Posted on 05/30/2006 6:00:23 AM PDT by Peach
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., May 29 — In this "company town" where everything and everyone caters to the well-being of the Marine Corps, there is no shortage of people, both military and civilian, who are willing to give the benefit of the doubt to the troops accused of unjustified killings last November in Haditha, Iraq.
Relatives and neighbors gathered near the shrouded bodies of civilians said to have been killed by marines in Haditha, Iraq, in November.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/30/world/middleeast/30voices.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
We agree completely and thanks for the twenty years of your life spent in uniform...
Sorry about that, I didn't know. I'll refrain from now on, I posted it several times last night and hope it doesn't bring repercussions to FR.
(NOTE TO ALL: Someone is reporting on this story in the first person singular and that person is not me.
The Post has been unable to get anyone from the Pentagon on the record on the investigation, using mostly anonymous sources.
The one man they did get on the record on Friday was retired Brig. Gen. David H. Brahms, a long-time lawyer with the Marine Corps who has experience with these types of cases. His quote is in the third paragraph. See if you can guess why the prominent first-quote placement:
"When these investigations come out, there's going to be a firestorm," said retired Brig. Gen. David M. Brahms, formerly a top lawyer for the Marine Corps. "It will be worse than Abu Ghraib -- nobody was killed at Abu Ghraib." I have a feeling someone was lying in wait for an Abu Ghraib reference.
I read the quote and was taken aback because I spoke to the same Brig. Gen. David M. Brahms about the case this week, and his sentiments were very different from those presented in the Post. Which explains why he sent me this statement yesterday:
"Recent reporting on the events in Haditha, Iraq have included significant factual errors and/or misleading statements. This includes a quote attributed to me in the Washington Post this morning that was taken completely out of context and its meaning distorted. Many facts that are favorable to the Marines involved have not yet been disclosed."
When Brahms and I spoke, he made it clear that his concern is that the Marine Corps do a thorough investigation and punish severely those who did wrong, if in fact it is found that they did. He feels confident that will happen. His other concern is that the Marines involved get a fair trial in a highly politicized environment:
"The worst thing that can happen in a case of this kind is to have it politicized...that's exactly what has happened here. They're leaking a story which is yet unwritten." "It's not normal to have a Member of Congress to decide to have hearings, at least while this whole business is in flux."
"I think there has been (a rush to judgement)...This has got to impact the fairness of the procedure."
"We'll get more precise information. Let's kind of step back, let's try to realize that there's another side of this story...People accused may be guys like my son and your brothers."
"The problem is, of course, that everybody's got a political agenda...in the middle are a group of American Marines."
We weren't sure either and that's why a freeper freepmailed me and I suggested he ask the mods, which he did, and they responded publicly on the Sunday Morning talk show thread that we can't even post letters to the editor from the Washington Post.
I think it's a ridiculous policy for the Washington Post to take, especially since if we google an article from the Post, we can get it and without a password, I think.
This is the kind of hyperbole that destroys any possible reasonable discussion.
You ought to know better than this, Mitchell.
Updated FR Excerpt and Link Only or Deny Posting List due To Copyright Complaints
I've not pronounced anybody guilty. Hopefully, they're not or there are extenuating circumstances.
But when Marine commanders and General Pace himself is hinting that the results of the investigation could be as bad as anything we've seen, what is a person to think?
You don't seem to want to consider anything but your perspective. As for me, I'll hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.
Okay, I apologize to LS, but that is still the image his/her responses bring to mind.
First off I must say that >IF< these Marines did this then they need to be punished to the full extent of the law.
However I am wondering what you mean by preparing?
Do you mean denouncing the Marines before they have even been charged?
What is the purpose of that?
Will it make us look better in the eyes of the MSM if we agree with them and jump on the bandwagon?
To me there is nothing to prepare for.
If they are innocent you will have inpuned honorable Marines on no evidence other than the word of a "source".
If they are guilty the MSM will still not like us.
Why does it not surprise me that WAPO would take something out of context? I'll trust our soldiers everyday and twice on Sunday before I believe a leftist rag. I know what their agenda is, it's to destroy or weaken our military.
Thanks, I appreciate you posting it. I too have it bookmarked now.
Shazzam!
This is what General Pace said,
"If the allegations as they are being portrayed in the newspapers turn out to be valid, then of course there'll be charges."
But he also said that, "it would be premature for me to judge the outcome".
General Pace does not know the results of the investigation any better than you nor I.
You're welcome. :-)
I finally figured out what everyone else what pinging me about...another FReeper sent me the orginal thread....yes, it is from a different thread, and thought it fit murtha perfect...so I passed it on....I think we should make bumperstickers out it...
Ping to #224; if you've already seen this -- sorry for the ping.
When referring to a United States Marine which this "journalist" in the NYT is referring, Marine is capitalized. PERIOD!Sorry, all style manuals that I've seen, including the GPO and the Army (I can't find one specifically for the Marine Corps), state that "marine" when referring to an individual should be lowercase.
He doesn't know the final results, but he has seen the evidence gathered thus far. And it can't be good.
Otherwise, he would laugh off any talk of "charges."
And he knows enough to emphasize that the rules of engagement have to be reinforced with troops.
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
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