Iraqi City at Center of Alleged Massacre

This image taken from a videotape made by a Haditha, Iraq journalism student and obtained by Time Magazine via the Hammurabi Human Rights Group, shows a scene in what appears to be a morgue following an alleged fatal raid by United States forces which took place on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2005, in Haditha, Iraq. The U.S. military is bracing for a major scandal over the alleged killing of Iraqi civilians in Haditha - charges so serious that they could threaten President Bush's effort to rally support for an increasingly unpopular war. (AP Photo/Hammurabi Human Rights Group, File) (AP)

Over the previous two years, U.S. troops had swept through Haditha and the nearby towns of Parwana and Haqlaniyah searching for insurgents, who used the riverside communities as a way station for smuggling fighters, ammunition and weapons from Syria down the Euphrates toward Baghdad.

But the Americans didn't have enough troops to establish a permanent presence in the towns. As soon as U.S. troops left, insurgents would slip back.

This time, the Americans and their freshly minted Iraqi army allies planned to stay.

When the new contingent of 2,000 Marines and U.S. Army soldiers came in the first week of October, their orders were to "go firm": establish bases in local schools and lay the groundwork for Iraqi troops to gradually take over security in the area.

That wasn't going to be easy. Most of the Iraqi soldiers were Shiites from other parts of the country, and the local Sunni Arabs resented their presence nearly as much as that of the Americans.

Relations with local tribal and religious leaders were poor. The commander of the last battalion stationed in the area said he had no contact with prominent tribal or religious leaders after a Muslim preacher was killed during fighting last May.

The city hospital was partially destroyed earlier that spring by a suicide car bombing that also killed three Marines and a sailor. The main police station was left in rubble before that when insurgents overran the building and killed Haditha's police chief.

In an effort to instill public confidence, Marines of the 3-1 would patrol the city each day like cops on a beat, usually with rookie Iraqi soldiers alongside. The hope was that residents would realize troops were going to stay, giving them enough confidence to start providing tips on where to find the shadowy insurgents who effectively controlled the city.

But with green Iraqi soldiers from a rival sect, the Marines faced a formidable task. At least one battalion of Iraqi soldiers had just graduated from boot camp a few months before and found themselves far from home in one of Iraq's most dangerous cities.

During one patrol, Marines noticed someone had spray painted a message on a wall in English: "It's better for you to leave. Otherwise you will be killed by Muslim fighters."

When they weren't patrolling, Marines regularly searched date and palm groves along the Euphrates where insurgents sometimes hid caches of weapons. In a country awash in guns, it wasn't hard for insurgents to replace arms found by the Marines.

The sense of alienation among the 90,000 people in Haditha was palpable. Only 150 voted in the Oct. 15 constitutional referendum, despite efforts by Marines to provide them with safe locations to make their voices heard.

Two days before the vote, Marines handed out thousands of fliers and copies of Iraq's new constitution. But many residents said they didn't know where to cast their ballots, and some hadn't even heard about the referendum.

"This constitution was not made under fair conditions, you know," said one Iraqi air force veteran too frightened to give his name to a reporter. "There is no government in Haditha. Only the government of the fighters."

About a month later, the two dozen civilians died _ allegedly at the hands of the Marines.