60 Minutes: The Killings in Haditha

The war in Iraq, like all wars, is fraught with confusion and complexity, with terrible events that leave some dead, some wounded, some scarred with memory and regret. The Killings in Haditha is an investigation of such an event. In November 2005, a squad of U.S. Marines killed 24 civilians, among them women, children and elderly townspeople. The worst single killing of civilians by American troops since Vietnam, it was clearly a massacre to some observers, to others a regrettable but defensible stake. 60 Minutes’ report is the result of an intense, year-long investigation that entailed scrutinizing visual evidence and documents and interviewing family members, military and civilian officials, journalists and Iraqi eyewitnesses. It addresses differing accounts and explanations, rationalizations and justifications. At its provocative center is correspondent Scott Pelley extended interview with the squad leader, Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who had never before been in combat. For providing a thorough account of a tragedy that still affects those involved, CBS News 60 Minutes: The Killings in Haditha receives a Peabody Award.