'Massacre Marines blinded by hate'

I just love this article in The Times entitled 'Massacre Marines blinded by hate' regarding the still unclear events in Haditha, where U.S. Marines are accused of unlawfully killing Iraqi civilians in retaliation for a roadside bombing.

The Times throws in the titular quote from Corporal James Crossan, a Marine injured in the incident. It's particularly damning:

A MEMBER of the US Marines unit accused of murdering 24 unarmed Iraqis said yesterday that his colleagues “were blinded by hate” and lost control before the massacre.

Corporal James Crossan, who was injured in the roadside bomb attack that appears to have triggered the incident, was speaking just before President Bush said that he was troubled by the reports. “If laws were broken there will be punishment,” he said.

Several members of the unit were young and inexperienced and may have snapped after seeing one of their colleagues killed by the bomb, Corporal Crossan said. “I think they were blinded by hate . . . and they just lost control.”

Pretty strong stuff, huh? Sounds conclusive? Well, it would be if the very next sentence didn't say that he passed out after the initial bombing.

What's clear here is the Cpl. Crossan was asked for an explanation regarding why the Marines might have snapped had they actually committed the crimes of which they are accused and was quoted to sound like he actually witnessed the events.

What a classy newspaper The Times is!