
Mike Zacchea, from Long Island, NY, is a Marine Reserve Officer who served in Iraq from 2004 to 2005. He is also a member of the New York-based advocacy group IAVA: Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
I am a reserve Marine officer. I served a year in Iraq as an advisor to the first Iraqi Army battalion trained by the US military. We participated in the assault on Fallujah in November 2004. I have served with the relieved battalion commander, LtCol Jeff Chessani, in garrison and in Iraq, in peace and war. I am completely comfortable in writing publicly that LtCol Chessani was among the Marine Corps' best and brightest officers, and had a sterling reputation and distinguished career until this incident. Significantly, Arwa Damon, a CNN reporter embedded with the battalion, has offered similar testimony.
I have been observing the media reports and shameless political grandstanding surrounding the allegations of a massacre of Iraqi civilians in Haditha in November 2005. There is much that disturbs me about these allegations, and the way they are being covered in the press. What concerns me is how the media, and the politicians, rush towards judgment, even before the facts have been made public. What concerns me even more is the lack of understanding of Iraqi culture, and the cultural dissonance between America and Iraq. Strike that. I was concerned about the allegations a week ago. Now these allegations are starting to royally piss me off. Here's why:
First, training in the Rules of Engagement and Law of Land Warfare is an annual training requirement in the Marine Corps, along with a number of other basic military skills. An integral part of Marine combat training includes target identification, and discerning friend from foe. It is difficult to overstate the Marine Corps' training emphasis on only engaging combatant targets.
Second, American troops receive extensive training in the Rules of Engagement and the Law of Land Warfare. During a unit's pre-deployment training, classroom instruction in these subjects is supported by application during field training in mock-Iraqi towns. Before entering Iraq, units going through Kuwait are given a general orientation to the theater of combat, including Rules of Engagement and the Law of Land Warfare.
Third, before every mission, the mission brief includes a review of applicable Rules of Engagement, including what to do with any enemy prisoners of war or detainees. This mission briefing occurs all the way down to the individual soldier/Marine level.
Fourth, I will stipulate that it is tragic when innocent Iraqis are killed, whether inadvertently or as a result of criminal behavior. But there is something profoundly offensive about a dynamic where American troops alleged to have killed an undetermined number of Iraqi civilians under hostile circumstances, while the insurgents are given a pass despite indiscriminately murdering dozens of Iraqis every day, hundreds of innocent Iraqis every month. Should Iraqis protest the killing of innocents? Absolutely. Should they give their own a pass, out of fear or sympathy? Hell no, that is completely and utterly unacceptable.
Fifth, there is what I call cultural dissonance between America and Iraq. The payment of money for damages is a staple of Iraqi culture, a society where there is an unreliable banking system, almost no civil court system, and no insurance system. In Iraq, the payment of cash for damages is the equivalent of our own "no fault" insurance. It is common for US units to compensate Iraqis for damages, whether a destroyed building, a car accident, or inadvertent injury or death. It is important to note, and this has not been reported by the American media, that the insurgents do not provide compensation to the families of those indiscriminately wounded or killed. By the rules of Iraqi culture, the insurgents are entirely beyond the pale of acceptable behavior. The American media wouldn't know this, and haven't bothered to report it.
Sixth, the insurgents are squeezing this story for every drop of publicity in their own information war. Whereas the American media's intended audience is the average American consumer, insulated from the war except as an abstract event, the insurgents' intended market for their information is the so-called Arab street, much of which is now experiencing the violence of occupation directly. For their cause, this story, regardless of the facts, has invaluable strategic value because it allows them to paint the American occupation of Iraq as criminal, and rally the Arab public to their cause.
Seventh, the pictures of the scene in Haditha and the interviews with Iraqis beg scrutiny, and more than a little skepticism. In a world where speaking to the media can be a death sentence, many Iraqis speaking to the American media have an ulterior motive. Unfortunately, the average American wouldn't know this. The average American will instead find a lamentable lack of journalistic balance. The average news consumer will form his or her opinion based on little more than rank speculation, incomplete facts, and overt sensationalism by ambitious journalists and politicians rushing to "get out in front of this."
Eighth, Americans don't understand that Iraqi society is in agony. Hundreds and hundreds or people are kidnapped, tortured, and indiscriminately murdered by a grim array of militias, security forces, criminal gangs, and foreign fundamentalists. For the average Iraqi, there is no where to hide from the spiraling violence. Those able to get out of the country, who can bribe the right officials to get a passport and set up a life in a neighboring country, the middle class and professional classes, are fleeing by the tens of thousands.
Iraqis should be enraged by the murder of innocents, whether by Americans or by Iraqi militia or by foreign fighters. Americans should be angry about the murder of innocents by American troops. I am angry about these allegations, and I will be angrier if they turn out to be true. Whatever did happen, indisputably, it is a tragedy for all those whose lives have been destroyed, Iraqis and Americans alike.
Comments (13)
Dear Officer Zacchea:
Brilliant analysis, and a profound and timely reminder that the rush to judgement is unacceptable and dishonors both the military and our media.
I am particularly offended by the knee-jerk parallels to My Lai. Comparing My Lai and Haditha is both inappropriate and inapposite since the military of 2006 is better-trained in the ethics of conflict than the troops in Vietnam.
Moreover, the median age of the average soldier is higher today.
Most importantly, this is a volunteer army and not a collection of draftees who were forced into service.
Putting all of this aside, it amazes me that people who accept the basic premise that an accused is innocent until proven guilty are not willing to extend the same privilege to our servicemen (and in other contexts, our servicewomen)
Thank you for this post Officer Zacchea, which gives clear and cogent reasons as to why we need to wait for the investigations to be completed before we come to any conclusions, much less label the military's conduct as criminal.
My brother, who is in Iraq in a civilian capacity with the tribunal prosecuting Saddam Hussein has often commented about the one-sided reporting that comes out of Iraq and places coalition activities in the worst possible light.
While a completely positive spin on the situation is neither desirable nor realistic, it is important that the army be given the benefit of the doubt. If the allegations are substantiated, there will be time enough for retribution.
And resolution.
Christine
Posted by: Christine on June 8, 2006 23:18
Thanks for the post Mike.
I belong to the same Rod and Gun club you do, and I will offer this perspective. People make mistakes and people die. That is war. The press covers and sensationalizes death. That is the press. Politicians talk and rush to judgment. That is politics. And only God knows the real truth.
Who knows what happened? I wasn't there. But I am not upset at the imperfect mirror of the media just as I have not judged my fellow Marines. Even now as I strike the post button, you and I are a part of the distortion - making our subjective perceptions available to the public.
But that's okay.
I would rather the press report and comment imperfectly than to rely on a silent and compliant embed media. Let them rush to judgment. Let them influence our citizens about this war. They influenced our citizens to support the war, so it only makes sense that the pendulum swings back.
Freedom, in it's best form, has always been messy and imperfect. I would rather be a part of the imperfect strides of freedom and her people, than endure the lock-step of tyranny and it's subjects.
That's why I fight.
So let them talk, let them rush, let them influence. If our cause is God's will, it will prevail.
Posted by: Joe on June 9, 2006 10:12
i have also served in OIF as well as OEF.
in my time in the military, i have come to understand that there are two organizations in our society that operate with impunity.
1. the press- when they distort, for whatever reason, the facts of a situation, the consequences are an ill informed society, which leads to other issues.
2. the intel community- when they are incorrect or politically influenced to come to inaccurate conclusions, the consequences are represented with dead people.
combined, these groups can affect many and yet there are few checks and balances on either group. nobody gets fired over wrong conclusions.
it makes me angry.
if i acted in an illegal way, i would be held accountable, i can assure you.
"choose wisely, who you give your mind to"
Posted by: evolo on June 14, 2006 15:50
There are more than two groups that operate that way I can assure you.
Anyone care to name a group that operates with impunity, with little to no checks and balances in this country - where nobody gets fired over wrong conclusions?
Like these?
CHANGING RHETORIC OF WAR
USA Today
* Feb. 7, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, to U.S. troops in Aviano, Italy: "It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."
* March 4, Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a breakfast with reporters: "What you'd like to do is have it be a short, short conflict. . . . Iraq is much weaker than they were back in the '90s," when its forces were routed from Kuwait.
* March 11, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars: "The Iraqi people understand what this crisis is about. Like the people of France in the 1940s, they view us as their hoped-for liberator."
* March 16, Vice President Cheney, on NBC's Meet the Press: "I think things have gotten so bad inside Iraq, from the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators. . . . I think it will go relatively quickly, . . . (in) weeks rather than months." He predicted that regular Iraqi soldiers would not "put up such a struggle" and that even "significant elements of the Republican Guard . . . are likely to step aside."
The war begins
* March 20, President Bush, in an Oval Office speech to the nation: "A campaign on the harsh terrain of a nation as large as California could be longer and more difficult than some predict."
* March 21, Rumsfeld, at a Pentagon news briefing: "The confusion of Iraqi officials is growing. Their ability to see what is happening on the battlefield, to communicate with their forces and to control their country is slipping away. . . . The regime is starting to lose control of their country."
* March 27, Bush, at a news conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, when asked how long the war would take: "However long it takes. That's the answer to your question and that's what you've got to know. It isn't a matter of timetable, it's a matter of victory."
* March 30, Myers, on Meet the Press: "Nobody should have any illusions that this is going to be a quick and easy victory. This is going to be a tough war, a tough slog yet, and no responsible official I know has ever said anything different once this war has started."
* March 30, Rumsfeld, on Fox News Sunday, when asked whether Iraqis would "celebrate in the streets" when victory is won: "We'll see."
Blame it on bad intel if you like. As I hold my troops to a high standard, I prefer to hold our leaders to a higher standard as well.
"Bad intel" is not a free pass and I will not make excuses for my leaders.
Posted by: JoeDuran on June 15, 2006 09:08
"Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things." Don Rumsfeld
--does this include our press?
Instead of pointing fingers at the press, pat yourself on the back for a job well done by our armed forces. Sleep well in the knowledge that we have the freedom here to do and say things that others do not agree with, and that others have the same right to do and say things that we do not agree with. In a world where it is legal to leak classified information to the press, feed bogus news to the masses, and read and listen to the Ann Coulters, Micheal Savages, and Michelle Malkins of the world, we can surely make room for opposing commentary, speculation, and alleged rushed judgments on the war and acts of war.
Posted by: JoeDuran on June 15, 2006 09:35
Nice Joe~
we with the rifle in our hand are held more accountable ,
than the folks who sent us, the folks who tell others about us,
or those who tell us where to go.
wish they could see it.
never ever will happen.
our choice.
Posted by: evolo on June 15, 2006 17:35
The Good are always held more accountable, by society, by faith, and by thier code. It sets them apart and makes them more than who they are. It also makes them expect more from others. But they should not meet disappointment with blame, but rather, the Good should hold onto what makes them who they are, the faith that they will prevail, and the strength to carry it out.
They should not be involved in the back and forth of those that do not hold their values, but be an example, lest they become what they despise.
So let the press do what they do. We will, and have always, perservered. What is right will prevail. Good citizens will make the right decisions and the good men and women of the armed services will be there to answer the call.
Posted by: JoeDuran on June 15, 2006 18:10
wdYUSy comment6
Posted by: buy cheap oem software online on January 16, 2012 02:09
Develop the topic further! It is interesting to know more details..!!
Posted by: name on January 30, 2012 16:55
Very amusing thoughts, well told, everything is in its place:DD
Posted by: name on January 31, 2012 06:16
I read and feel at home. Thanks the creators for a good resource..!!
Posted by: name on February 1, 2012 08:40
See it for the first time!!....
Posted by: name on February 1, 2012 09:48
Interesting. We are waiting for new messages on the same topic!!....
Posted by: Social Media Marketing on February 2, 2012 11:12