Take atrocity claims with grains of salt

From the NYDailyNews-BY MICHAEL ZACCHEA

Something tragic and horrible may have happened in Haditha.
But do not accept at face value what you are hearing about the alleged November 2005 massacre of Iraqi civilians by U.S. Marines.

Every time you hear the reports, make sure you repeat to yourself the word "alleged." Questions about the incident - terribly serious questions - remain.

Here are four big reasons I question much of what I've heard so far:

First, I have served in peace and war with Lt. Col. Jeff Chessani, the commander of the battalion involved in the incident. Chessani, who was relieved in April in the wake of the ongoing investigation, is among the Marine Corps' best and brightest officers, a man I believe incapable of participating in or covering up such an atrocity.

Second, extensive training in the Rules of Engagement and Law of Land Warfare is an annual requirement of the Marine Corps. Before each mission, a mission brief includes a review of applicable guidelines. This regimen is not taken lightly - not by any Marine I know.

Third, I know that the payments that were made to the victims' families - which some people consider evidence that the military admits guilt in this case - are nothing out of the ordinary. In Iraq, where there is an unreliable banking system, almost no civil court system and no insurance system, the payment of cash for damages is the equivalent of our own "no fault" insurance. It is common for American units to compensate Iraqis for damages, whether a destroyed building, a car accident or inadvertent injury or death.

Fourth, I must admit I am suspicious of ulterior motives by Iraqis eager to paint the worst possible picture of the incident, the facts be damned.

Iraqi society is in agony. Growing numbers of people are being kidnapped, tortured and indiscriminately murdered by a grim array of militias, corrupt security forces, criminal gangs and foreign Islamo-fascists. Those thugs, to whom this story has boundless strategic value, have the power to intimidate civilians into fabricating evidence - if that is what they seek to do.

I am angry about these allegations, and I will be still angrier if they turn out to be true. But until that day comes, I will maintain a healthy skepticism toward the supposed evidence.

I have an allegiance to my fellow Marines - and an even greater belief in basic human rights, fairness and justice.

Zacchea, of Long Island, is a Marine Reserves officer who served in Iraq in 2004 and 2005 as an adviser to the first Iraqi Army battalion to be trained by the U.S. military.