OPEN COLUMN
War apologists like West spread half-truths as fact

Editor, the Tribune: The article on Haditha by Diana West starts correctly by saying that a Marine convoy was hit by an IED, killing one Marine and wounding two.

However, after this she leaves out many details reported in Time and The New York Times.

First, she says, "There was a lot of shooting at an approaching Iraqi car." She doesn’t mention that the car stopped, four unarmed men got out and were quickly killed by the Marines.

Next, she says, "There was a lot of shooting at two nearby Iraqi houses where Marines heard the sound of an AK-47 being prepared to fire." West doesn’t mention that no bullet damage was found on the exterior of these houses, and no AK-47 was found inside.

She says further the Marines thought they were about to "walk into a machine gun." She doesn’t mention that the Marines’ response was to throw hand grenades into the house.

West ends by saying, "24 Iraqi civilians, including some children, were killed." She ignores the investigations that found many were shot in the head by weapons of the Marines’ caliber.

West says that "the incident sounds less like a war crime than, well, war." She ridicules the concern of the Marine and Army chain of command as "political correctness" and accuses them of conducting a "show trial."

We should be used to the half-truths of war enthusiasts about Iraq. However, West’s article wins a prize. It has more misinformation in it than anything I’ve read to date.

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Tom Vernon

1115 Ridge Road

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