Independent of London
A Marine's Tale
by NATASHA SAULNIER
23 May 2004
During 12 years in the US Marines, including three
years putting new recruits through boot camp, Staff
Sergeant Jimmy Massey hardly questioned his role. But
what he saw in Iraq changed that.
"In a month and a half my platoon and I killed more
than 30 civilians," Mr Massey said. He saw bodies
being desecrated and robbed, and wounded civilians
being dumped by the roadside without medical
treatment. After he told his commanding officer that
he felt "we were committing genocide", he was called a
"wimp".
Mr Massey, who was diagnosed with post-traumatic
stress and depression, left the Marines in November.
Back home in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, he
says the cause of the uprising in Iraq is that "we
killed a lot of innocent people".
His 7th Marine Weapons Company, armed with machine
guns and missiles, was one of the first into the
country in March last year. "We would take over
villages and control checkpoints," he said. "My men
and I would fire warning shots at oncoming vehicles.
But, if they didn't stop, we didn't have any qualms
about loading them up."
The Marines were told that Iraqis were filling
ambulances with explosives, and that soldiers were
dressed as civilians, but after pouring fire into
vehicles and hearing no explosions, they started to
doubt the truth of these claims.
"Iraqi military compounds had nothing in them, except
for dismantled tanks, equipment that was barely
functioning, and barracks that looked like ghost
towns," Mr Massey said.
The incident that haunts him most took place early in
April, near an Iraqi military compound five miles from
Baghdad's airport. "There were approximately 10
demonstrators near a tank," he said. "We heard a shot
in the distance and we started shooting at them. They
all died except for one. We left the bodies there.
"We noticed that there were some RPGs
[rocket-propelled grenades] about 200 metres away from
them - they might have come from the military
compound. The demonstrators had the ability to fire at
us or at the tank, but they didn't. The survivor was
hiding behind a column about 150 metres away from us.
I pointed at him and waved my weapon to tell him to
get away. Half of his foot had been cut off. He went
away dragging his foot. We were all laughing and
cheering.
"Then an 18-wheeler [truck] came speeding around. We
shot at it. One of the guys jumped out. He was on
fire. The driver was dead. Then a Toyota Corolla came.
We killed the driver, the other guy came out with his
hands up. We shot him too.
"A gunny from Lima Company came running and said to
us: 'Hey, you just shot that guy, but he had his hands
up.' My unit, my commander and me were relieved of our
command for the rest of the day. Not more than five
minutes later, the Lima Company took up our position
and shot a car with one woman and two children. They
all died."
The next day the platoon guarded a checkpoint at
Baghdad Stadium. "A red Kia Spectra sped toward us at
about 45mph. We fired a warning volley above it but
the car kept coming. Then we aimed at the car and
fired with full force. The Kia came to a stop right in
front of me, three of the four men shot dead, the
fourth wounded and covered in blood. We called the
medics, but he died before they arrived. That day we
killed three more civilians in the same circumstances.
I talked to my captain afterwards and told him: 'It's
a bad day.' He said: 'No, it's a good day.'"
Mr Massey watched as badly injured Iraqis were
repeatedly "tossed on the side of the road without
calling medics". His reaction to the event that
triggered the recent siege of Fallujah - the sight of
the blackened, mutilated bodies of four American
private security men - was that "we did the same thing
to them".
Iraqis, he said, "would see us debase their dead all
the time. We would be messing around with charred
bodies, kicking them out of the vehicles and sticking
cigarettes in their mouths. I also saw vehicles drive
over them. It was our job to look into the pockets of
dead Iraqis to gather intelligence. However, time and
time again, I saw Marines steal gold chains, watches
and wallets full of money."
Several members of his platoon expressed concern that
so many civilians were being killed, but Mr Massey
says he told them: "We've got a job to do." Finally,
however, he voiced his own doubts to his commanding
officer. "I told him I felt like we were committing
genocide in Iraq, that we were doing harm to a
culture. He said nothing and walked away. I knew my
career was over." Later, he says, his superior poured
abuse on him, saying, "You're a poor leader. You're
faking it. You're a conscientious objector, you're a
wimp."
After being sent back to the US, Mr Massey was offered
a desk job. "I had seven years until retirement from
the Marine Corps, but I told them I didn't want their
money any more," he said. The Marines' slogan - "No
better friend, no worse enemy" - now embitters the
former sergeant, who says remorse keeps him awake at
night.
"One day we would go into a city and set up roadblocks
where civilian casualties would take place, and then
the next morning we would undertake a humanitarian
mission," he said. "How do we expect people who've
seen their brothers and mothers killed to turn around
and welcome us with open arms?"
originally published at http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=523992
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