Did Marines Commit Crime in Iraq Civilian Deaths?

"We launched an investigation of our own with the help of a human rights group," said Aparisim Ghosh, a writer for Time. "We spoke to some eyewitnesses. And it turns out all the people killed were killed by the Marines in small arms fire and, in a few instances, by an explosive that was tossed into the home by the Marines themselves."

Senior Pentagon officials would not comment on the details of the case but said they take the allegations very seriously, which is why they've launched the criminal investigation.

It still is not clear the Marines used excessive force, but the locals seem to have made up their minds.

"They came and started shooting all of a sudden," one local said. "They didn't even knock on the door. They killed them wholesale."

According to a military spokesman, the Marines involved still are deployed in Iraq.