Haditha Massacre

The killing of 15 unarmed Iraqi civilians by US Marines in the Iraqi city of Haditha, including seven women and three children, was done “in cold blood,” according to Rep. John Murtha, D-PA.

Military officials told NBC News that the Marine Corps' own evidence appears to show Murtha is right…

Murtha, a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq, said at a news conference Wednesday that sources within the military have told him that an internal investigation will show that "there was no firefight, there was no IED (improvised explosive device) that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood."

Military officials say Marine Corp photos taken immediately after the incident show many of the victims were shot at close range, in the head and chest, execution-style. One photo shows a mother and young child bent over on the floor as if in prayer, shot dead, said the officials, who spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity because the investigation hasn't been completed.

One military official says it appears the civilians were deliberately killed by the Marines, who were outraged at the death of their fellow Marine.

“This one is ugly," one official told NBC News.

Okay, first of all, to say that Murtha is “a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq” is somewhat misleading. He is himself a former marine who is very hawkish—and was on this war, too, until it all went so horribly wrong.

Secondly, “ugly” doesn’t really begin to cover it.

I don’t have much else to say about this; I feel at a loss at the moment. TBogg and Billmon, however, have excellent posts about it.