Photos Indicate Civilians Slain Execution-Style - Los Angeles Times

Photos Indicate Civilians Slain Execution-Style - Los Angeles Times: "An official involved in an investigation of Camp Pendleton Marines' actions in an Iraqi town cites `a total breakdown in morality.'
By Tony Perry and Julian E. Barnes, Times Staff Writers
May 27, 2006

WASHINGTON — Photographs taken by a Marine intelligence team have convinced investigators that a Marine unit killed as many as 24 unarmed Iraqis, some of them 'execution-style,' in the insurgent stronghold of Haditha after a roadside bomb killed an American in November, officials close to the investigation said Friday.

The pictures are said to show wounds to the upper bodies of the victims, who included several women and six children. Some were shot in the head and some in the back, congressional and defense officials said.

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One government official said the pictures showed that infantry Marines from Camp Pendleton 'suffered a total breakdown in morality and leadership, with tragic results.'
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