Drop Weapons and Shovels

After reading this, I got that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach and I have been in a funk ever since...

At least three Marines who served in Anbar during that period said that their platoons carried "drop weapons" or tools that Iraqis were not permitted to possess to plant on the bodies of Iraqi noncombatant corpses in case of a wrongful killing.

They did so with the approval of their chain of command. "It was encouraged, almost with a wink and a nudge, to carry drop weapons and shovels with us," said Jason Washborn, a Marine corporal who served three tours in Iraq between 2003 and 2006. "In case we accidentally did shoot a civilian, so we could toss weapon on the body to make [him] look like an insurgent. I was told… that if [the Iraqis] carried a shovel, or if they dig anywhere, especially near roads], then we could shoot them [on suspicion of planting roadside bombs]. So we actually carried tools in our vehicles." ...

The chain of command, the testimony asserted, facilitated the degradation of standards for using deadly force. Most veterans testifying spoke of a willingness on the part of their company and battalion-level commanders to accept false explanations for civilian deaths; to not investigate U.S. culpability for wrongful death, and to knowingly miscast blame for U.S.-caused killings of civilians on insurgents.

Planting guns on killed civilians and calling them insurgents was "commonly encouraged [by commanders] but only behind closed doors," said Washborn. Lemieux said that in 2006, he saw his commander "shoot two old ladies walking [in Anbar Province] carrying vegetables." Initially the commander, whom Lemieux did not identify, ordered one of his men to shoot the women, but when the Marine refused, "the commander shot them himself." Later, the same Marine engaged in similar acts. "He was following the example [his] commander set."

There is no way this can be just a couple cowboy soldiers out looking for fun. It's not like some Marines can head to the Home Depot in Anbar province to buy some shovels and say, "hey, let's give this shovel to an innocent Iraqi that is accidentally shot."