Haditha

Haditha, حديثة, is a city in the western Iraqi Al Anbar Governorate, about 240 km northwest of Baghdad. It is a farming town situated on the Euphrates River at 34°08′23″N 42°22′41″E. Its population of around 100,000 people is predominantly Sunni Muslim Arabs. The city lies near the Buhayrat al Qadisiyyah, an artificial lake which was created by the building of the Haditha Dam, the largest hydroelectric facility in Iraq.


On 19 November 2005, 24 Iraqi noncombatants, including 11 women and children, were killed by 12 Marines from 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines. The US military is investigating these actions, a captain and a lieutenant colonel have been relieved of duty (another captain was relieved on the same day but not for the same incident. Some allege the massacre was in retribution for an incident earlier in the day in which US Marine Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas was killed in a roadside bomb attack on Marines from Kilo Company. In August 2006 a commission reviewing the killings found probable cause for charging the Marines. The same day, one of the accused Marines sued Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) for libel because of Murtha's characterization of the incident saying the Marines killed the civilians "in cold blood." Depending on where and in what context Murtha's comments were made, he may be immune from suit. The Speech and Debate Clause of the United States Constitution protects Congressmen from liability for comments made during Congressional Debate.
A court martial on Wednesday acquitted a US Marine for any role in covering up the deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha in Iraq in 2005, while charges were dropped against five other marines in the affair. Lieutenant Andrew Grayson, 27, was declared "not guilty on all charges" by a jury, said a spokesman for the Camp Pendleton military base in southern California where the hearing started on May 28. Grayson had been charged with making false statements and attempting to fraudulently separate from the Marine Corps. He was also charged with obstruction of justice, but the military judge dismissed this charge Tuesday.

The change in U.S. strategy in late 2006 brought quick results to the Hadithah Triad. The U.S. Marines and their Iraqi and coalition allies had largely driven out insurgents by the summer of 2007.
Hadithah was much more secure and had recovered some of its prosperity by the summer of 2008. The progress was evident when an American Congressional Delegation visited the town in August and found full shops and friendly people.