Haditha Prompts Reflection Among Marines

U.S. Marine Sgt. Gideon Hornung, 23, assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Regiment, takes a break while other Marines, unseen, establish a lookout post in a local resident's home during a patrol through Haditha, 220 kilometers (140 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2006. Allegations that Marines deliberately killed 24 civilians last November in this troublesome city, including several women and children, has prompted reactions ranging from shame and anger to disbelief within the Marine Corps. (AP Photo/Antonio Castaneda) (Antonio Castaneda - AP)

HADITHA, Iraq -- A young Marine wonders if his superiors will support him if he shoots at perceived threats. An officer worries that civilians look at his Marines with more suspicion. The proud colonel acknowledges that his Corps has lost stature in the public's eyes.

Allegations that Marines deliberately killed 24 civilians _ including women and children _ last November in this rebellious city have prompted reactions ranging from shame and anger to disbelief within the Marine Corps.

In this intensely proud service, some say they're being prematurely judged. Others grasp for plausible explanations behind the alleged slaughter.

A Pentagon official said this month that evidence collected in the Nov. 19, 2005 killings supports accusations that U.S. Marines deliberately shot the civilians, including unarmed women and children.

The commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force must eventually endorse the investigation's findings before charges are formally pressed.

Marines don't see themselves as common grunts. Most Marines join their service knowing that America heavily relies on them in ground wars. To some, they are the modern day version of Roman legionnaires, reflected in a famous saying that claims Marines "guard heaven's gates."

If the Haditha allegations are true, it would call into question what Marines consider their strengths: Discipline in the ranks and holding the high moral ground in wartime.

Marines are alleged to have covered up the Haditha killings for weeks. Moreover, the nature of the incident was not discovered internally: The investigation was launched only after Time magazine questioned U.S. commanders about the civilian deaths.

Senior Marine commanders insist the investigation will not damage the Corps irrevocably.

"We're going to come out of this just fine," said Lt. Gen. James Amos, the outgoing commander of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force. "I don't know what the investigation is going to say. The truth will come out and the Marine Corps is going to do the right thing. The American people will know the truth."

But on the front lines of the war, grunts and field commanders say the allegations have further complicated a difficult task. About 20,000 Marines are thinly spread out over violent Anbar province, a North Carolina-size area with over a million Sunni Arabs at the forefront of the insurgency.

Cpl. Luis Perez, 22, of Lusby, Md., who is stationed in Ramadi, said the case "kind of makes you want someone higher up to be there to make sure you're completely in the right" when instinct says to fire.