@@ The 'scalping party' is back, this time in 'Haditha' @@

On March 16, 1968, men of Charlie Company, 11th Brigade, American Division entered the village of My Lai (pronounced "Me Lie"). A short time later the killing began. American soldiers massacred over 300 unarmed Vietnamese civilians, mostly women and children.

American soldiers joked that "anything that's dead and isn't white is a Viet Cong" for body count purposes.

General Colin Powell, then a young U.S. Army Major, was charged with investigating the massacre. Colin Powell wrote: "In direct refutation of this portrayal is the fact that relations between American soldiers and the Vietnamese people are excellent".

Later, Powell's refutation would be called an act of "white-washing" the news of the Massacre, and questions would continue to remain undisclosed to the public.

On May 4, 2004, United States Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said to CNN's Larry King, " I mean, I was in a unit that was responsible for "My Lai". I got there after "My Lai" happened. So, in war, these sorts of horrible things happen every now and again, but they are still to be deplored".

As is evident from comments made in a 1969 telephone conversation between National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger (http://www.zpub.com/un/wanted-hkiss.html) and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, revealed recently by the National Security Archive, the photos of the war crime were too shocking for senior officials to stage an effective cover-up.


Related links:
--------------------
American Tiger Force (the scalping party) atrocities
The U.S. soldiers who wore necklaces composed of human ears
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=SRTIGERFORCE

Vietnam coverup uncovered
http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/transcripts_112103_vietnam.html

American Tiger Force (the scalping party)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Force_%28commandos%29

Tiger Force: report uncovers atrocities committed by an elite U.S. platoon in 1967 Vietnam
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/10/29/1619216

American Experience: The My Lai (pronounced "Me Lie") Massacre
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/trenches/my_lai.html

My Lai Massacre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_massacre

Haditha Massacre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haditha_massacre

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