ROMESH RATNESAR: The reason why the alleged massacre in Haditha has received so much attention is because, if true, it would appear to be a case of premeditated, deliberate murder by those Marines who carried out the killings. In this case, the evidence suggests the Marines were not carrying out a combat operation when they opened fire on the Iraqis in Haditha, and, more importantly, they made no attempt to avoid killing civilians. When the U.S. military launches airstrikes against a given target, on the other hand, it has historically gone to extraordinary lengths to limit the deaths of civilians — including asking military lawyers to review target lists to insure that the targets are being used for military purposes of some kind. In some respects, the killings in Haditha are notable precisely because they are so rare.

Some Iraqis detained for carrying out attacks against coalition forces have been tried in Iraqi courts. According to the Pentagon, the Central Criminal Court of Iraq has held 1,199 trials of insurgents suspected of anti-Iraqi and anti-Coalition activities, which have resulted in 1,037 individual convictions with sentences ranging up to death.

This is not a question it is a comment to your previous answer. I do not believe that the alleged incident can be construed as premeditated. It was, if it occurred as alleged, a spontaneous action to a prior homicide against the marines. If this event happened, I do not condone it in any way whatsoever, but premeditation would have required the setting out to do mayhem without provocation, simply because they felt like doing it. If this incident happened I would be much more inclined to believe it a crime of passion or temporary insanity, premeditated no.
J. Gardner
Milwaukee, WI

ROMESH RATNESAR: U.S. troops undergo intensive training about how to avoid civilian casualties. In the wake of the Haditha revelations, the military has ordered that all U.S. troops undergo "core warrior values" training, with the aim of reinforcing "legal, moral and ethical standards on the battlefield." But the killings in Haditha appear to be less the product of insufficient training by the military as a whole than a breakdown in the self-control of a small group of Marines.

On the last point, You are right to point out that it is unlikely the Marines would have carried out these killings had they not just lost one of their own, Lcpl. Miguel Terrazas. By "premeditated," I meant simply that the killings appear to have been committed without direct provocation — that is, the victims, according to most accounts, did not appear to pose a threat to the Marines. Only one weapon was found among the 24 people killed, and it is not clear at all that the Marines came under any fire, as originally claimed. Likewise, the accounts of the wounds borne by the victims suggest that they were shot at close range — again, this contributes to the notion that these were deliberate acts, rather than accidents or momentary lapses of judgment.

Why are the accused soldiers being treated more severely than our enemy captives? They are kept separate from each other and they are shackled from their hands, waist, and feet. They have no special treatment like the Islamofascist prisoners. The media are already to pronounce them guilty.
D.J. Johnson
Kelso, WA

ROMESH RATNESAR: No Marines have been charged with any crimes so far, though a criminal investigation is ongoing. I do not believe any are being held in the manner in which you describe.

When this started, many of us denied that it would turn into a V/N type situation...guess again. Do you remember the little girl with the chemical burns from napalm? It hit the front pages immediately, but the photo of the baby murdered in Haditha? Many months later in the middle of the magazine. Who is responsible for this? I pray daily for the safety of 'our troops'. That said, is the training they are getting appropriate to help prevent this? Perhaps each member of our troops shoud view the photo of that innocent baby and describe what they really see ...prior to being put into a situation of combat. I realize that this is war. But that was murder. Please help me understand the difference.
Elizabeth Andrea VonMeyer
Elyria, Ohio

ROMESH RATNESAR: TIME published frame grabs taken from the videotape that documented the aftermath of the Haditha killings with our first story on the incident, in March 27. They included images that showed the bodies of the victims. We also published a large photograph of a 9-year-old survivor from the shootings, who lost both of her parents. It is true that Nick Ut's famous photograph was given more prominence by news organizations — but that is in part because, as a photograph, its authenticity and versimilitude were easier to verify. TIME has published several photographs taken by Lucian Read, the only photojournalist who was in Haditha to document the aftermath of the killings. One of them occupies an entire spread in the magazine. To the extent that we have avoided giving more prominence to the pictures of the victims in Haditha, it is in part because in some cases we have been pulling images from videotape.

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