| Compensation Payments Rising, Especially by Marines
Compensation Payments Rising, Especially by Marines Quote:
Almost half of the more than $19 million in compensation that the American military allocated last year to compensate for killing or injuring Iraqis and damaging property came from Marine-led units in Anbar Province, Defense Department records show.
The $9.5 million in "condolence payments" by the Marines reflects the persistent fighting against insurgents in violent Anbar, but it also provides a reminder of the heavy toll that the conflict has taken on civilians, mostly from insurgents but also from American units.
The figures, contained in a detailed Defense Department report provided recently to Congress, do not include $38,000 paid to relatives of 15 Iraqis killed by marines at Haditha in November, because those deaths occurred after the end of the 2005 fiscal year on Sept. 30. That case, in which 24 Iraqi civilians were killed, is under investigation.
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When insurgents kill civilians they are "murderous bastards" but when US soldiers kill civilians, the civilians stop being people and become "collateral damage" and the US paymaster cuts a check. Anyone wonder why we are losing the guerilla war?
Rick
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." Sinclair Lewis | 
Jun 10, 2006, 11:05 am
