Posted on 06/11/2006 3:33:40 AM PDT by Lando Lincoln
The Marines that have been referred to that are in solitary and in chains at times are not the Haditha Marines, they are a different group. I don't send this to make excuses, only to clarify.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1647056/posts?page=173#173
ping
BTW, notice that the Dems were winning elections and controlled both the House and Senate when Kerry and Fonda were engaged in their shenanigans, so there was lots of opportunity for "official investigations" that the Dems could spin. Not today.
Um, maybe the DA in the Duke Lacrosse case?
Thank you for clarifing. They may not be in real chains though these traitous !#$%^&*( like Murtha and Hanoi john put them in CHAINS. God Bless these MARINES, they are this AIRMAN's BROTHERS.
Amen to that!
Why don't you tell us what you really feel about this demented old fool?
Murtha has burned his bridges and will pay the price this November. The RNC, perceiving Murtha vulnerable will pour money into PA's 12 district in order to defeat him.
This is the first I have heard this. If there are accusations, they must be investigated, which I totally support. I have confidence in our miltary structure. If they are not guilty, they will be found that way, like the others.
But it is one thing to have them incarcerated for trial, and a totally different thing to have them in chains 24/7.
Who can we contact to protest this?
Becki
:(
Thank you so much for the information!
"I'd just as soon wait and see what the formal Marine investigation concludes rather than rely on the speculation of media and websites with their own bias."
I admire your sentiment--in theory. The practical reality, however, is that in a real sense, the trial is taking place now.
Here is how I figure it. This place, Haditha, is analogous to the Iron Triangle in Vietnam---a famous area where every resident was functionally speaking a member of the Vietcong. This whole community is a bunch of Sunnis who support Al Qaeda and anyone else who opposes the Americans in Iraq.
Because of the nature of the war, almost everyone is constrained from speaking frankly about what this place is like. Because theoretically, we are still trying to win the hearts and minds of every person in Iraq. In reality, though, that's nonsense. Some people---even some communities--- are just on the other side and that's that.
These Marines go to this community and some people get killed. Some Iraqi doctor, someone who is already made claims about Marine behavior in the past that I personally think are a bunch of lies, claiming they brutally beat him because he gave terrorists medical treatment---that story doesn't sound right either.
This doctor supposedly did an autopsy---whatever that may mean in Iraq. Then there's a few pictures of some beds with blood on them. Then there's witnesses from the neighborhood, and these two girls who survived the incident. One of these girls frankly admits an interview that she knew about the IED before it exploded. This statement alone eliminates the possibility that her family were uninvolved bystanders, and supports the idea of terrorists being in her family's house when the IED went off---whether these terrorists were members of her family or not.
So we have this investigation going on. If if we start from the premise that the people in this neighborhood are fair and reasonable people capable of judging our Marines, we have to come to the conclusion that the Marines committed a massacre. However, this premise is ridiculous. The bodies have been buried and of course we can't dig them up and do an autopsy, this would be against the holiest principles of Islam.
The fact is, we have nothing we can consider real evidence other than the statements from the Marines themselves. Of course, it is possible that they committed wrongdoing. It is possible that any of our troops might commit wrongdoing. Perhaps our troops should be followed around by a contingent of detectives, police evidence experts, coroners (to do autopsies), etc. Or, better yet go directly to the main Democrat solution to this problem and never use military force under any circumstances.
The entire situation is an absurdity. Bush has been weak in this situation. He should never have made the statement he did on television. The big Marine brass is under pressure. The whole world "knows", and will always know, that there was a massacre in Haditha. Just as they know---and will always know---there were no weapons of mass distraction in Iraq---no matter how many thousands of authentic documents we translate that prove otherwise.
It no doubt seems convenient to many high-ranking people in the current administration to simply sacrifice these Marines, give them 20 years in military prison, execute them, whatever. The problem goes away (these people think) and the reputation of the US gets "restored" in the eyes of the international community (for 2 days, until the next thing is cooked up).
Like when the Pied Piper of Hamlin presented the bill for luring all the rats out of the town with his flute. The people figured, the problem solved, why pay the guy? They think you can do it the same way with the US military. Just keep dumping on them over and over again, what's the difference?
Aside from the fact that it's a cowardly, weasily sin, the difference is that people will stop fighting for you. But a lot of people don't understand that.
So, I disagree with you. The trial is now, the fight is now. The Marine brass can play this either way. If they want to pretend Haditha is like Mayberry, then a horrible massacre occurred (there is "proof")--- these Marines go down. If they face reality---that not one shred of evidence against these guys has any validity---they don't even press charges.
The whole world is on the other side. We have to be on the side of the Marines now---or the fight is lost.
Diana Irey and the voters of the 12th District. (And a whole bunch of angry veterans!)
I tell ya, some republican/conservative women are just
plain "Hotties"...
The Time magazine article and the furor that has followed it have very little to do with the Marines of Kilo Company or the Iraqi civilians killed in Haditha. They are unfortunate pawns in a cynical attempt to force an early withdrawal by the United States from Iraq. This game will play out as follows:
1. The Marines will be exonerated on the grounds that they followed standard operating procedure.
2. Members of the mainstream media will profess shock that standard operating procedure could result in such horrific civilian casualties. They will demand to know how many civilians we have killed since the beginning of the war in Iraq.
3. The Army and the Marines will dutifully disclose a number based on the amount of compensation which has been paid to survivors.
4. Members of the mainstream media will express their shock and dismay that the number could be so large.
5. Iraqi "human rights activists" will insist the real number of civilian casualties caused by our soldiers and marines is actually much higher. Iraqi "lawyers" will produce many alleged uncompensated survivors.
6. The mainstream media will express further shock and dismay and demand our immediate withdrawal on the grounds that we are causing more civilian casualties than Iraqis themselves. Some will even claim a rough moral equivalency between the United States and Al Qaeda.
Remember. You heard it here first.
"1. The Marines will be exonerated on the grounds that they followed standard operating procedure."
I'm starting to think you may be right. As long as this happens, it's fine with me. If it does happen, I believe it will be due in part to the public reaction against this apparent frame up.
Contact your Representative and your Senators. The Chains as some of the Freepers have said are not there. In my mind is doesn't matter if there real chains or not, These Marines where in the combat zone and those traitorist people like Murtha and Hanoi john weren't. The lead was flying at them not the people back here. If they are found quilty or innocent under the Uniform Code of Military Justice I will stand with them because these Marines were the ones who had to live this. God Bless them for what they lived through in combat and what they are living through now.
I just downloaded FM 7-8 and read Battle Drill #6. Great analysis. Freepers should get out the word of this corelation between the Marine's account and the FM.
The sham trials are taking place now. The trial of public opinion, which seems to be divided between those assuming them guilty and those who wouldn't convict them if they mowed down half of Baghdad, is taking place now. The real trial, the only one that matters, will take place some time in the future if the investigation decides that charges are warranted.
One of these girls frankly admits an interview that she knew about the IED before it exploded. This statement alone eliminates the possibility that her family were uninvolved bystanders, and supports the idea of terrorists being in her family's house when the IED went off---whether these terrorists were members of her family or not.
Nonsense, it just means that they kept their mouth shut. Had they warned the marines of the IED what do you suppose the chances are that we'd find their heads along a roadside somewhere? It's got to bite to be a civilian in Iraq these days, caught between two sides. The marines can't protect them and, if the charges are true, are just as hazardous to their health.
The fact is, we have nothing we can consider real evidence other than the statements from the Marines themselves.
Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean that evidence does not exist one way or the other.
It no doubt seems convenient to many high-ranking people in the current administration to simply sacrifice these Marines, give them 20 years in military prison, execute them, whatever.
I'm sorry that you have no faith in the military doing the right thing on this. I spent over 25 years in and I found that the wheels of military justice may grind slowly but they grind surely and accurately. If these men are charged, tried, and convicted people like you will believe it's a white-wash and that they were railroaded. If the investigation finds that there is nothing to charge them with then other people will cry white-wash and cover up of murderers. Nobody seems willing to have any faith in the military, and that seems to include the Iraqi people these days. True or false these stories aren't endearing us to the local populace. And if they don't trust us then what good can we do there?
I used to be a M.P., so I know what it is to be in solitary and in chains 24/7.
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