Haditha Massacre: In An 'Atrocity-Producing Situation' Who Is to Blame?

Everyone, from top to bottom, must be held accountable.

I have heard people say that the troops should not be blamed because war is hell and it is not their fault they have been put in this untenable situation.

While it is not their fault they were put in an untenable situation, troops who murder innocent civilians must be held accountable. Yes, war is hell, that is why we should not go to war on trumped up evidence. Troops have the responsibility to obey lawful orders. The untenable situation they have been put in involves saying no to their commander-in-chief. Some have had the courage to do just that. They have refused to go to Iraq. Good for them.

When a war is illegal, meaning prosecuted on false evidence, it is called a war of aggression, the mother of all war crimes. Everything that happens after that, becomes a war crime.

Therefore, while it lets no troop off the hook for murder, the major blame for these murders belongs squarely in the White House and its agencies. The people in this administration who told lie after lie, frightening the American people with verbal paintings of Mushroom clouds rising over American cities and plagues sprayed all over the eastern seaboard by Saddam's cardboard aerial drones must be held accountable for these murders, along with many others.

By held accountable, I mean tried in a court of International Law, and imprisoned for life. In addition, all of their financial assists should be taken.


Haditha Massacre: In An 'Atrocity-Producing Situation' Who Is to Blame?:

"Is it enough for the media to accept that incidents such as the apparent massacre at Haditha are inevitably a part of war? The type of war we are waging in Iraq makes atrocities more likely, and responsibility for the crimes at Haditha extends to top commanders, the secretary of defense, and the White House. "