While there, the two were ordered to photograph the scene with personal cameras they happened to be carrying the day of the attack, the families told The Associated Press in separate interviews.

Briones' mother, Susie, said her son told her mother he saw the bodies of 23 dead Iraqis that day, including a decapitated child.

"It was horrific. It was a terrible scene," Susie Briones said in a tearful interview.

Navy investigators confiscated Briones' camera, his mother said. Wright's parents, Patty and Frederick Wright, of Novato, declined to comment on what might have happened to the photos their son took, but they said he had turned over all of his information to the Navy.

"He is the Forrest Gump of the military," Frederick Wright said. "He ended up in the spotlight through no fault of his own."

Ryan Briones told The Los Angeles Times that Navy investigators had interrogated him twice in Iraq and wanted to know whether bodies had been tampered with. He turned over his digital camera but did not know what happened to it after that.

Susie Briones called the November 19 incident a "massacre" and said the military had done little to help her son, who goes by his middle name, deal with his post-traumatic stress disorder.

"I know Ryan is going through some major trauma right now," said Susie Briones, 40. "It was very traumatic for all of the soldiers involved with this thing."


Marine General Peter Pace, chairman of the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on CBS' The Early Show that "it would be premature for me to judge" the situation.

But he added that it was critically important to make the point that if certain service members were responsible for an atrocity, they "have not performed their duty the way that 99.9% of their fellow Marines have".

Briones' best friend, Lance Corporal Miguel "TJ" Terrazas, had been killed the day of the attack by the roadside bomb, his mother said. He was still grieving when he was sent in to clean up the bodies of the Iraqi civilians.

One was a little girl who had been shot in the head, Susie Briones said. "He had to carry that little girl's body," she said, "and her head was blown off and her brain splattered on his boots."

The Wrights declined to say whether their son witnessed the killings or what he thought of the allegations against other members of his unit.

He was under so much pressure because of the investigation that he had seen a lawyer, they said.

He has also experienced psychological trauma.

Wright and Briones are both recipients of the Purple Heart, given to soldiers wounded in battle.

Wright was injured during an assault on Fallujah in January 2005. He voluntarily rejoined his unit at Camp Pendleton the next month. Briones was on his second tour of duty in Iraq. He received a Purple Heart during his first tour.

An official investigation has already resulted in the removal of Lieutenant-Colonel Jeffrey Chessani, the commanding officer, and Captain Luke McConnell and Captain James Kimber, two company commanders, from their duties in the 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment of the 1st Marine Division.

Three marines are to face criminal charges, including homicide, while nine other marines may also face court martial, according to Pentagon sources.

Fallout from the inquiry, which is expected to be made public next month, is already being felt in Washington and the military establishment in Iraq. One US officer speaking anonymously in Iraq said what happened in al-Haditha was "clearly pretty awful".

In Washington, Congressman John Murtha, a former Marine and a harsh critic of the war, said that the episode might prove to be America's darkest hour in Iraq.

"This is the kind of war you have to win the hearts and minds of the people. And we're set back every time something like this happens. This is worse than Abu Ghraib," he told ABC television.

The trouble started when Marine Corporal Miguel Terrazas, 20, was killed by a roadside bomb on the morning of November 19 last year in alHaditha, where the US military and rebels have clashed regularly since the 2003 invasion.

What ensued is the subject of controversy. At the time the Marines said that 15 civilians were killed in the bombing along with Terrazas.

They later amended their story to say that the civilians had died during a gunbattle between troops and insurgents.

The case was reopened after a video made by a trainee Iraqi journalist was handed to Time magazine in January. The footage showed bloodstains, bullet holes and shrapnel marks inside Iman's home and triggered a US Marine inquiry.

"Who covered it up? Why did they cover it up? Why did they wait so long?" Mr Murtha said.

The latest accounts given to The Times paint a gruesome picture of events on November 19. About a quarter of an hour after the attack on Iman's house, Mohammed Basit, 23, an engineering student, said that he watched as Marines entered the home of his neighbour, Salim Rasif, He peered from a window as the family, including Salim's wife, sister-in-law and their five children, rushed into a bedroom.

"I saw them all gathering in their parents' room, then we heard a bang which was most likely a hand grenade, then we heard shooting," he said.
Fearing for his life, he moved away from the window.

Throughout the next day the Americans cordoned off Salim and Iman's homes, which are located about 20 metres apart. The next night Basit and his father slipped inside Salim's house.

"The blood was everywhere in Salim's bedroom," Basit said. "I saw organs and flesh on the ground and a liver on the bed. Blood splattered the ceiling. The bullet holes were in the walls and in different parts of the house.

"We found an unexploded grenade in the bathroom, which had been set on fire. There was shrapnel and a crater on the floor and the wall of the bathroom."

Later Basit joined relatives and friends who went to al-Haditha mortuary to pick up the bodies of those whom the Marines had killed. The corpses were zipped in plastic bags. "They were all shot, even the kids. They were shot more than one time, mostly in the chest and the head," he claimed.

Salim's daughters - A'isha, 3, Zainab, 2, Noora, 15, and Saba'a, 11 - and his eight-year-old son, Mohammed, were among the dead.

In a separate development, a resident of al-Haditha came forward with an account corroborating the story told by 10-year-old Iman about the murder of her family.

Abdul Basit, 45, Iman's neighbour and cousin, gave details that matched the girl's description of watching her uncle being shot dead.

About 15 minutes after hearing an explosion in Iman's home just 30 metres away, Abdul Basit said that the girl's aunt, Hiba, raced outside crying "they slaughtered them, they slaughtered them" and rushed into Abdul's home.

Congressmen who have been briefed on the investigation expect it to conclude that up to 24 civilians were killed. While the claims are contentious, the US military has not disputed the seriousness of the allegations.

"The bottom line is there was enough evidence presented to warrant a criminal investigation . . . There was enough credibility there to warrant a criminal investigation," said Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson, the US military spokesman in Iraq.

While there, the two were ordered to photograph the scene with personal cameras they happened to be carrying the day of the attack, the families said. Briones' mother, Susie, said her son told her he saw the bodies of 23 dead Iraqis that day.

"It was horrific. It was a terrible scene," Susie Briones said in a tearful interview at her home in California's San Joaquin Valley.

Navy investigators confiscated Briones' camera, his mother said. Wright's parents, Patty and Frederick Wright of Novato, declined to comment on what might have happened to the photos their son took but said he turned over all of his information to the Navy.

"He is the Forrest Gump of the military," Frederick Wright said. "He ended up in the spotlight through no fault of his own."

Ryan Briones told the Los Angeles Times that Navy investigators had interrogated him twice in Iraq and they wanted to know whether bodies had been tampered with. He turned over his digital camera but did not know what happened to it after that.

Susie Briones called the Nov. 19 incident a "massacre" and said the military had done little to help her son, who goes by his middle name, deal with his post-traumatic stress disorder.

"I know Ryan is going through some major trauma right now," said Susie Briones, 40, an academic adviser at a community college. "It was very traumatic for all of the soldiers involved with this thing."

The details of what happened in Haditha are still murky. What is known is that a bomb rocked a military convoy and left one Marine dead. Marines then shot and killed unarmed civilians in a taxi at the scene and went into two homes and shot other people, according to Rep. John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat and decorated war veteran who has been briefed by military officials.

The incident has sparked two investigations - one into the deadly encounter itself and another into whether it was the subject of a cover-up. The Marine Corps had initially attributed 15 civilian deaths to the car bombing and a firefight with insurgents, eight of whom the Marines reported had been killed.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday on CBS's "The Early Show" that "it would be premature for me to judge" the situation.

But, he added, if certain service members are responsible for an atrocity, they "have not performed their duty the way that 99.9 percent of their fellow Marines have."

Briones' best friend, Lance Cpl. Miguel "T.J." Terrazas, had been killed the day of the attack by the roadside bomb, his mother said. Briones was still grieving when he was sent in to clean up the bodies of the Iraqi civilians.

"He had to carry that little girl's body," she said, "and her head was blown off and her brain splattered on his boots."

The Wrights declined to say whether their son witnessed the killings or what he thought of the allegations against other members of his unit.

Wright and Briones are both recipients of the Purple Heart, given to soldiers wounded in battle.

Wright was injured during an assault on Fallujah in January 2005. He voluntarily rejoined his unit at Camp Pendleton the next month. Briones was on his second tour of duty in Iraq. He received a Purple Heart during his first tour.

On Monday, both Marines were back at Camp Pendleton, near Oceanside, where base officials said several members of Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division were being confined during the investigations.

Lt. Lawton King, a Camp Pendleton spokesman, declined to comment Monday.

Sgt. Ian Moore, who was relaxing on the base Monday, said he and other Marines in the battalion were waiting to hear results from the investigations.

"A lot of these things are being played out in the court of public opinion and it's unfair on the Marines," said Moore, who spent time in Haditha on his previous tour in Iraq.

Also killed in the attack were a US Army captain and an Iraqi interpreter, according to the British Foreign Office.

The three journalists had gotten out of their armored Humvee vehicle while embedded with the US 4th Infantry division to inspect an Iraqi checkpoint. They were wearing the body armor that US forces oblige them to use, CBS said.

Dozier was hit in the lower body and by a piece of shrapnel to the head.

"Doctors successfully removed the shrapnel from her head, and it did not penetrate her brain, so that does not appear to be life threatening. The serious injuries are to her lower body," CBS reporter David Martin said.

US ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said he was "shocked and saddened" by the attack, and visited Dozier in hospital, according to CBS.

"These brave journalists risked their lives to tell the world the story of a courageous people and a proud nation," Kahlizad said.

A military helicopter flew Dozier from the scene to a US military hospital within the nearby Green Zone but she has now been moved to another hospital north of Baghdad.

Dozier underwent further surgery and doctors stabilized her for an airlift to a US military hospital in Germany, to be carried out once it is safe to move her.

CBS said doctors gave a "cautiously optimistic" prognosis.

"This is a devastating loss for CBS News," said president Sean McManus.

"Kimberly, Paul and James were veterans of war coverage who proved their bravery and dedication every single day."

Dozier's relatives were planning to travel to Germany to wait for her transfer there to a military hospital, a family spokesman told CBS late Monday.

Dozier, who has both US and British citizenship, and her London-based team joined a long list of journalists killed and wounded in the Iraq war.

CBS said Dozier has been covering the Iraq war for three years.

From 1996-1998, she anchored BBC Radio World Services "World Update" foreign affairs program.

Douglas had worked for CBS News since the 1990s in
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Rwanda and Bosnia, sharing credit for a 2006 Overseas Press Club award for CBS coverage of the Pakistan earthquake.

Freelancer Brolan had worked for CBS for the past year in Iraq and Afghanistan, the network said.

"James was the best dad, the best husband and the best mate to be with in a tight spot out in the field," Brolan's family said in a statement. He was married with two children ages 12 and 18.

In its 2005 report, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders called Iraq the world's most dangerous country for journalists.

Adding the group's figures to the CBS team, at least 96 reporters, photographers, cameramen and assistants have died since the US-led invasion in March 2003, making it the deadliest war for journalists since World War II.

By comparison, 63 journalists were killed over 20 years of war in Vietnam from 1955-1975.

"The security situation is becoming more and more alarming for the press in Iraq," Reporters Without Borders said in a statement after the attack on the CBS crew.

Noting that six of the journalists killed in the war were embedded with US coalition forces, the international press freedom group said: "Although better protected, embedded journalists are not completely isolated from the dangers."

The anonymous witness said he was a teenager in al-Dujail in 1982 when an attempt on Saddam's life led to what the prosecution has termed a massive crackdown on the village, which included hundreds of arrests and the execution of 148 men.

"The prosecutor said they were executed, but I am telling you I ate with them some time ago," the witness, who had worked at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison in the mid-1980s, said.

He said 23 of them were alive.

"Many of them have become rich and occupy powerful positions," he said.

As he testified from behind a curtain he wrote down names for the judge.

The lawyer representing Awad al-Bandar said: "If it is true and these people are still alive, this whole case should be reconsidered from the beginning."

It was al-Bandar's revolutionary court that sentenced the men to death in 1984.

Fabricated

Saddam and seven co-defendants are on trial for crimes against humanity stemming from the alleged arrests, torture and execution of al-Dujail villagers as well as the destruction of their property.

The witness also accused Jaafar al-Musawi, the chief prosecutor, of coming to al-Dujail in July 2004 and offering to forge documents.

"Someone came and asked for witnesses, saying the Iranians would thank them and if they don't have the necessary documents, he could forge them," he said.

"This man was prosecutor al-Musawi."

He said that many al-Dujail villagers who went on to testify against Saddam were at that meeting. The prosecutor denied the allegations.

"I just want to clarify this for the records. I was born in Baghdad and I never went to al-Dujail. On July 8, 2004, I wasn't a prosecutor, I had nothing to do with the court," said al-Musawi.

One of the defence lawyers, meanwhile, said a defence witness who testified recently had been killed, a claim that could not be confirmed.

Throughout the trial, the defence has complained that witnesses for the prosecution have been coached and induced to testify.

This is what is known about the tape. It is from the thermographic camera system of an Apache attack helicopter. The image is of heat, not of light. The time of day appears to be midmorning, based on the time display seen on the heads-up display. Military time uses a 24 hour system, there is no "PM" in military clocks.

The vehicle at the far left of the video is a farm tractor, facing away. The engine is running as is evidenced by the hot vertical exhaust tupe and the glowing undercarriage seen in the thermal image. Attached to the rear of the tractor is a plough, and the dirt in the foreground shows clear furrows.

There is a longer version of the tape (which may not play on everyone's computers) that does show one individual taking a long object or objects from his car and taking it over to the vehicle at the far right. It is assumed by those who want to justify the shooting that this object is a missile launcher assembly being discarded. However, one cannot explain why someone who had just fired off an RPG at US troops would bother to put the used launcher into his car, only to them drive someplace else and then discard it. Nor does it make sense that the man would place a weapon over there it is likely to be run over by the tractor and plough, damaging both the weapon and the plough assembly as well. And, given that the man does not in any way point the object at the approaching helicopter, it is clear that at least he does not think it is a working weapon. Given that the object is actually longer than an RPG launcher assembly, three alternative explanations suggest themselves.

1. That the object is a bundle of long handled farm tools being taken over to where the farmers are working with the tractor.
2. That the object is a bundle of thin poles to be driven into the ground ahead of the tractor to give the tractor driver a visible guide to keep the furrows straight.
3. As suggested by a reader, that the object may be part of the plastic pipe irrigation system used in dry climate agriculture.

We can deduce several facts from the video.

From the perspective seen in the video, it is clear that the Apache helicopter is not being threatened. It is hovering, moving slowly forward, and not engaging in any evasive maneuvers which would suggest that the individuals on the ground have threatened the apache in any way.

From the body language of the individuals on the ground, it is clear that they themselves do not feel they are doing anything which should be of concern to a US helicopter hovering nearby. In other words, they do not act like the object thrown into the field near the tractor is anything the US helicopter would object to. No sooner has the man delivered the object to the tractor than he turns and walks back to the car. At no time does he (or anyone else) act like they are trying to escape the area until the Apache opens fire.

From The Geneva Convention 3-1: 1. Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria

The very FIRST person gunned down was the person who had been driving the tractor. This video records a war crime.

Last week, US officials said charges, including murder, were possible after an investigation into the deaths of Iraqi civilians at Haditha in November. But Iraqi media and politicians are paying scant attention to details leaking out of Washington.

US commentators wonder if Haditha could have a similar effect on public attitudes as the 1968 massacre in Vietnam, but few Iraqi leaders have mentioned the incident.

"We would like an official Iraqi investigation," said an aide to Iraq's human rights minister Wejdan Mikhail.

Leaders of the Sunni minority were more critical but said the Haditha incident is part of a pattern of US behaviour.

"The American soldier has become an expert in killing," said Abdel Salam al- Qubaisy, of the Sunni Muslim Scholars Association.

'There were no warning shots'

He said the US soldiers convicted of abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib in 2003 were scapegoats for a wider problem: "This must be considered a war crime and the commanders tried."

In Baghdad, Mohammed Jawdaat, 47, offered a typical view at his store.

Like many in the city, he can recount an incident in which he saw US forces open fire on civilians: "Six months ago a car pulled out of a street towards an American convoy and a soldier just opened fire.

"The driver was shot in the head. There were no warning shots and the Americans didn't even stop."

In the Sunni city of Ramadi, lawyer Abd Mohammed Falah said: "The US forces have committed more crimes against the Iraqi people than appears in the media. The US defence secretary and his generals should be sent to court."

'They assume he is a terrorist'

The Haditha investigation is not complete and no final decisions on charges have been made.

But US politicians have been giving details. One anti-war congressman said marines killed "in cold blood".

Haditha residents have described how two families, including young children and women, were shot dead in their homes after a marine was killed by a roadside bomb on November 19.

The military initially said the bomb had killed the civilians. The emergence of a film of the bodies led to an inquiry by Time magazine, that in turn prompted the probe.

Hamdi Hassan, editor of the Adala newspaper, said civilians were often killed by US troops: "The insurgents attack the Americans and then they hide among the civilians. Then the Americans just open fire everywhere."

Imad Mohammed, who sells newspapers, said he had not seen Haditha on any front page and that it was not news: "The Americans see a Muslim go into a mosque and just assume he is a terrorist.

"They either arrest him or blow it up."