Military revises account of how 10 Marines died (at Promotion Ceremony)

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/12/06/marine.deaths/index.html

An insurgent homemade bomb that killed 10 Marines and wounded 11 others last week in Iraq was triggered as troops were leaving a promotion ceremony, Marine Corps officials said Tuesday.

Military officials originally said the Marines died December 1 while on foot patrol near the restive city of Falluja in western Iraq.

Misreporting up the chain of command led to the incorrect reporting of the location to the media, Marine officials said

Officials determined the blast went off at an abandoned flour factory used by the Marines as an outpost. It's believed one of the Marines stepped on a pressure plate, setting off the explosion, officials said.

showing how our boys bravely patrol the enemy locations keeping the residents "safe"

:argh:

No doubt a commander somewhere along the line was trying to cover his ass. I hope he is dealt with harshly. Dishonest officers is the last thing we need right now.

"Misreporting" = lying to superiors.

This sounds like bottom-up lying (CYA), whereas the J. Lynch situation was top-down lying (propaganda effort initiated at the top).

Not sure if anyone will understand what I'm saying.

did they let this happen?

The article said they swept the area "around" the facilty.

Kind of like getting in a car with a drunk driver because the streets around you look safe.

So they lie and lie and lie and lie and catapult propaganda hither and yon.

That's what you get with the Republican culture of corruption.

Grenades don't care what uniform you are wearing. When they go off, it is every man for himself.

in the factory could have planted the bomb.

Time to get the fuck outta there.

and inside job (suicide bomber). Took weeks if I recall to come out.
Although in that case I can see why they wanted to delay the actual details.

Didn't I see a video of this bombing? The video I recall shows a squad of soldiers walking down a street, following a hummer driving extremely slowly IIRC, then a roadside bomb went off which obscured most of the aftermath (thankfully). It wasn't very clear video, but I remember that it was purported to be this incident.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1965042
:shrug:

misrepresentation.

I'll say.

So just what/where/when was that vid? Those guys were obliterated- at least 8 guys just disintegrated.
Where is THIS report?

I posted this on an earlier account of this cock-up. First, why would the Iraqi resistance arbitrarily mine a "disused flour mill" with a large IED unless U.S. forces regularly gathered there? And if they do regularly gather there, why wasn't there security to prevent mining? And why did they have their "promotion ceremony" in an unsecure "disused flour mill?" This latest tale makes no sense whatsoever.

they probably killed their own and don't have the guts to own up to it.

It wasn't misreporting, they just didn't want to admit that someone could have booby-trapped a building that the U.S. military assumed was safe enough to hold a promotion ceremony in.

I think they held off announcing the deaths until after the rosy Rose Garden stuff, and waited until now to let this out.

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/News_Release.asp?NewsRelease=20051216.txt

On Dec. 1, 10 Marines from Company F, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, were killed and another 11 Marines injured by an improvised explosive device outside Fallujah. The Marines were inside an abandoned flour factory being used as a patrol base when the IED detonated.

The platoon swept the area for explosives and established security around the factory. On that day, the company commander traveled to the patrol base to promote three Marines. A promotion ceremony involving a group of Marines was conducted inside the patrol base. When the ceremony ended, the Marines dispersed. It is suspected that one of the Marines triggered a hidden pressure plate initiation device, causing the explosion. Explosive experts believe four artillery shells were buried in two separate locations. All Marines were wearing their protective equipment.

Initial reports that the Marines were on a foot patrol at the time of the explosion were incorrect.



Really? Incorrect?
This could not have been a lie, could it?
Are these Marines now considered "NonCombat" deaths?

cover up just as ordered by the WH.

that showed a group of US soldiers (presumably Marines) on street patrol? Together with a military vehicle, they were advancing down a narrow street when the explosion occurred.

I trust neither unverified video footage, nor anything with a .mil extension.

pnorman

were, if they were not these particular dead Marines.

Now CENTCOM says they were blown up at an advancement/awards ceremony?

WTF?