It is not US Marines who should be on trial

After 9/11, the United States had the sympathy of the world on its side. Yet as we approach the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, this sympathy and trust has been entirely eroded, and during the making of my film, Battle for Haditha, I saw exactly how and why this change of heart and mind has taken place.

Many of the ex-Marines that took part in the film enlisted aged 17, believing they were fighting in a just cause to protect democracy and the integrity of the United States. Five years later, they feel very differently. And the Iraqis I spoke to have suffered the same disillusionment. Initially, they were pleased to be rid of Saddam and welcomed the Americans as liberators. But when they saw their communities being destroyed, their shops and museums and factories looted while the American troops stood by, cynicism set in.

During the reconstruction phase, Iraqis couldn’t understand why American contractors working for US corporations were being used. Why, they wondered, didn’t the Americans use Iraqi contractors and help normal Iraqis make a living? The Marines involved in reconstruction were frustrated too. They wanted to employ local Iraqi contractors but they were instructed to employ Americans, at a far greater cost. This meant, they said, they were unable to build any kind of relationships with the local community and so became increasingly unhappy with their role in Iraq.

Frustrations like these overflowed in Haditha on 19 November 2005. An IED (improvised explosive device) attack killed one Marine and injured two others, and in retaliation 24 innocent Iraqi men, women and children were massacred. On the face of it, this is an unacceptable outrage.

However, in reality there were countless Hadithas in this war, because this kind of event will inevitably happen in any war. It is an inherent part of the language of war.